Engaging with wicked problems: Boundary spaces in Swedish planning and their contribution to promoting sustainable transitions

Serious planning problems still persist in Sweden despite years of initiatives targeting their resolution.

Such ‘wicked’ problems are characterized by causal complexity often with broad temporal and spatial reach, a high degree of politization and uncertainty, and the involvement of multiple agencies and societal actors.

One approach to handling such problems is through discrete platforms, boundary spaces, that are designed to enable different forms of collaboration.

If boundary spaces are promoted as a viable solution to wicked problems, then we need a better understanding of how such spaces work, and how can they be designed to increase their effectiveness.

This project will contribute to this understanding through a transdisciplinary investigation of four examples of boundary spaces dealing with wicked problems in Swedish planning on: urban justice, urban safety, integration and large-scale urban transformation.

It applies an interdisciplinary approach, which combines an analysis of the inherent complexities of wicked problems, the spatial dimension of boundaries and boundary spaces, and the homelessness of their results, with an evaluative component of their outputs, outcomes and impact.

The case study analysis forms the basis of an innovative learning platform, where involved practitioners and researchers through deep learning, together develop strategies and tools to increase the ability of boundary spaces to contribute to sustainable transitions.