The Embassy and the Department of Town and Country Planning (FDTCP) within the Ministry of Housing and Local Government organised a full day seminar on 24 May on Sustainable Cities – Sharing Swedish Experiences. H.E. Ambassador Per-Arne Hjelmborn held the opening remarks stressing the importance of a sustainable thinking in urban planning and encouraged further corporation between Sweden and Malaysia in this field. The Director General of FDTCP, Dato’ Mond Fadzil Hj Mohd Khir said in his welcoming remarks that Malaysia had a good record of having green land use policies, but that there were much to be learned from the Swedish example.
Carl Malmqvist from the Swedish Trade Council presented a paper on SymbioCity describing the holistic approach to create a sustainable neighbourhood, e.g. the use of public transportation and waste management. To present SymbioCity in practice Mr. Erik Freudenthal presented the unique concept of Hammarby Sjöstad. Mr. Freudenthal gave a very appreciated presentation and it is difficult not to be impressed by the Hammarby model.
In the evening Mr. Freudenthal together with Dr. Dahlia Rosly Director at FDTCP participated in a live broadcast at the well known Malaysian TV-show Agenda Awani (on Astro Awani) talking about Hammarby Sjöstad and sustainable urban planning.
