New Challenges Require New Strategies - Open Arenas Help Build Better Cities

The Greater Gothenburg region is situated in the south-western part of Sweden. It consists of 13 municipalities and has about 1 million inhabitants. It is the countrys second largest metropolitan area, after Stockholm. The area is traditionally dependent on trade and industry and was a centre for shipbuilding until the 1970s. Today, the area is home for automotive and manufacturing industry (Volvo, SKF) pharmaceutics (AstraZeneca), ICT (SAAB, Ericsson) and petrochemicals. The blue collar jobs are gradually being replaced by jobs in other sectors, primarily in service. There are two universities in the area, Gothenburg University (about 25,000 students) and Chalmers University of Technology (about 10,000 students), both internationally renowned. Sahlgrenska University Hospital, one of Northern Europes largest hospitals, serves as a teaching and research institution for the medical professions. There are three Science Parks in Gothenburg, described in greater detail below. As an urban area, Gothenburg faces several tough challenges that need to be addressed in the near future. Many of these challenges can be found in cities and urban areas all over the world, and thus the solutions may be of interest to many policy makers and stakeholders engaging in urban development. This paper will deal with three specific challenges, and how they are met by applying the Open Arena Concept in Gothenburgs three Science Parks.