1

URBAN RENEWAL IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK

The Status of the Planning Legislation and Practice
Jacob Kimaryo*
A Doctoral Course Paper, Department of Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Lund
University, Sweden, May, 1991

Abstract
Planning legislations describe the procedures which planning ought to follow in a country. They present a
countrys general land use and development policy and give planning a legal tooth. Planning legislations protect
planning practitioners from public prosecution once they operate within their frameworks and thus making them
more confident and innovative. Indeed, it is imperative that town planners and architects understand clearly the
legal frameworks within which they operate as they are these frameworks which determine the nature of their
decision making processes and the utility of their deliberations. A lack of knowledge of planning legal bases or
their misinterpretation by town planners and architects is likely to lead into planning decisions which are far
short from public interests and hence unrealistic. This paper explores and examines the Swedish and Danish
planning legislations in relation to urban renewal. It gives an overview of the development of urban renewal
legislations and policies, and examines the legal provisions for the current urban renewal practice in the two
countries.
Keywords: Denmark, Sweden, planning legislation, urban renewal

1 INTRODUCTION
Planning legislations describe the procedures which planning ought to follow in a country. They
present a countrys general land use and development policy and give planning a legal tooth.
Planning legislations protect planning practitioners from public prosecution once they operate
within their frameworks and thus making them more confident and innovative. Indeed, it is
imperative that town planners and architects understand clearly the legal frameworks within
which they operate as they are these frameworks which determine the nature of their decision
making processes and the utility of their deliberations. A lack of knowledge of planning legal
bases or their misinterpretation by town planners and architects is likely to lead into planning
decisions which are far short from public interests and hence unrealistic. This paper explores and
examines the Swedish and Danish planning legislations in relation to urban renewal. It gives an
overview of the development of urban renewal legislations and policies, and examines the legal
provisions for the current urban renewal practice in the two countries.
2 URBAN RENEWAL LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE IN SWEDEN
2.1 Background
Albeit the first legislation dealing with planning and building matters in Sweden came into effect
in 1874 (Huque, 1987:67), it was not until the 1920s and 30s when urban renewal was statutorily
incorporated into physical planning following the enactment of the 1917 Expropriation Act and
*

Dr Jacob Kimaryo is an Urban Planning Consultant based in Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: kimaryoconsult@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 Jacob Kimaryo Consultancy. Registered in Sweden by Bolagsverket. All Rights Reserved

the Town and Country Planning Act of 1931. The Expropriation Act was aimed at enabling
local authorities to acquire landed property required for urban renewal purposes while the Town
and Country Planning act provided the powers and procedures by which urban renewal projects
could be undertaken in Sweden. Under the 1931 Act, local authorities were required to prepare
revised town plans for obsolete areas within their areas of jurisdiction (Miller, 1959:162).
As far as urban renewal is concerned therefore, the 1931 Act provided a remedial measure to
town plans made hitherto to the Act and did not stipulate clearly how urban renewal matters
could be dealt with when preparing new plans. This inadequacy of the Act was, however,
corrected in the planning legislation that followed in 1947.
The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act which is considered to be the cornerstone for
Swedish planning had with several amendments and revisions been in operation for almost 40
years. Whilst the 1931 Town and Country Planning Acts provisions for urban renewal focused
on the revision of old town plans for decayed areas, the 1947 Act required urban renewal matters
to taken into consideration at the very beginning during the preparation of general city plans
(master plans). The Act prescribed all dense development to be preceded by town plans which
would be made in accordance with applicable master plans (Miller, 1959:162). This meant that
urban renewal which was conceived as been some form of dense development could not be
initiated by a local authority or a private developer without the presence of a master plan. The
latter was supposed to give guidelines that had to be taken into account when preparing urban
renewal plans for obsolete and deteriorated areas. In this way, urban renewal became an
implementation mechanism for master plans (ibid).
Indeed, the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act was a milestone in the history of urban
renewal in Sweden as it integrated urban renewal into the overall framework of municipal
planning. It was received equally well by local authorities and the State as indicated by the
number and size of urban renewal projects which were undertaken after the inception of the Act.
The redevelopment of Lower Norrmalm in Stockholm, renewal of the central area of Gvle,
development of Vllingby and Farsta, etc. could be said to have been partly a result of the Act
(Hall, 1988:308-311).
2.2 Current Legislative Provisions and Policies
Urban renewal following the 1947 Act was characterised mainly by redevelopment and massive
State subsidisation. This approach seems to have gained strong public support until the 1970s
when it suddenly came under fierce public attack. Some critics argued that the new
developments sacrificed quality to quantity and were in fact leading to new slums (ibid:311). It
is difficult to put down all the arguments but the following critical statements which were
directed towards the physical environments so produced by the urban renewal initiatives of the
1950s and 60s summarise the magnitude of the public outcry: inhuman environments, brutal
destroyers of landscape, social disaster areas, architectural monstrosities, concrete jungles, etc.
(ibid).
Although the extent to which these criticisms influenced changes in the urban renewal policy in
Sweden cannot be established precisely by this paper, it is, however, likely that such profound
public dissatisfaction have had significant contribution. Particularly, the replacement of the 1947
Town and Country Planning Act and the 1974 Building Act by a new Planning and Building Act
in 1987 is seen as being to a large extent a response from the Government to the public outbreak.

