“Better ugly and nice than pretty and boring”: Sustainable neighbourhood developments in peri-urban environments

The concept of sustainable neighbourhood development (SND) is constantly gaining traction among planners and policymakers. Initially emerging in the 1990s as flagship projects in a few northern European cities, SND has started to be mobilised into new, more peripheral contexts. In this study, the concept’s translation and coordination to peri-urban environments are analysed based on an in-depth case study of Jakobsdalen, a new SND in a medium-sized Swedish city. Drawing on theories of policy mobility, the study uncovers significant challenges in mobilising the current policy discourse of SND to peri-urban environments. By contextually articulating, texturising, retrosembling, and situating the project, the study shows that SND initiatives in peri-urban environments risk being implemented without adequately addressing and managing critical concerns in the situated context, highlighting tensions between economic viability and existing socioecological resources. For SND to become a strategic policy discourse for sustainable urban development in multiple contexts, the study highlights the importance of having a contextual approach, recognising that different contexts present different needs, challenges and potentials.