Easy to do right - Piteå must grow in a sustainable way

In Piteå, many things are happening that contribute to the green transition, meaning the society´s shift from an economy based on fossil fuels and other non-sustainable resources to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly economy.

Historic industrial investments with significance for the green transition are currently being carried out in Norr- and Västerbotten.

The investments are expected to positively impact growth in the region, and Piteå is right in the center of the action.Therefore, the municipality of Piteå has taken, and is ready to continue taking, initiatives to promote a more sustainable and environmentally friendly development.

Piteå municipality is actively working to make the city more sustainable, including by integrating green solutions into urban planning.

If we are to grow, we must grow in a sustainable way.One of the initiatives that the municipality has taken to integrate green solutions into urban planning is the purchase of an IoT solution to measure and present air quality in combination with traffic flows (car, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic) as well as weather data.

One of the incentives for purchasing the equipment is that in 2020, at the measuring station in central Piteå, the environmental quality standard for particles (PM10) was exceeded.

About 3,650 people living in central Piteå are at risk of being exposed to levels of PM10 above the environmental quality standard.

The municipality has therefore been required to address the air quality problem.With the expected growth in the region and in Piteå, the number of vehicles – both private and commercial – is also expected to increase.

The increase may lead to further deterioration of air quality in parts of central Piteå and other parts of the city where growth is occurring.The project is initiated to address the climate goals set within the framework of Agenda 2030 with new approaches and methods.

The Agenda 2030 goals that the project focuses on are:Good health and well-beingSustainable cities and communitiesThe idea is to use the information that the IoT solution can provide in multiple ways.

Partly to improve the environmental conditions today, and partly as a basis for strategic, long-term traffic planning.Already, the information from the IoT solution should be able to be used to control traffic flows and thus potentially improve air quality in central Piteå.

This can be done by influencing residents to, for example, take alternative routes with their car or choose to cycle or walk.

However, to do this in an accessible way, the municipality needs to purchase technical equipment that visualizes for the citizen how their choice of vehicle and/or route affects air quality. Within the project´s framework, equipment will be purchased and tested. This is therefore about nudging measures.

Within municipal traffic planning, nudging has not yet had a significant impact. Nudge measures seem to have neither been tested on a larger scale nor analyzed in transport contexts.

Therefore, the project falls into the theme area of "Innovations and new applications" because the ambition is for the idea to be developed and lead to new applications in community building.In the long term, the traffic planning in the municipality also needs to be approached from a broader context.

Therefore, within the project, the idea should be developed to a higher level.

Through environmental scanning and by learning from others who have tried similar solutions, Piteå municipality wants to investigate the possibilities of using the solution also in terms of long-term traffic planning. The potential will be analyzed to be able to scale up the use of IoT solutions in urban planning.

It is possible that the method could be developed for use in other parts of the city where growth will be significant, to ensure the health of residents and to contribute to sustainable growth in connection with the green transition.