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The 1987 Planning and Building Act aims at modernising and simplifying the Swedish planning
system. It introduced a new form of a municipal plan called the comprehensive plan which is
required to be used by municipalities for directing future land us and development. By this Act,
detailed planning is required to be carried out in the form of detailed development plans. The
Act also provides for increased public participation in planning and has streamlined the process
of acquiring building permits by private developers and individuals.
As far as urban renewal is concerned, the 1987 Planning and Building Act requires
municipalities when preparing comprehensive plans to take into account urban renewal matters.
The latter are ambiguously referred to simply as: occurrence of new development, changes
of existing development or its preservation (Sweden, 1987: Section 4). Furthermore, the Act
stipulates that the carrying out by municipalities of new continuous development or alteration or
preservation of development, and hence urban renewal, to be within a framework of a detailed
development plan. This implies that a detailed development plan for an area to be renewed is a
prerequisite before specific building and engineering tasks can be commenced. The 1987
legislation therefore considers urban renewal as a detailed planning activity and hence an
intrinsic part of comprehensive planning.
The 1987 Planning and Building Act is buttressed by several other legislations which in one way
or the other have influence on urban renewal. They include: the 1972 Expropriation Act, the Preemption Act, the 1969 Environmental Protection Act, and the 1987 Management of Natural
Resources Act.
The 1972 Expropriation Act facilitates the enforcement of the 1987 Planning and Building Act
by enabling municipalities to acquire land that is needed for development, while by the Preemption Act, municipalities can acquire land in advance of development. The 1969
Environmental Protection Act makes it possible for municipalities to apply environmental
improvement measures, e.g. air, water and noise pollution controls. For urban renewal matters
involving conservation, the 1987 is supported by the Management of Natural Resources Act of
1987.
2.3 Institutional and Procedural Aspects
2.3.1 Institutional Framework
Currently, urban renewal in Sweden is carried out by both the public and private sectors. The
public sector is represented by municipal authorities which have overall responsibility for urban
renewal in their territories.
Municipal urban renewal initiatives start to manifest clearly but broadly in a municipalitys
comprehensive plan. The broad initiatives are elaborated when the municipality prepares
detailed development plans for those areas in the comprehensive plan zoned for renewal. Once
detailed development plans are adopted, the 1987 Planning and Building Act requires all
building works in areas covered by the plans to be in accordance with them. This requirement is
enforced by a system of granting or refusing building permission by municipalities to
prospective private developers and individual builders. As shown in Section 8 of the 1987
Planning and Building Act, the system applies not only to urban renewal but all other types of
developments. This section of the Act stipulates that a building permit will be required from the
applicable municipal authority for among others: new development, extensions and some
alterations, demolition of buildings, change of land use, and improvement and modernisation.
By this system, municipal decisions on applications for building permits are required to be

