A CITY TO GROW UP IN -A Study of How the Integrated Child Impact Analysis Tool Can Contribute to Social Sustainability in Urban Planning

This case study explores how the Integrated Child Impact Analysis (ICIA) tool is used in the urban planning process in the city of Stockholm. The purpose of the study is to understand how the focus on children’s rights can contribute to social sustainability through urban planning projects. It sets out to answer the research questions: (1) how do the ICIA and the perspective of the rights of children contribute to social sustainability? (2) What strengths and weaknesses can be identified with the implementation of ICIA in the cases of Focus Skärholmen, and Gamla Tyresövägen regarding social sustainability? (3) How do the researched cases answer the following phronetic planning research questions? Where are we going; who gains and who loses; is this development desirable; what, if anything, should we do about it? – What should be done to improve the operationalization of the ICIA process for future implementation to promote children’s rights and social sustainability? The study is based on mixed literature regarding social sustainability, deliberative planning, citizenship of children, and health over the life course.The study reviews the ICIA operationalization in the cases of Focus Skärholmen and Gamla Tyresövägen in Stockholm, by viewing the reports published in the process. The results of the study show that (1) the ICIA is a useful tool for social sustainability, as the dialogue process and cities accommodated for children can contribute ‘socially sustainable citizens’. (2) Both cases had their strengths and weaknesses based on their different contexts, regarding scale and how they are communicated. Both cases show that the ICIA process may be subjugated due to the timeframe of a project, whether it is initiated early in the planning stage or lacking participation for stakeholder groups in the deliberation process. (3)The ICIA tool is recognized as a good tool, demonstrating that the rights of children are becoming a priority. It still has room for improvements when being implemented, and requires a reflexive approach that continues to evaluate if the tool will have a long-lasting impact, and not risk to become a part of an insignificant check-list in procedures of urban planning