How do we create robust cities?

Insights from the webinar:

1. Four focus areas for robustness in the new national strategy

Sweden’s new urban development strategy, “New Strategy for Vibrant and Safe Cities,” introduced in January 2025, includes three overarching directions: vibrant cities, safe cities, and robust cities.

Robust cities are described as cities with the capacity to adapt and develop over time. Within this area, four key focus areas are highlighted:

• Innovation and research for continued development
• Reduced climate impact, increased climate adaptation, and more secure ecosystem services
• Cities’ preparedness for crises and war
• Digitalization must take place with a stronger security perspective

2. Turbulent times require robust governance

The global order is facing major challenges related to factors such as globalization, technological innovation, and shifting social value systems. We are living in a time of heightened turbulence, which creates challenges for governance and societal structures.

Unlike crises – which are often single, time-limited events that threaten the entire system – turbulence represents a more persistent condition where multiple interacting events create uncertainty and change.

Examples of strategies for robust governance include:

• Paying attention to early signs of turbulence and planning for surprises
• Maintaining organizational buffers to ensure resources when turbulence arises
• Having overarching strategies that can be adapted to local conditions

3. The Finger Plan in Copenhagen – an example of robustness in practice

During the Second World War, the Finger Plan in Copenhagen was initiated. A group of urban architects gathered to analyze how Copenhagen could expand through road and rail networks. The aim was to develop the city along five corridors extending from the city center, with public transport as the backbone, while preserving green areas between the corridors.

This plan has guided Copenhagen’s urban development for more than 70 years, helping the city manage turbulence as it expanded and car traffic increased.

Another example relates to cloudbursts. Instead of only expanding the sewer system – which is both expensive and difficult to dimension – Copenhagen has developed a vision of a “blue city,” where water is given space through ponds, narrow canals, and open flows integrated into the urban environment.

4. Planning for risk – and creating space for the future

Climate adaptation is becoming an increasingly important part of urban development, where risk mapping is crucial. Many municipalities have begun identifying risk areas, but coverage varies.

Maps function both as analytical tools and as support for dialogue and decision-making. They make risks visible and provide a basis for difficult trade-offs—for example, between protecting, adapting, or in some cases refraining from developing certain areas.

The issue of rising sea levels illustrates this complexity. Adaptation measures may work for a period, but they are costly, and projections indicate continued sea-level rise for a long time to come. This raises the question of whether, in the long term, we may need to relocate development away from vulnerable coastal areas.

To enable such choices, we must already today leave room for future solutions and avoid locking ourselves into land uses that limit future options.

5. Preparing for a “zombie attack”

We cannot predict future crises – and the next crisis will likely not resemble the previous one. The metaphor of preparing for a “zombie attack” captures the need to think beyond known threat scenarios.

This requires the capacity to adapt to the unexpected. It also calls for increased collaboration across sectors and the inclusion of a broader range of expertise than the traditionally technical fields. Creative perspectives and citizen participation are highlighted as important for strengthening society’s ability to handle an uncertain future.

Participants

• Ludvig Lundgren, State Secretary, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure
• Jacob Torfing, Professor, Roskilde School of Governance
• Cecilia Näslund, Expert, National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket)
• Thomas B. Randrup, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

Moderator: Kes McCormick, Professor, Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)