National infrastructure, small towns and sustainable mobility – experiences from policy and strategy in two Swedish municipalities

Abstract

This study explores the implications of improved access to national rail and road infrastructure for urban planning and land use in two small Swedish towns. The promotion of sustainable mobility is considered a strategic objective at the municipal level, yet the study questions the extent to which national investments, and increased access to regional labour markets, support local efforts to increase sustainable mobility. The results indicate that municipalities struggle to adopt coherent approaches to increasing sustainable mobility and continue to develop physical plans that induce use of motor vehicles, a trend reinforced by national investments in road infrastructure in peri-urban areas.

Keywords:

• transport infrastructure
• sustainable mobility
• strategy
• planning
• municipalities
• Sweden

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the Swedish Transport Administration for funding this research, the interviewees in the two municipalities, along with Brita Hermelin and Terje Ragnarsson, the co-authors of the Swedish language report, without whose collaboration this paper would not exist. Special thanks go to two anonymous reviewers whose comments have improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.