Decision on Albano is important milestone for entire Stockholm

When the City Council of Stockholm adopted the local plan for the future campus Albano yesterday, it was an important milestone for higher education in the city. Albano is essential for both Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology, for all future students and guest researchers and the entire Stockholm knowledge region.

19-12-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — “The need for the new campus is large and urgent,” says Kåre Bremer, Vice-Chancellor at Stockholm University. “We get increased state grants for education and research, but the lack of space means that we find it difficult to use them fully. Hence it is with great expectations we look forward to Albano being realized, a scientific environment designed for today and tomorrow. This creates, among other things, better opportunities to meet and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.”

Stockholm University wants to collect all its activities within a contiguous campus and also close to the Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institutet. With the increasing global competition, it is important for Stockholm to attract the best talents among students, researchers and other staff to create new educational and employment opportunities and contribute to the growth of the region.

Because of Albano’s location in the Royal National City Park, specific legal requirements apply on how the area can be planned and built in, which the plan also takes into account.

The future Albano campus will, in addition to the premises for education and research, also include about a thousand housing facilities for students and guest researchers.

“The addition of new accommodation for students and guest researchers is crucial for Stockholm to reach the goal of being a world-class knowledge region,” says Martin Sahlin, chair of the Stockholm Federation of Student Unions, SSCO. “That Albano is built as a campus where housing and university facilities are mixed makes the area attractive and adds value to both students and universities.”

Researchers with expertise in social ecological city design have taken part in the planning process for Albano, at the request of Akademiska Hus. The goal is to integrate ecosystems and create synergies with classic urban planning so that the surrounding ecosystems can be strengthened.

“After many years of hard work, it is with great satisfaction that we now have a decision that allows us to continue the very important task of developing the university capital of Stockholm as a leading knowledge region,” says Sten Wetterblad, Regional Director at Akademiska Hus Stockholm.

What happens now?

With the City Council’s adoption of the local plan, the political part of the planning process is over. Either, the plan gains legal force and a building permit application can be submitted, or the local plan decision will be appealed, and then it takes about 1.5 years before the plan gains legal force. In the latter case, the planned start of construction is in 2014, with first occupation expected in 2017.

About Albano

Albano is currently a gravel pitch between the Roslagsbanan embankment and the motorway just north of Roslagstull. It serves as a storage place next to the construction site of the Northern Link motorway, and as a parking lot. The area got its name in the late 1700s; the Italian-sounding names around Brunnsviken originate from king Gustav III’s Italian trip: Albano, Frescati, Tivoli and Montebello. At the beginning of the 19th century, Albano was still mainly undeveloped land. The industrialisation of Djurgården began in the late 1800s, when the Värta railway and Roslagsbanan were constructed. In Albano, a freight station was built, and around it small factories and workshops emerged. Most of the industrial buildings were demolished during the first years of the 21st century.

Additional Information

Kåre Bremer, Vice-Chancellor at Stockholm University
+46 (0)733-66 91 69
kare.bremer@su.se

###

Albano park and entrance building, view to the west. Photo: City Planning Administration