NEW SLUSSEN
STOCKHOLM
Sweden
Slussen is one of Stockholm’s largest urban transformations, rebuilding an aging traffic junction and lock between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic into a climate-resilient water-management node and a major public waterfront space. The new design combines upgraded flood-protection infrastructure with better conditions for public transport, walking, and cycling in the historic core. Located between Gamla stan and Södermalm, Slussen has long been a key interchange and water‑regulation point, but its 1930s structure was deteriorating and no longer fit for present‑day traffic and climate risks. The City of Stockholm chose to demolish and rebuild Slussen as a long‑term project starting in 2016, with completion targeted around the mid‑2020s.
The New Slussen project delivers new road and pedestrian bridges, enlarged locks and spillways, new quays, and a major public‑transport hub with a bus terminal in Katarinaberget connected to the metro and ferries. Road capacity is reduced and reorganised so that more space can be given to plazas, terraces, and parks along the water, turning a car‑dominated node into an attractive city space.
Future Cities criteria compliance
Environmental & Nature
By expanding discharge from about 300 m³/s to roughly 1,400 m³/s, Slussen is a core climate‑adaptation investment securing drinking water and flood safety for around two million people in the Mälaren region. At the same time, the redesign reallocates surface space from private cars to public transport, walking, and cycling, supporting Stockholm’s climate and air‑quality goals and creating greener, more pleasant waterfront public spaces.
Smart City
New Slussen is based on advanced hydrological modelling and control systems that significantly increase Lake Mälaren’s discharge capacity and allow better, data‑driven regulation of water levels. Complex 3D design and construction tools coordinate underground tunnels, lock structures, and transport systems in a dense urban environment, while digital information systems support intermodal travel.
Human-Centric
The project explicitly seeks to transform Slussen from a traffic machine into a welcoming meeting place with promenades, plazas, and viewpoints that reconnect Gamla stan and Södermalm. Enhanced access to the water, better pedestrian and cycling routes, and new spaces for events and everyday use aim to make New Slussen a people‑centred gateway in the heart of Stockholm.
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