HUS – Collaboration model in Hässleholm

The city center faces challenges such as competition from e-commerce, larger shopping malls and the aftermath of the pandemic. The project wanted to develop Hässleholm city center together with the city's various stakeholders.

The method Swedish City Centers' "BID process"” is a successful method that has been used in several different Swedish cities. This method was used in the project to identify both potential and challenges and to produce a current status analysis to describe the situation of the city center.

To meet the challenges, organized collaboration between the public, private and non-profit sectors was needed. Participating actors were entrepreneurs, associations, municipal officials, property owners and elected representatives. The BID process started in 2021 and included the seven steps that are part of the process. In 2022, the work was completed with a diploma. Five different focus groups worked in parallel within themes such as ”Accessibility”, ”Supply” and ”Clean, Safe and Stylish”. Site walks were carried out within a geographical demarcation of the city center.

The many responses to the resident survey signaled a great commitment to creating the Hässleholm of the future. The new virtual meeting place will benefit future dialogues and collaborations. Another result is the action plan developed, which is well-established in the board and provides guidance for continued work.

One of the main strengths of the project was that we got to know each other in a completely different way than before. Johan Jönsson, operations manager for HessleCity, means that finally collaboration was achieved between the city's various actors!