Recesserna: What is it?

Recesserna is a Swedish word that means “the suburbs.” The term was used in 1970s Sweden to refer to an area outside of the central city where people lived but worked elsewhere. Today, Sweden has the highest proportion of residents who commute from one place to another, and the highest number of people working from home.

Recesserna and Its Impacts

Recesserna is a collaborative project that aims to highlight the potential in areas surrounding Stockholm and create a new narrative about these places. Many people living in the suburbs commute to central Stockholm for work and might use their car for the journey. With more people living in the suburbs than ever before, we must make these places more sustainable, more inclusive, and more interesting.

Why focus on The Suburbs?

The suburbs have historically been undervalued, misused, and stigmatized. They are usually portrayed as grey and uninteresting places, with too many cars and too little public space. But not only do they have great potential as places to live and work, but they are also important for the health of the city.

The proximity of suburbs can enable the city to be more carbon-neutral, more inclusive, and more resilient. In particular, the suburbs surrounding Stockholm have great potential for achieving those aims.

These places have good access to the city centre via the city’s extensive public transport network, and they have a lot of green space too. This makes them a good place for people to live and work, but there is a lot more that can be done to make these areas even more sustainable, inclusive, and interesting.

Planning For A More Sustainable Future

The proximity of suburbs can enable the city to be more carbon-neutral, more inclusive, and more resilient. These places have good access to the city centre via the city’s extensive public transport network, and they have a lot of green space too. This makes them a good place for people to live and work, but there is a lot more that can be done to make these areas even more sustainable, inclusive, and interesting.

Inclusive growth

The suburbs are growing rapidly, and Stockholm has a goal to become more inclusive in many aspects. This is a great opportunity to improve suburbs through better urban planning, more sustainable transport solutions, increased access to nature, and a stronger community.

A Place For People To Call Home

There are many ways to do this. One is to turn lawns into more sustainable ground cover. Another is to install parks that are easier to maintain and offer more amenities like playgrounds, sports fields, and trails for walking, biking, or skating. The suburbs also have large areas of water, which is an important resource that can be managed to benefit people living there.