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highly determined by the compliance of proposed developments to applicable detailed

development plans.
From the above explanation, the role of the private sector in urban renewal in Sweden is
therefore mainly confined to implementation of detailed development plans for renewal areas,
and is continuously being manipulated and regulated by municipal authorities.
2.3.2 Procedural Aspects
Having seen how municipal authorities use detailed development plans and building permits as
tools for initiating and regulating urban renewal, it is now important to look in detail at the
procedures involved in both the preparation of detailed development plans and the processing of
applications for building permission.
a) Detailed Development Plans
The procedure for preparation of detailed development plans is given under Section 5 of the
1987 Planning and Building Act. The Act requires municipal authorities when preparing a
detailed development plan to have consultations with applicable County Administration Boards
and other affected interest groups and individuals right after the first draft of the plan is made.
This exchange of information and ideas is required to be presented as a consultation document.
With the findings from the consultation, a municipality can then prepare a detailed development
planning proposal for the area in question. The planning proposal is required to be advertised on
the municipalitys notice board and in a local newspaper for at least a week after which it must
be exhibited for public debate for a minimum of period of three weeks (Sweden, 1987: Section
5).
The results of the public debate are supposed to enable the municipality to refine the proposal
into a detailed development plan. However, where this debate has led into the need for a
considerable amendment of the proposal, then the revised proposal must be re-exhibited before
it can be adopted as a detailed development plan (ibid).
First draft Public consul- Consultation Planning Public consul- Detailed
-tation
document
proposal
-tation
development

plan

Revised Public
proposal
consultation
Figure 2.1 Urban Renewal Planning Process in Sweden

b) Building Permits
The procedures for applying and deciding building permits are given under Articles 11-32 of
Section 8 of the 1987 Planning and Building Act. According to this Section, an applicant for a
building permit should submit an application to the building committee of the applicable
municipality. The application should be in writing and in case of proposals for large
development projects, should be accompanied by the necessary drawings, specifications and any
other relevant information.
The building committee will then scrutinize the application and on making decision the
committee will find out whether:

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The proposed development complies with applicable detailed development plan, or areas
regulations
The proposal is in accordance with other applicable legislations like those mentioned
earlier in section 2.2. This condition applies mainly to those urban renewal proposals
involving demolition, modernization or alterations

In a situation where an application deviates from the above conditions or is not covered by a
detailed development plan, the building committee will in that case publicise the application for
public comments before making a decision (Sweden, 1987: Section 8). The procedure for
processing building permission applications in Sweden is summarised below in figure 2.2.
Building permission Scrutinization Decision Building work
application to
by a building

starts if permit
a municipality
committee

is given

Public debate
Figure 2.2. Processing of Building Permission Applications in Sweden

3 URBAN RENEWAL LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE IN DENMARK

3.1 Introduction
Unlike in Sweden where legal provisions for urban renewal have been given in planning and
building legislations, in Denmark there have been separate urban renewal legislations since the
late 1930s. Urban renewal as a statutory planning activity commenced in Denmark with the
enactment of the 1939 Slum Clearance Act (Miller, 1959:86). This Act was aimed at the
improvement of housing conditions in large urban centres (ibid:88; Vestergaard et al, 1990). The
Act conceived demolition of substandard housing and redevelopment as the key mechanisms for
urban renewal. By this Act, urban renewal was carried out sporadically and focused only on
demolition of unhealthy buildings, and new construction. It excluded other elements of the built
up environment like traffic and transport facilities, community facilities, sewerage and drainage
systems, landscape features, etc. that could as well have been obsolete or lacking.
A good example of the implementation of this policy is the slum clearance and redevelopment
of central Copenhagen during the 1940s and 50s. This project which was the first major slum
clearance and redevelopment scheme after the 1939 Act, started in 1943 (see Miller, 1959:89).
The scheme involved total clearance of dilapidated sites and construction of new buildings.
When it was completed in 1958, the newly rebuilt central areas comprised of modern buildings
but without green open space (ibid).
The policy of complete clearance of sites before erection of new buildings continued up to the
1960s when some important changes were introduced by the 1969 Slum Clearance Act. The
1969 Act provided for improved possibilities for renovation of deteriorated buildings, and
required special companies to be established for carrying out implementation of urban renewal
plans (Vestergaard et al, 1990). Furthermore, the Act readdressed the question of re-housing and
rent support for people affected by urban renewal schemes (ibid). Another significant
improvement of the urban renewal policy was establishment of rules in the mid 1970s aimed at
ensuring that urban renewal facilitated the establishment of open spaces. By these rules, inner
courtyards and garden could be improved and financed as part of urban renewal schemes.

