In Malmö, skateboarding is not merely tolerated, it’s celebrated, integrated and elevated to the status of cultural infrastructure. The Swedish city has reimagined what it means to plan for public space by blending culture with city maintenance and demonstrating how sport, art and community engagement can become part of a city’s everyday rhythm. Through a partnership between the municipality and the grassroots skateboarding collective Bryggeriet, Malmö has shown that skateboarding can transcend recreation, becoming a powerful tool for social inclusion, education and placemaking.
The heart of Malmö’s approach lies in its decision to embed cultural programming, like skateboarding, within the budgets of its Streets, Parks and Property departments. This shift doesn’t just fund skateparks; it funds relationships. It legitimizes skateboarding as part of the city’s civic life, worthy of public investment and political recognition. Gustav Svanborg Edén, a key advocate and architect of this movement, believes in prioritizing human interaction over cold transactions. In Malmö, skateboarding is a conversation between people, not just a contest or a youth subculture. It’s social infrastructure in action.
Rather than pushing skaters to the periphery or isolating them in designated parks, Malmö invites them into the urban landscape. This inclusive ethos is visible in the city’s multi-functional urban furniture, which is skateable but also usable by non-skaters. Children who climb on sculptures, locals who rest on curbs or tourists who interact with the space in their own way. The design invites coexistence, not separation. That philosophy moves away from defensive architecture and towards shared city life, where negotiation and collaboration guide use rather than restriction.
Bryggeriet, once an informal collective, has evolved into a vital civic partner. What started with DIY ramps and underground events now involves permits, long-term planning and even hosting major international championships. Malmö supports the association structurally and financially, and in return, Bryggeriet brings a depth of cultural knowledge and community trust. The result is a reciprocal model that scales both upward and outward: from small community jams to global competitions and from isolated skateparks to entire neighborhoods alive with public energy.
Education and the economy are not afterthoughts. Malmö houses one of the world’s only high schools with a dedicated skateboarding curriculum, complete with connections to the local industry and arts sectors. This educational ecosystem doesn't just produce better skaters; it produces citizens who understand urban design, community organizing and cultural leadership. Skateboarding tourism has further enriched the local economy, drawing visitors from across the world to Malmö’s events and unique spots, while also fueling innovation in park construction and social programming.
“... skateboarding is a conversation between people, ... It’s social infrastructure in action.”
Perhaps the most poetic example of Malmö’s commitment is the Love Malmö project, which brought salvaged materials from Philadelphia’s iconic LOVE Park across the Atlantic. This act of architectural reuse was symbolic, reactivating a disused and unsafe space with a tangible piece of skateboarding heritage. The space is open-ended, intentionally lacking in rigid programming or formal rules, encouraging everyone, from kids to passersby, to find their own use for it. It’s a metaphor for Malmö’s entire approach: public space as a living, breathing, improvisational canvas.
What makes Malmö’s model compelling is its refusal to be prescriptive. It doesn’t define who a public space is for. Instead, it enables a framework where different groups can encounter each other organically. The city’s emphasis on gender equality in skateboarding is part of that mission. By supporting female and non-binary skaters through programming and events, Malmö has cultivated a more welcoming scene. The payoff isn’t just visible in participation rates; it’s felt in the texture of community life.
Other cities are watching. During international discussions and peer exchanges, Malmö’s approach stood out for its authenticity and embeddedness. It doesn’t drop in from above with grand plans or top-down interventions. Instead, it grows out of relationships, local knowledge and long-term trust-building. Cities like Birmingham or Nottingham, still grappling with how to support urban sports without gentrification or top-heavy control, see Malmö as a model worth studying.
But this model isn’t without its challenges. Gustav underscores the need for a new vocabulary in urban planning, one that values emotions, social ties and lived experience as much as bricks and budgets. The shift he proposes is from planning as prediction to planning as conversation. From building things to sustaining stories. Malmö’s success hinges on that paradigm shift. Not every city can copy its physical layout, but every city can rethink how it values and funds the relationships that make places meaningful.
In a world where skateboarding often clashes with municipal priorities, Malmö stands as proof that it doesn’t have to be this way. The city shows that with intention, humility and a willingness to listen, urban spaces can be designed not just for people, but with them. Skateboarding in Malmö is no longer an outsider’s act. It’s part of the urban code. A rhythm in the concrete. A culture that carves out space not just for tricks, but for togetherness.
Gustav Svanborg Edén project manager @ City of Malmö