Image: Europan Sweden
Malmö Hyllie: between grounds
Year: 2025
Staus: 2nd prize, Europan18
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Size: 22,7ha
Program: Residential, Office, Commercial, Cultural
Between Grounds proposes a transformative urban vision for Hyllie, Malmö - where spatial, ecological, and social systems intersect to support a regenerative and inclusive future. Rooted in Malmö’s ambition for climate-responsible and socially cohesive growth, this three-phase development strategy repositions infrastructure, landscape, and community life as interconnected grounds for sustainable urban transformation.
A central challenge in Hyllie is the persistence of infrastructural and social boundaries - physical barriers like highways, rail lines, and underpasses that mirror deeper social separations. To bridge these divides, infrastructure must be rethought as a connective, socially programmed built-and-unbuilt environment. Prioritizing pedestrian and cyclist mobility over car-dominated development is key. Bridging physical barriers also helps bridge symbolic divides — weaving together communities that have long lived side by side.
Through interventions at the neighborhood, city, and regional scales, the project seeks to ‘re-source’ Hyllie - materially, socially, and ecologically. It begins with healing and connecting fragmented urban fabric, evolves into reimagining infrastructure as civic platforms, and culminates in positioning Hyllie as a storefront for regional innovation and cultural hybridity.
The proposal unfolds in three phases: it begins with housing and soft mobility initiatives at the neighborhood scale, followed by overdecking infrastructure that connects Hyllie to Malmö’s green park system, and culminates in a regional landmark for sustainable development, featuring an urban market that bridges both sides of the railway. Involving local residents from the beginning is key to anchoring Hyllie in both its local and regional social ecosystems, and placing collective realm at the core of its transformation.
The courtyard offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Hyllie’s agricultural heritage, blending symbolic memory with shared, everyday use. The soft curve of the path evokes the rhythm of old field lines, while the generous planting and orderly trees reference the historic allée promenade of the old railway. Together, these elements create a layered landscape that invites residents and visitors alike to slow down, explore, and connect with the site’s history, while also enhancing biodiversity, improving microclimate, and supporting the area’s long-term environmental resilience.
