Building institutional capacity through experimentation in sustainable urban development projects in Sweden

Journal article, 2026

Experimentation is increasingly promoted as a strategy to implement sustainability ambitions, taking shape in pilot projects, testbeds, and demonstration projects. While often framed as experimental governance, questions remain about whether, and under what conditions, experimentation builds institutional capacity. This article examines how local governments use experimentation in land allocation processes to advance sustainable urban development, drawing on two Swedish urban development projects: Vallastaden and Brunnshög. Since a 2015 legal reform, local governments have had limited ability to impose local sustainability requirements. Land allocation has emerged as one of the few instruments through which local governments can influence developers. The analysis demonstrates how experimentation in land allocation activates and reshapes knowledge resources, relational resources, and mobilization capacity by enabling learning, fostering collaboration with developers, and testing new governance tools. However, weak integration with regulatory frameworks and limited mechanisms for continuity reduce the capacity-building potential of these experiments. The article argues that embedding experimentation within formal governance structures is crucial to avoid fragmented outcomes and legitimacy concerns.