SUSTAINABLE NEW TOWNS - STOCKHOLM RAIL-SERVED SATELLITES

Over the past 50 years, Stockholm has been transformed from a pre-war monocentric city to a planned post-war multi-centred metropolis. To ma intain central Stockholm's vitality, regional planners built an extens ive rail network that links satellite new towns with downtown Stockhol m. The combination of a multi-centred settlement pattern and a superb rail network has produced a tremendous amount of cross-haul commuting in the Stockholm region. Compared to other 'natural' suburbs in greate r Stockholm and UK new towns, relatively few Stockholm new town reside nts work locally. Likewise, most new town workers are imported from th e outside. The external commuting that takes place, however, is overwh elmingly by rail transit. Stockholm's sustainability lies in the stron g rail orientation of its new towns, rather than in any kind of balanc ed growth or self-containment.