Helsingborg and IKEA team up for innovation at the H22 City Expo

Three projects have been planned to showcase the future of urban living

The Swedish city of Helsingborg is planning an international expo-type of event for the summer of 2022 called H22. Its name is inspired by previous editions called H55 and H99, which took place respectively in 1955 and 1999 and concerned the showcasing of forward-thinking ideas in the field of housing, architecture and urban design and planning.

Following this tradition, the city wants to be once again a testbed for innovative practices that improve the quality of urban life and foster communities. One of the main partners will be IKEA, which has international headquarters in Helsingborg and has announced that it will soon commence the work on three different projects. The results will be visible at H22 and presented for 35 days after which they will continue their presence in the city.

City expos are a fine platform for the demonstration of global good practices

IKEA designers are interested in testing out ways to see the link between home-making and community in the contemporary world. That is why the company will carry out three different pilot projects in three of the city’s neighbourhoods.

The first one is Drottninghög where in collaboration with local residents IKEA will establish a kitchen garden, a kitchen and a market. The garden will serve to grow organic produce which will be then cooked and prepared in the kitchen next to it and sold on the market thus visibly shortening the farm-to-fork chain and staying true to the locally-sourced concept of gastronomy and creating a sense of community.

The project in Fredriksdalsskogen will seek to answer the question of building a sustainable community surrounded by a forest. For its purpose, the plan is to invite suggestions from students from all over the world on solutions that are relevant to housing, such as water supply. This will generate a virtual global discussion around such issues.

The third district is Oceanhamnen, and the focus area will be abandoned industrial premises at the city’s harbour called Magasin 405. These will be the location where IKEA’s own designers will brainstorm and apply their own visions on how the homes of the future will function.