Renovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program

This project analyses tenants’ participation in renovation of rental housing built in the period between 1960 and 1975 in Sweden.

Previous research indicates that tenant participation has a positive effect first and foremost on social sustainability (by affecting affordability), and also to some extent on ecological sustainability, but so far no systematic comparative research has been done. More specifically our aim is to investigate if and how, tenants’ participation has an impact on the way the renovation programme fulfils sustainability goals  11 of the 2030 Agenda (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

Our main research questions include

1. How are tenants invited to participate in renovation processes, and how are these dialogues organised? To what extent and how do they involve conflicts between different stakeholders? Does the dialogue influence the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the renovation, and, if so, in what ways?
2. How do tenants self-organise in order to influence renovation? How does this self-organisation relate to formal dialogues organised by the estate owner? To what extent, how, do tenants’ protests influence the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the renovation, and, if so, in what ways?
3. To what extent and how are concerns based on class, gender, and ethnicity included in the renovation process? How do these concerns influence the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the renovations?

The project belongs to the University of Gothenburg: Renovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program?

Project start

2018

Funding

Formas

Researchers

Håkan Thörn (project manager), University of Gothenburg
Miguel A. Martínez, professor, IBF
Dominika Polanska, researcher, IBF
Elena Bogdanova
Linda Soneryd