Trädgårdsgatan, Skellefteå
From strategy to social street
How can social sustainability become something more than a heavy policy document? In Skellefteå, Tengbom is working together with the municipality and local stakeholders to explore how social values can become a concrete part of everyday urban life. On Trädgårdsgatan, a full-scale prototype is now being developed where ideas around safety, community, and inclusion are tested directly in the real environment.
The project is part of Society Expo 2026 and builds on a longer process involving workshops, urban walks, and pilot projects where residents, property owners, municipal officials, and community organizations have jointly explored the city’s social needs. The goal has been to develop methods and tools that can be integrated into the municipality’s long-term urban development processes.
On Trädgårdsgatan, we are translating this work into a temporary and vibrant urban environment with greenhouses, a stage, pergolas, play environments, seating areas, and green meeting spaces. Here, social sustainability takes physical form through places that encourage people to stay longer, meet one another, and use the city in new ways.
” The project has given us new insights into how we can integrate social values early in urban planning. Through the pilot projects, we have tested ideas in real environments and gained a better understanding of how people use and experience public spaces,” says Harriet Wistemar, Municipal Architect at the Municipality of Skellefteå.
Social sustainability in practice
Skellefteå is a rapidly growing city. New housing, workplaces and public spaces are reshaping its urban landscape at a fast pace. At the same time, questions regarding safety, participation and access to shared meeting places are becoming increasingly important.
At Tengbom, we led the development of a methodology for socially sustainable living environments, where social values are analyzed and connected to concrete spatial qualities. Focus areas included health, equality, safety, inclusion, and community.
“Social sustainability must become something tangible that we can actively integrate into everyday work and urban planning. It is about understanding how people use and experience their environments – and then developing concrete solutions that respond to those needs,” explains Ulrika Signal, Lead Planning Architect at Tengbom.
The work is based on Socially Sustainable Living Environments – Tengbom’s methodology for value-driven urban development. Here, analysis, dialogue, and physical design are interwoven. Through workshops and site analyses, the project team identified which social values already exist in different places and which need to be strengthened.
” We need to build cities where people not only live and work, but also feel a sense of belonging and participation. That is where social sustainability begins.”
Ulrika Signal
A street for many
The prototype on Trädgårdsgatan is organized around different “gardens” with varying functions and target groups. A cultural garden offers a stage and space for events, while an activity garden features playful installations and greenhouses. Meanwhile, communal tables, pergolas and sunlit seating areas create calmer spaces for visitors.
Many of the functions are free of charge and welcome people of different backgrounds and ages. The ambition is to create a street that feels open and welcoming to many, rather than catering to one specific target group.
” What makes temporary prototypes so interesting is that they allow us to test ideas in reality. We can observe how people use the spaces, what works well, and what we need to develope further,” continues Ulrika Signal.
The installations also created a shared platform for dialogue about how to improve the city’s public environments in the long term.
Tools for future urban development
For the Municipality of Skellefteå, the project went beyond Trädgårdsgatan itself. It also aimed to introduce new methods for social sustainability. These methods can guide future urban development processes. In turn, the municipality can apply these lessons to detailed planning and the development of residential neighbourhoods. The lessons can also inform future work on schools and public spaces.
” The experiences from the pilot projects will become an important foundation for our continued urban development work in Skellefteå. We will carry these lessons into our future work with public environments and meeting places,” says Harriet Wistemar.
During Society Expo 2026, Trädgårdsgatan served both as an exhibition and as a testbed for Skellefteå’s urban environments. Here, research, urban development and everyday life came together at full scale.
