Umeå

Umeå is a city in north east Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. The city is located on the Ume River. Umeå with 120 000 inhabitants is the centre of growth in northern Sweden, doubling its population over the last 50 years and making it one of Europe’s fastest growing cities in an otherwise sparsely populated region. One of the City Council’s seven strategic long-term objectives states that Umeå’s growth is reached with social, ecological and economic sustainability, aiming towards the vision of 200,000 citizens in 2050. The strategic objectives show Umeå’s dedication to sustainability in a wide sense. The selection of Umeå as European Capital of Culture in 2014 and the city’s highly renowned gender equality work are good examples.

Umeå is characterized by its two universities with 36,700 students and was selected European Capital of Culture in 2014 as a token of its vibrant cultural life and the vision ”Curiosity and passion - the art of co-creation” – very much part of Umeå’s ambition as a Green Capital with active involvement and participation of its citizens, local and regional businesses, community initiatives and universities.

Transport CO2 emissions and air quality in the city centre are two of Umeå’s major environmental challenges. Implementing the comprehensive plan, finalizing the new city infrastructural setup and working with mobility management and eco-friendly transports are keys when meeting these challenges. Umeå´s Action plan for decreasing green-house gases and Air quality management plan are developed and adopted to handle the challenges.

Upab

Umeå Parking’s (Upab's) assignment is to provide well-located and attractive parking facilities, operate parking and parking monitoring. Our goal is to make all our parking spaces visible, accessible and easy to use. As main responsible for visitors parking in the city, we help to create an attractive city centre. We are constantly working on developing, renewing and improving the city space and its parking environments.

The future of Umeå requires higher demands on land to be utilized more efficiently. We need increased accessibility of the centre as well as improved air quality in the city. The goal of the parking strategy is to contribute to a long-term sustainable transport system. By following the intentions of the city’s strategic long-term objectives where air quality and growth have been important conditions, we create a long-term sustainable parking policy. The parking strategy with a concrete action plan is integrated in the city’s overall planning program and planning process.

To achieve the goals of Umeå’s parking strategy, different measures are used. Among other things, Green parking pay-off (a cooperation agreement between property owners and Upab), different fees in different zones, increased utilization of parking spaces, installation of Park and Bike facilities and new parking facilities for bicycles and cars. Parking pay-off prevent the occurrence of minor parking facilities and allows central land to be used in a more efficient way.