Sustainable travel in neighborhood with character
Nya Hovås is a newly built district with an exclusive city feel, located between the sea and forest south of Gothenburg. The area is being developed but is already characterized by an active street life, homes, offices, schools, libraries, pharmacies, shops and restaurants. Ten years of project planning will result in a neighborhood with a total of 1,300 homes.
Urbani is Skanska's third residential block in the area and consists of three houses with 131 condominiums that have open living areas, large windows and a large balcony or roof terrace. The architect at Unit Arkitektur sums up the character of the block as "outdoor areas, views and quality". The facades are designed to give a living feeling and a contrast in the area. The rounded balconies get a color scale from bronze to gold glitter in slightly unusual materials such as perforated sheet metal.
Dialogue provides a better district
Nya Hovås has been developed in a unique model for cooperation between developers and in dialogue with other stakeholders such as the municipality, authorities, residents and the general public. More than 8,000 points of view, ideas and proposals have been collected. They have improved the design of the new district, with the positive effect that very few appeals have been received – only three.
A common vision for the area has been developed, as well as a quality handbook with guidelines and standards that the construction companies undertake to follow and deliver. Dialogue and participation permeate the way of working; the district has become a popular example of modern methods for urban development.
In Skanska's previous project Solgränd, we used dialogue all the way down to block level, where home buyers got to vote about the design of the courtyard. In Urbani, we have a dialogue on the theme sustainable travel habits for the residents. The dialogue becomes a tool for achieving positive behavioral changes as part of our sustainability work.
Stimulate new travel behaviors
Nya Hovås is a district surrounded by residential areas. Many who have sold the villa and moved into an apartment bring with them a traditional car-borne lifestyle. With well-thought-out functions and facilities in the neighborhood together with inspiring activities, Skanska wants to support the residents of Urbani to more sustainable travel habits in their new home environment.
Neighborhoods that are equipped to encourage fossil-free habits contribute to reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Well-functioning and accessible public transport, car pool, bicycle pool, information boards with bus departures, and more, could reduce the need for private car ownership. The dialogue will be used for an inventory of the residents' habits, which will be the basis for an analysis of obstacles, wishes and effective measures.
To give an extra, friendly push towards new travel habits, Skanska is planning a nudging campaign in connection with customer activities before, during and after moving in. We want to provide knowledge and motivation through arguments such as health gains, saved time, financial benefits and of course a fossil-free footprint.
Nordic Ecolabelled neighborhood
Skanska has a central goal of being one of the world's leading companies in environmental considerations. All our multi-dwelling projects are now Nordic Ecolabelled and the environmental work characterizes the entire construction process. For example, we strive to use renewable energy during the construction phase and all wood comes from sustainable forestry. Homes are built with selected materials with the aim of a small environmental impact, and the energy consumption is low. The houses in Urbani are heated by geothermal heating, which is also recycled in the exhaust air, to name a few of a number of green measures.
