Stockholm Royal Seaport

Sustainability Report

Accessibility and proximity

A dense and accessible part of the city is being created in Stockholm Royal Seaport with close access to services and parks. Planning prioritises walking and cycling, followed by public transport to reduce climate impact.

2022 Highlight:

Barge transport for bulk materials reduces heavy truck transports

Through a collaboration between the City of Stockholm and Region Stockholm, bulk materials from the expansion of the metro are transported by sea to and from the in Frihamnen. This results in a total saving of over 42,000 heavy truck transports through the inner city.

Key figures

  • Residents have a 5-minute walk to essential everyday services and a park within 200 metres.
  • A total of approximately 8,040 bicycle spaces and 1,920 car parking spaces have been created for 6,960 residents.
  • Stockholm Royal Seaport is served by the metro, several bus lines, and an electrically-powered commuter ferry.

Pedestrians, cyclists and public transport

Early in the planning stages of Stockholm Royal Seaport, a traffic hierarchy was implemented, prioritising pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport. This approach contributes to reduced environmental impact, improved health, and a more equitable way of moving around the city. The principle was a few years later integrated into Stockholm's accessibility strategy, ensuring the establishment of sustainable travel patterns. High-quality pedestrian and cycling paths are provided, along with good quality bike parking spaces.

Proximity to services and recreational facilities are crucial to simplifying everyday life and reducing the need for transport. The City of Stockholm aims to implement planning principles that enable residents to walk to preschools, schools, and grocery stores within five minutes.

Urban spaces for socialising and city life

Multifunctional streets are planned for upcoming stages to create high-quality public spaces and promote sustainable transport. These streets will feature greenery and street furniture, primarily catering to pedestrians and cyclists.

To create vibrant, multifunctional street spaces, parked vehicles need to be removed from streets. In the initial phases, parking was built beneath the buildings. In future stages, parking will be located in a shared external multistorey car park, where developers purchase spaces. By placing parking facilities at a distance, public transport becomes more accessible than cars. Hjorthagsgaraget, with about 1,300 car parking spaces and charging facilities, is under construction in a cavern previously used for fuel storage. The possibility of converting existing caverns for car parking in Värtahamnen and Loudden is being investigated.

A child walks with their dog along a pedestrian path with surrounding greenery and buildings.
Inviting pedestrian routes
Illustration with icons that shows the traffic hierarchy.
Traffic hierarchy
Pedestrians walking along Husarviken with surrounding greenery.
Walking path along HusarvikenJansin & Hammarling
Walking, cycling, and buses on Bobergsgatan during the evening time.
Main bus line on BobergsgatanEric Cung Dinh
Vision image of Hjorthagsgaraget. Pedestrians in the foreground and entrance to garage in the background.
Hjorthagsgaraget will have 1,300 parking spaces. The vision image shows the entrance from BobergsgatanAdept & Mandaworks
Two children and an adult walk along green paths on Jaktgatan
Multi-functional streets, park street Jaktgatan Lennart Johansson

Five-minute city

The concept of the 15-minute city was implemented in Paris by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. It means that it should only take 15 minutes to get to the most important everyday services on foot or by bicycle from the home. Stockholm Royal Seaport was inspired by this and developed the 5-minute city concept, which requires an integrated approach that links urban planning and public space design to urban mobility systems. Everyday services such as grocery stores, pre-schools, schools and public transport must be available within a radius of five minutes' walking distance from the home – which corresponds to a distance of 400 metres. It is important that quality services such as grocery stores and communications are available from an early development stage.

Aerial view of streets, squares, and green paths in phase North 2 with the Gasverket in the background.
Streets and squares have many different functions that support urban life and everyday movementJansin & Hammarling
Pedestrians on Bobergsgatan
Everyday life on Bobergsgatan
Children play and cycle along Husarviken
Walking and cycling paths along Husarviken
Pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist in the foreground with the square Storängstorget and buildings in the background.
Everyday life on Storängstorget

All residents also have access to parks or green areas within 200 metres of their home, but do not have a neighbourhood park. This is in line with the planning conducted early on in the project based on a larger number of smaller parks. The ambition is to encourage everyday mobility, increase the use of parks, and strengthen ecological connections, for example with oak trees, through dispersal zones. This is partly compensated for by the fact that measures have been taken to improve access to the Royal National City Park with bridges and walkways, etc. Proximity to the park contributes to increased equality because women’s and men’s mobility habits and the everyday lives of children and the elderly differ. For parks and green areas to be perceived as close and used often by children and the elderly, they should be within 200 metres of the home. If they are close to schools, children are encouraged to walk. Due to construction continuing in the area for some time, considerable emphasis is placed on safe walkways to and from school. One way is to minimise the number of heavy transports in and through the area.

