Citation

Johansson ACH, Svedung I, Andersson R. Safety Sci. 2006; 44(8): 675-688.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2006.03.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The article is explorative and deals with the management of risk in conjunction with municipality planning of the physical environments in Sweden. The central research question was to investigate; "How are questions about risk issues treated in Swedish societal planning today?" Subject of investigation is a sample of municipal comprehensive master plan documents. The aim was to present a descriptive review of what risks regarding health, safety and security that are considered in a set of municipal comprehensive master plan documents prepared and adopted by Swedish municipalities. Additional aims are to describe how risks are dealt with (in what terms, extent and depth) and also to examine how risks are advocated to be handled in the future. Findings show that the plans include several visions, strategies and suggested improvements concerning risk-related issues, all aiming to create a healthier, safer and more secure municipality. However everyday risks in everyday surroundings attract less attention than disastrous risks with low probabilities and large consequences. Integration and management of risks is advocated to be further considered in more elaborated planning processes, but few plans specify how, when and with which participants. Few plans present a more philosophical discussion within their plans about different types of risks in society. Findings indicate further needs to examine and develop the planning process with regard to the management of risks from a broader variety of perspectives, and with special emphasis also on more "common threats".