Vinnova funding to improve quality of life in cities

What role do water and greenery play in the resilience of cities to climate change and in people's quality of life? FOJAB will investigate this within the framework of the WiCiD project. Vinnova has granted a total of SEK 5 million in funding.

Today, it is difficult to achieve coherent, effective and forward-looking urban planning in relation to water. The focus is often on problems that need to be addressed such as floods or droughts. The positive impact of water on residents is less clear.

This is about to change.

The project WiCiD (Water in City Design, Solutions for wicked planning problems) focuses on water as a resource rather than a problem. The two-year project that has now been supported by Vinnova is a collaboration between DHI Sverige AB, FOJAB, Zenta AB, Chalmers, the City of Gothenburg, VA Syd, Lund Municipality, Göteborgsregionens Kommunalförbund and Tyresö Municipality.

FOJAB's part of the project involves working with Chalmers to investigate how water and greenery can increase the resilience of cities to climate change and how the design of green and blue environments can strengthen social values.

- Greenery acts as a carbon sink, improves air quality, reduces noise and lowers the temperature in cities. Now we will also investigate how water and greenery in urban environments can contribute to, for example, equality, create identity or affect the sense of belonging," says Magdalena Hedman, architect and project manager for WiCiD at FOJAB.

WiCiD will result in a digital tool that makes it easier for urban planners in municipalities to take advantage of all the qualities of water. Another aim is to expand the social impact assessment (SIA) with increased knowledge about blue and green environments.

- In this way, the climate adaptation of our cities can go from being an expensive challenge to being part of the development of a healthier, co-utilized city," says Magdalena Hedman of FOJAB.

Vinnova's justification reads:
"The project is expected to help adapt the built environment and strengthen the resilience of our societies to the negative consequences of a changing climate."