Easy to live without a car, streets for everyone

Stockholm Royal Seaport is planned to make walking, cycling and public transport easy. Streetscapes are used efficiently and fairly while being made more pleasant and accessible. When everyday services such as schools, preschools, grocery stores and public transport are within five minutes’ walk, it becomes easier to live without a car, which in turn strengthens equality. To further improve accessibility and create safer streetscapes, every construction transport is coordinated via a shared Construction Consolidation Centre.

Walk, cycle and use public transport

In Stockholm Royal Seaport, walking and cycling are prioritised, followed by public transport and deliveries. This gives better road safety, improved public health, reduced climate impact and more equitable travel.

Inspired by Paris’ concept of the 15-minute city, Stockholm Royal Seaport has developed the five-minute city. Within 400 metres of the home, residents find grocery stores, public transport, preschool and school. In addition, parks are within 200 metres of the home, which is particularly important for children and older people. When everything is close, it becomes easier to leave the car behind.

Bicycle parking is built both on private and public land. The number of spaces per home varies between 1.8 and 2.7. As the area is built out over a long period, great emphasis is placed on safe and accessible walking and cycling routes during construction. This matters for everyone, but above all for children on their way to and from school.

Public transport is well developed, with the metro, several bus routes and an electric commuter ferry.

Car parking is limited to 0.5 spaces per home and placed in garages. Car pools are available both on the street and in garages. To reduce car dependency further, parking in coming phases will be located further from residential buildings.

To help property developers plan for sustainable travel, the mobility index tool has been developed. It helps them choose measures that make it easier to walk, cycle and use mobility services.

Sustainability Report 2025: Cycle and car parking spaces

Report: Evaluation of 10 years with the transport focus group (in Swedish)

Streets for everyone

Streets should be more than transport corridors – they should be places where people want to move and spend time. Greenery, seating and furnishings create social meeting places, and continuous walking routes along streets and quays make it easy to get around. Good lighting and considered design improve a sense of safety, especially in the evening. Cycle routes are separated from car traffic so that both children and adults can cycle safely.

In the first phases, car parking lined the streets. In future, residents and visitors will use shared parking facilities, for example the Hjorthag Garage with 1,000 spaces in a rock cavern. That frees up space for greenery and other functions in the streetscape.

Sustainability Report 2025: Streets for spending time and urban life

Construction logistics for improved accessibility

Every construction transport is coordinated via a shared local Construction Consolidation Centre, which reduces both noise and traffic in the area. All property developers and the city’s contractors are connected to the centre, which since its start in 2013 has helped to reduce transport in the construction area. The consolidated load share is 81 per cent and the fill rate for direct transports is 49 per cent.

Sustainability Report 2025: Construction and mass logistics

Article: Efficient construction logistics

Construction Consolidation Centre (BLC) – website

Challenges

Because travel patterns are shaped by behaviour and individual choices, it is important to create holistic solutions for sustainable travel. Operational logistics needs to be addressed at the city-wide level.

The way forward

There is a need for a coherent strategy for parking and operational logistics that supports sustainable travel and streets for everyone.