1. A strong municipality : On the local economic and planning competence in Uppsala and other Swedish municipalities

Abstract

Uppsala is described as an example of the typical Nordic strongmunicipality. This includes an extensive self-government andlocal democracy with self-taxation and a planning monopoly. Itis argued that a strong local community is good for approachingsustainability. Madeleine Granvik is a geographer and researchstudent at the Dept of Landscape Planning at the Swedish AgriculturalUniversity. She has worked with development of democracyand environmental awareness in cities in Sweden and Russia.Sustainable Urban Patterns around the Baltic Se