A project within Eu-GUGLE.

Gothenburg is the second largest town in Sweden with 526.000 inhabitants. The city has changed since the 1970s from being an industrial city to also become a “knowledge city” with The University of Gothenburg, and Chalmers University of Technology. Gothenburg has a rich cultural life, but it is also one of the most segregated cities in Sweden. Social sustainability and integration is high on the cities agenda. The area of Hammarkullen is located in Angered, one of ten city districts in Gothenburg, northeast of downtown. Angered is verified, with agricultural landscapes, and large housing areas as part of the Swedish “Million homes program” from the late 1960s to early 1970s.

The district and the building stock

Angered has about 49 000 inhabitants, of whom 7,800 lives in the district Hammarkullen.

Hammarkullen as many other housing areas built under the “Million homes program” is stigmatized as a neighborhood with large-scale buildings and social problems. Today more than 80% of the population in Hammarkullen has an immigration background and about 57 % of the inhabitants are born abroad. Many have come here as refugees. The middle income in Hammarkullen is about 54% relative to the average income of Gothenburg, and 29% of the families have social benefits.

Parts of the building stock are large scale residential buildings, built in the 1969-1970. One of the blocks is more than 300 meter long. But here are also areas with 3-storey buildings and small scale terraced houses and villas.

In Hammarkullen there are schools, pre schools, a store building, a house for elderly and a public bath house from late 1960s. A sports hall was built in 2004.

Technical specifications

The municipal housing company, Bostadsbolaget, who owns 1.342 apartments, renovated the facades of most of their buildings about five years ago. During the renovation some of the apartments got an extra room.

• About 1000 dwellings are to be renovated.
• Owners of the buildings are both municipal and private owners.

Main challenges

One of the largest challenges is to break the stigma of the area so that people want to stay here even when they have the opportunity to move somewhere else. Another is to find ways and finance models to renovate the building stock without large rent increases so that those who live here can afford to live here also after renovation. It is also of great importance to find and add aesthetical qualities to the buildings and the outdoor areas. Finally, there is a big challenge in finding housing companies that want to build new homes here.

In Gothenburg there is a serious housing shortage, and that have a great impact on Hammarkullen, where many families live in overcrowded conditions. It’s not unusual to live 6-10 people in a two bedroom apartment. A big challenge is to find housing companies and economy to also build new apartments here. About 1000-1500 people have registered interest for a vacant apartment in Angered.

Read more here: Angered, Gothenburg.