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3.2 Current Urban Renewal Legislation and Policies

The changes in the Danish urban renewal policy in the 1960s and 70s could be argued to have
being directed towards the correction of the flaws of the slum clearance legislations of 1939 and
1969. Experience had shown that the objectives of urban renewal could not be attained through
only demolition and redevelopment. This realisation that urban renewal problems were more
complex than earlier thought and therefore required equally sophisticated solutions led to the
need for a new approach and hence a new urban renewal legislation. So, in 1982 a new and
comprehensive urban renewal legislation namely the 1982 Urban Renewal and Improvement of
Housing Act was enacted.
The 1982 Act provides the legal framework for the current urban renewal practice in Denmark.
Unlike the preceding legislations, the Act has a wider scope in terms of both the geographical
areas and activities that can be covered by urban renewal schemes. While still providing for
demolition and redevelopment when necessary, the 1982 Urban Renewal and Improvement of
Housing Act s major aim is to improve the quality of landed property through modernisation
(Department of the Environment, 1989:127). This emphasis on modernisation is seen explicitly
in Section 3 of the Act. The section stipulates the standards which should be met when
modernising properties. The standards include those for construction, fire security, heating
system, energy conservation, facades and open spaces. Other standards include those for number
of rooms and sizes, hot water supply, ventilation and sound insulation in dwelling units
(ibid:127-128). The 1982 Act also allows for increased public involvement in urban renewal at
both the plan making and plan implementation stages. This feature of the Act will be discussed
further in section 3.3 of this paper.
Like many other planning legislations, the 1982 Urban Renewal and Improvement of Housing
Act is supported by several related legislations. The latter include: the 1986 Preservation of
Buildings Act, the Conservation of Nature Act, the Environmental Protection Act and the 1989
Municipal Planning Act.
The 1986 Preservation of Buildings Act provides for the protection and conservation of
buildings with special architectural, cultural or historical value. Closely related to this Act is the
Conservation of Nature act which gives the statutory procedures for the protection of nature,
monuments and landscapes (Department of the Environment, 1989:129). These two Acts
therefore facilitate the enforcement of the 1982 Urban Renewal and Improvement Act when
urban renewal involves conservation. An equally important supportive legislation if the
Environmental Protection Act which can be applied in urban renewal of industrial areas. The
provisions of this Act for example can be used by local authorities to relocate industries which
emit toxic pollutants from residential areas or food processing factories.
Unlike the other supplementary legislations which facilitate the enforcement of certain
provisions of the 1982 Urban Renewal and Improvement of Housing Act, the 1989 Municipal
Planning Act embodies legal provisions aimed at integrating urban renewal into the overall
framework of urban planning. The Municipal Planning Act requires municipal plans to provide
the basis for urban renewal in Denmark and hence reducing the 1982 Urban Renewal and
Improvement of Housing into its enforcement tool.
3.3 Urban Renewal Agencies and Procedures
3.3.1 Urban Renewal Agencies
Both the public and private sectors are involved in urban renewal in Denmark. However, the
public sector through municipal councils plays the dominant role in the process.

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Municipal councils initiate urban renewal by preparing urban renewal plans for large areas
requiring renewal, or by requesting owners of properties that need renovation to prepare
renovation plans for their properties (see Department of the Environment, 1989:128). Municipal
councils are also responsible for public acquisition of landed property when the need arises in
urban renewal exercises.
Also participating in urban renewal, are non-profit special companies which operate in
partnership with local authorities. These companies are responsible for the execution of most
urban renewal projects in Denmark. In carrying out this task, the companies usually employ the
services of private sector firms, e.g. architectural and construction companies (Vestergaard, et al,
1990). Private property owners also play a major role in urban renewal when they renovate their
properties although they can only do so with permission from applicable municipal councils
(Department of the Environment, 1989:128).
Finally, it is important to note that although municipal councils are the major public agencies for
urban renewal in Denmark, the Central Government exerts indirect but strong influence on this
activity as it contributes 50% of the total cost of urban renewal projects in each municipality.
This financial contribution is in the form of loans and public subsidies, and obviously gives the
State a significant control over urban renewal projects as it has to ensure that its allocated
financial resources will be well utilised.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------AGENCIES
FUNCTIONS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PUBLIC
Central Government
- Finance urban renewal
(loans and subsidies)
Municipal councils
- Prepare urban renewal plans
- Initiate renovation of properties
by their owners
- Acquire needed landed property
- Finance and oversee the
implementation of urban renewal plans
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PUBLIC
Special companies
- Implementation of urban renewal plans
/PRIVATE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PRIVATE
Architectural
- Implementation of urban renewal plans
and construction
through subcontracts from the special
companies
companies
Private property
- Implementation of urban renewal
owners
policies through renovation of their
properties
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Figure 3.1. Institutional Framework for Urban Renewal in Denmark

