In the midst of the 2014 Icsid Interdesign in Mumbai (India), Icsid reached out to Claes Frössén and Robin Edman, both of whom played an integral role in organising the 2009 City Move in Gallivare (Sweden) on behalf of the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation (SVID). Below is a recap of their thoughts on the process leading up to 2009, what expectations they had and the personal and professional outcomes for the participants.


Background on the problem

3,500 inhabitants in the town of Malmberge – part of the municipality of Gallivare (Sweden) saw their hometown at risk due to the expansion of the mining industry. For nearly 40 years, it had been involved in a drawn out and, at times, painful moving process. The community was suffering as empty buildings and the gradual deterioration into a slum negatively affected their quality of life.


Q: Why was an Icsid Interdesign the right forum for the city move project? 

Claes Frössén (CF): My colleges and I felt that the issues related to “moving” in the north of Sweden was extremely interesting. The local authorities and the mining company had not found a suitable process that worked when they were trying to create a new society for the exisiting inhabitants. Development in Gallivare was at a halt and there were a lot of protests. The inhabitants were reluctant to accept the plans that had been made without their involvement.

At that time, 2008, I was working for the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation (SVID) and we wanted to test and prove that a design process could be used to help solve this kind of complex problem.

By creating plans for an Interdesign, we hoped several goals would be accomplished. First of all, an Icsid Interdesign instantly provided this workshop and its co-host, SVID, with international recognition. The workshop was looked at as a serious initiative.  Without that, we would not have been able to attract the attention of the Swedish government and the municipality leaders in Gallivare and garner their financial support. SVID would not have been able to do this without having Icsid as its partner. Though the Icsid Network, we managed to accrue 200 applications from designers around the world wanting to be a part of this project. Selecting 40 from this competent group was a challenge to say the least.

Robin Edman (RE): An Icsid Interdesign was the right forum for this project because we needed to the help and support of Icsid Members, participating designers and large international network. The perfect platform for finding the right people but also giving the project credibility and clout was paramount. A global organisation like Icsid was able to has a lot of weight when talking to local and regional players.


Q: Figuring out the best way to move a city in 2 weeks is an incredibly ambitious undertaking. What results or solutions did you expect before the Interdesign workshop began?

CF: We expected a lot of concrete sketches and ideas that could be presented to the inhabitants, mining company and municipality leaders that was already superior to previously proposed solutions. We thought that all these ideas and sketches would show that almost anything is possible and that the solution weren’t restricted by any means. We hoped and expected this would result in an easier way to convince all parties involved.

RE: Considering the planning of this project began 18 months earlier, we had high hopes and an ambitious view of what could be achieved. We expected to see a lot of ideas that could in turn become a reality. Knowing that only a fraction of the ideas would actually have a chance to survive it was good to have close to 40 people involved from 17 countries and 5 continents. There would surely be something there to work with….


Q: How did the actual results compare to your expectations?

CF: From the beginning, no one would have imagined that the group would have such a wealth of experience and manage to understand the problem so quickly and easily. They were able to suggest and provide more valuable advice to the leaders of the municipality and the mining company than expected.

After the workshop, we delved into the analysis of the results and helped the municipality to create a plan for their future work. That plan is still the main background for the work that is going on in Gallivare. It described how the process should be run from 2010 – 2012. It was also the base for getting funding for the work during that period. Even after 2012 the main direction in the transforming process of Gallivare is based on the results from City Move.

RE: The participants ideas exceeded what we thought was possible in some cases.  The level of work produced over the two-week period was high. What we did not expect was the municipality’s difficulties in digesting the outcomes. To some extent, we were surprised that the results were so overwhelming; but on the other hand it did not surprise us at all considering the size of local staff present to process the information and the tensions between the mining company, municipality and the people living there.


Q: What was the biggest take-back for participants? What did they learn and/or appreciate the most?

CF: The feedback from the participants was very positive, they all said it was interesting, a fantastic experience. Many of the appreciated the opportunity to meet new people, new designers with whom they have remained connected. Overall, I think people appreciated most feeling of doing something meaningful, developing design projects that will be implemented and there was a sense of pride in that.

RE: We put on a great event – the project, process and results were fantastic. Being far up north in the cold also resulted in camaraderie and a strong social element for the participants. Having the opportunity, on the closing day, to have the Minister of Enterprise on location to visit the exhibition of their work showed the appreciation of the community on this Interdesign.


Q: The premise of an Icsid Interdesign is to examine and provide solutions on a national problem that could have international significance. Is there a city or region you think could directly benefit from the knowledge shared at the Icsid Interdesign?

CF: The disaster after Hurricane Sandy in New York, October 2012 became a huge planning project. They are looking for inspiration and methods that could help transform the areas that were worst hit with a more sustainable one. Prof Frank Murk, one of the participants in the Gallivare Interdesign is currently involved.

The results from City Move could of course be used in other areas not only ones that have to move, but any that need a drastic change or transformation.
The move of the Favelas in Brazil is a parallel project that has been mentioned and could possibly benefit from the City Move process model. The authorities in Curitiba are looking at the City Move results. The rebuilding of the areas that were destroyed in the Philippines during the floods, could perhaps be helped by using the Gallivare working model.

The idea of getting closer to the inhabitants is important in many areas to create better solutions and also bring out the creativity of the citizens.

RE: Absolutely – all cities or places that are challenged by water, air, fire, mining, damming, pollution, drilling, excavating have an urgent need to find new solutions by using people-centred design processes. Any city that is planning to expand or continue to build in a sustainable way should use design to further improve their chances of creating a sustainable future.


Q: Its been almost 4 year since the Interdesign, what does Gällivare look like now? 

CF: I have not been up in Gallivare for the last two years but I know that the huge pit in the center of the municipality is even bigger and the development of the new city plans are going on together with a number of consultants. Even the construction works is very intensive. Most of the old wooden houses in the old part of Malmberget have been taken down. It means that much of the history from the last 100 years in the area is gone. We hope that the new planning will bring something good and valuable for the inhabitants.

RE: To some extent – pretty much the same, but look at their website and you will see that this has made a huge impact. The process is very much alive and guiding them into a new future. The process of creating a common vision and following strategies etc. took a lot longer than expected but it is a beacon for their work and a good example of what design can do!

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Robin Edman
Robin is an Icsid Regional Advisor and Chief Executive of SVID, Swedish Industrial Design Foundation. He is also currently the Vice President of BEDA.

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Claes Frössén
Currently the Senior Advisor and Founder of the Scandinavian Design Experience

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