Efficient and sustainable freight transport

The establishment of the and are two essential components for reducing the volume of heavy transports in the area, thereby improving traffic safety and accessibility during construction. The centres were developed through dialogue-based procurement, and several projects are linked to each operation.

The Construction Consolidation Centre has contributed to a 40% efficiency improvement in freight transport within Stockholm Royal Seaport. For transports that go through the centre and onward to the work site areas, the transshipment efficiency is approximately 80%. This means that six truck transports to the construction logistics centre result in one truck transport out using the centre's own shuttle vehicle.

The establishment of the Mass Consolidation Centre has reduced the need for bulk transports to and from the area. Thanks to the local handling of rock and excavation masses and the possibility of local purchases of fill materials, the need for external bulk transports has decreased by 70%. The Mass Consolidation Centre also receives large quantities of excavated rock materials from the expansion of the Stockholm metro.

Related links:

Interactive map: Five-minute city

The inside of the Mass Consolidation Centre in Frihamnen. Machines are moving excavated materials.
In the Mass Consolidation Centre
Electric truck outside the Construction Consolidation Centre in Stockholm Royal Seaport.
Stockholm is the first among Sweden's municipalities to have a fully electric truck
Barge with rock materials from the subway on its way to the Mass Consolidation Centre. Sveavägen in the background against a blue sky.
Barge with rock materials from the subway on its way to the Mass Consolidation Centre

Key events in 2022

  • Detailed planning is ongoing for Bobergsgatan at Gasverket.
  • The Traffic Administration and Region Stockholm decided to introduce a new electrically-powered commuter ferry service between Ropsten and Täby in 2023.
  • The Mass Consolidation Centre handled 70,000 tonnes of rock and excavation materials from Stockholm Royal Seaport’s construction projects. This has avoided 4,700 transports through Stockholm city centre. Additionally, more than 170,000 tonnes of rock were transported by barge from the metro expansion project, which has helped avoid 11,400 truck transports through Stockholm.
  • Reconstruction of Gasverksvägen is underway, with the widening of pedestrian and bike lanes. The construction of a new pedestrian and bike ramp is ongoing in Värtahamnen.
  • The Construction Consolidation Centre contributed to a consolidation rate of 58% (target 75%), and the reduction in level is a consequence of lower construction pace. The loading factor in direct transports is at 52% (target 50%).
  • A report was complied documenting ten years of work and lessons learned by the Stockholm Royal Seaport's sustainable transport focus group.
  • Self-driving delivery robots tested by PostNord and Hugo Delivery.
Delivery robot Hugo with curious preschool children.
Hugo, the self-driving delivery robot, has been tested in Stockholm Royal Seaport
The delivery robot Hugo is on a street within a residential area.
Hugo, the self-driving delivery robot

Achievements for 2. Accessibility and proximity

2.1 Easy to live without a car

Stockholm Royal Seaport is served by the Stockholm metro, several bus lines and a commuter ferry. In total 8,060 bicycle spaces and 1920 car spaces have been built for 6,970 people. 8% of the car parking spaces on the street are set aside for car pools.

The 2019 residents survey shows that:

  • 66% are satisfied with public transport. This is an improvement compared to 2016 when 42% answered that they were satisfied. Those over 65 are generally more satisfied with public transport than other age groups. More residents are satisfied with the access to walking and cycling paths and the opportunity to walk or cycle to nearby neighborhoods.
  • Safety safety is perceived as good by 55% of cyclists and 59% of pedestrians. Compared to with 43% for pedestrians and cyclists in 2016.
  • 42% use public transport at least five days a week during the winter, which is slightly more compared to 2016 when it was 39%. During the winter months, residents use public transport to a greater extent to get to or from the area. The corresponding proportion during the summer is slightly smaller, probably because the proportion who walk or cycle is often larger.

2.2 Efficient, sustainable freight transport

Locally established and .

  • Co-loading of the Construction Consolidation Centre is 58% (goal 75%) and full loaded in direct transport is 73% (goal 50%).
  • The Mass Consolidation Centre and the development work that has been done with crushing and bulk materials management close to urban areas have reduced mass transports by 70%.

2.3 Street as a meeting place

Streets for activity and recreation are planned in future stages.

2.4 Five minutes to basic amenities

Everyday services such as a grocery store, preschool and bus stops are within a 5-minute walk.

All residents have a park within 200 metres.

Updated: 22/05/2023

Strategy Accessibility and proximity and the UN Global Goals

Strategy Accessibility and proximity contributes to reaching the Agenda 2030 goals for sustainable development:

The vision: To transport more people and more goods sustainably in a growing city, a transition to higher capacity and more resource-efficient means of transport is needed.

The area’s transport hierarchy prioritises walking and cycling, followed by public transport. This reduces environmental impact. This also has health benefits and provides opportunities to travel more affordably and in more equitable ways. Creating green spaces that encourage people to visit the area also contributes to greater biodiversity.