Malmö’s new neighbourhood in the works will be designed around the concept of sharing

It will also provide a much needed cultural hub in the southern district of Hyllie

A brand new neighbourhood, curiously called Embassy of Sharing, is in the works for the Swedish city of Malmö. It will be located in the southern district of Hyllie and it has been thought out as a new model of residential area revolving around the concept of sharing as the basis for communal life.

Embassy of Sharing will be built across the street from Hyllie station in various stages over a ten-year period. The concept will be permeated by the UN's sustainability goals and Agenda 2030. Almost 300 residential flats, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants and meeting places will be housed in a total of seven buildings, all of which designed with a low climate impact and sustainability in mind.

The first building of the neighbourhood will be an innovative cultural centre

The first building of the new neighbourhood to be completed will be the so-called, Fyrtornet (or ‘lighthouse building’) (seen in the picture). It is expected to be ready in 2024 and its purpose will be to bring much needed cultural life to the district.

Inside it, the Malmö cultural administration will establish a library, a centre for freedom of expression and a meeting place for young people. Initially, the three centres will agree on the areas to be occupied and explore how to make the best use of the space.

Today, it is a long way to the nearest library for Hyllie residents and statistics show that the use of libraries decreases drastically when the distance is longer than 1.5 kilometres.

“Therefore, it is important that Hyllie gets a local library with reading promotion activities and media dissemination. And in a neighbourhood with a focus on sharing, a library has an obvious place,” commented Torbjörn Nilsson, a city librarian in Malmö.

The two other centres to occupy the ‘lighthouse building’

Apart from the library, there will be a Centre for Freedom of Expression and a meeting place for young people.

The Dawit Isaak Library is behind the new Centre for Freedom of Expression. Since opening in the autumn of 2020, the library has received international attention as the world's only library with literature that has been banned or censored. In the Embassy of Sharing, the library will broaden its activities.

In addition to books, visitors will also be able to experience other forbidden culture in the new center, such as journalism, film and music.

On the other hand, crucial in the work with the new meeting place for young people will be the experience and skills available within Kulturhus and meeting places.

“A meeting place for young people in Hyllie is crucial to get the local area to develop through participatory work, I am convinced of that. With our experiences, methods such as coaching and contact networks, we are very much looking forward to becoming part of the sharing culture that will now emerge in the Embassy of Sharing,” explained Sami El Habti, unit manager at thr Event and Meeting Places department.