3.3.2 Urban Renewal Procedure

The procedure for urban renewal planning in Denmark is clearly outlined by the 1982 Urban
Renewal and Improvement of Housing Act. By this legislation, the urban renewal planning
process in Denmark entails three main stages, namely:

Preparatory stage
Report stage, and

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Proposal stage

The preparatory stage involves integration by a municipality, of the urban renewal issue into the
overall framework of the applicable municipal plan.
The preparatory stage is followed by the report stage at which a document consisting of a report
on the existing situation of the area to be renewed is prepared. The report is required to comprise
of the state of properties in the area and the municipal authoritys views about the future of the
area. This report must be made available for public debate for at least two months (see
Department of the Environment, 1989:127). Affected individuals and other interest groups can
therefore present their objections to the renewal intention.
Having heard the views and opinions of the public, the municipality can then proceed to the final
stage of the urban renewal planning process by which an urban renewal planning proposal is
prepared. The proposal is supposed to: take into account the outcomes of the public participation
at the report stage, and comprise the following:

Renewal measures for each affected property

Properties which are to be acquired by the municipality
Properties which are to be renovated by owners
Demolition measures
Measures for establishing communal areas and installations, and
Criteria for comprehensive development of the renewal area

The urban renewal planning proposal is required to be exhibited for public scrutiny for at least
two months before it can be adopted by the municipality as an urban renewal plan.
Urban renewal Public debate Urban renewal Public debate Urban renewal plan
planning
planning
document
proposal
Figure 3.2. Urban Renewal Planning Process in Denmark

4 CONCLUSION
The foregoing discussion has given an insight into the development of urban renewal legislation
and current practice in Sweden and Denmark. In both countries, the current urban renewal
legislative provisions aim at making urban renewal more comprehensive, and increasing the
involvement of the community in the making of urban renewal decisions.
In Sweden, the current planning and building legislation conceives urban renewal as been just
like any other detailed planning activity. In other words, the legislation does not give a
distinction between provisions for urban renewal and those for other physical planning activities.
Even when pinpointed, such legal provisions are either too broad or in some cases ambiguous.
For example, nowhere in the legislation is urban renewal per se mentioned. Different
components of urban renewal are covered generally as detailed development planning activities.
Although this could have been intended for ensuring flexibility and variety in urban renewal,
such broadness and ambiguity can as well lead into misinterpretation of the legislation by
practitioners and hence deviation from it.
In Denmark, urban renewal legal provisions are more detailed and explicit. This could be a
result of the presence of a separate urban renewal legislation apart from a municipal planning
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legislation. The enabling urban renewal legislation prescribes clearly the specific procedure that
should be followed in making urban renewal plans. This tends to acknowledge the contention
that although urban renewal is a detailed planning activity, it is unique in the sense that it deals
with already built up areas, and as such requires a slightly different planning methodology.
All in all, the current legal provisions for urban renewal in Sweden and Denmark if well
enforced, are likely to lead to improved approach in urban renewal and hence better and more
socially acceptable urban environments in the two countries.
REFERENCES
Denmark (1989), The Municipal Act, 1989, Copenhagen: Ministry of the Environment.
Denmark (1986), The Preservation of Buildings Act, 1986, Copenhagen: Ministry of the
Environment.
Department of the Environment (1989), Planning Control in Western Europe, London: Her
Majestys Stationery Office.
Gottschalk, G. (1990), Planning and Public Participation in Denmark, Interplan No. 5.
Hall, P. (1988), Cities of Tomorrow, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Huque, A. K. (1987), Land Use Planning. Swedish Experiences and the Third World,
Stockholm: Swedish Council for Building Research.
Miller, M. J. ed (1959), New Life for Cities Around the World, New York: Books International.
Sweden (1987), Plan och Bygglagen, 1987, Stockholm: Ministry of Housing and Physical
Planning.
Vestergaard, L. et al (1990), The Development of Urban Renewal Legislation in Denmark,
Interplan, No. 6.

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