(Bloomberg) -- Swedish architecture and engineering consultant Sweco AB is aiming to drum up business through a new project that will seek to solve the challenge posed by the growing global urbanization.
The Stockholm-based company will on Tuesday publish the first of a series of reports in a project branded "Urban Insight," which focuses on sustainable city development. It aims to release a new report every month, on average, and pick a new theme every year, such as the living environment, green space or how people commute.
The United Nations estimates that more than half of the world now lives in urban areas, with basically all countries becoming increasingly urbanized, which has “significant implications for living conditions, the environment and development." The UN forecasts that more than 80 percent of Europeans and 90 percent of Swedes will reside in metropolitan areas by 2050.
In the project, Sweco will draw on its 14,500 employees in Europe, starting with a report on city transport infrastructure. Titled "Redefining Bridges and Tunnels for the Next Generation of Our Cities,” it explores how cities can make best use of city space and infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels.
“We want to show people interesting solutions to specific challenges in cities,” Guro Ranum, an urban designer at Sweco, said by phone. “We hope that it can inspire people to upgrade their surrounding public spaces and rethink which factors could generate safe and attractive environments.”
As cities become more dense, available space becomes scarcer. Good solutions to the problem include The High Line in New York, an old railway track turned into an elevated park, and the plans for a London Underline, in which decommissioned tube tunnels could be turned into a massive network of bicycle and pedestrian highways.
Sweco bets that the project can raise brand awareness and generate revenue.
"We want to show what Sweco knows and we try, in a modern way, to showcase a company not by sponsoring sports events like many do, or by having our logo put up in different places, but by connecting this to our extensive knowledge,” Chief Executive Officer Tomas Carlsson said by phone.
To contact the reporters on this story: Niklas Magnusson in Stockholm at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net, Hanna Hoikkala in Stockholm at hhoikkala@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jonas Bergman at jbergman@bloomberg.net, Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net.
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
