Lund’s new red-green-pink Municipal Executive Board is now in the driver’s seat, and is on the verge of making changes. Board Chairman , Anders Almgren, is ready to make Lund the best college town in the country.
Photo: Thobias Bergström.
The political game is over. The street rallies are history, and the polling booths are demounted. Now, reality has returned. Lund’s new red-green-pink local coalition consisting of The Social Democrats, The Green Party, The Left Party and the feminist party, Feministiskt Initiativ, was appointed a week ago, and the political positions will shortly be filled. Now it comes down to living up to promises.
Lund’s new government is a different pedigree than their predecessors. Many of them are young, with vivid memories of their studentlives. During the press conference, five out of seven party representatives are women.
“We are under conditions, which the prevoius majority government was not under. Many of us are up-to-date with the general studentlife, as well as student politics,” says Hanna Gunnarsson, Left Party member of Lund Local Council.
Developing Student Council
The fact that students and their interests have been disregarded in local politics, has previously been criticized. The students have not been interesting enough. However, the issue concerining a streetcar line has made local politicians’ mouths to water even more. There has been a student council to represent the students, but the council has remained silent.
“The student council has not been taken seriously. We need to reorganize and develop our structure,” says Municipal Executive Board President, Anders Almgren (Social Democrats).
“Since these communication channels have not been working very well, we as politicians don’t have sufficient insights about the students’ needs and desires. If we knew more about that, we could incorporate it to a considerably higher degree in our politics. This is a prioritized issue,” he says.
Lund to Be Best in the Country
And they aim high. From now on, Lund will not only be the best university in the country, it will also become the best college town. All excuses aside.
“Why couldn’t Lund be the best college town in the country? What Lund stands for, and it’s existing diversity, that’s what we aim for. This is supposed to be the best place to study in the country. We will be proactive in utilizing state authorities, as well as the government for our Lund University efforts. The student perspectives will be very clear,” Anders Almgren explains.
Student Accommodation Issue Not Resolved
However, in order to measure up with the best, focus has to stretch beyond the University. The students have to be provided with roofs over their heads. In the new Lund, 1,200 apartments will be built on an annual basis, 500 of which will be rentals. Some of them will contribute in supplying the high housing demand among students before the start of every semester.
Yet, there is no structural plan drawn up for dealing with the student housing issue.
“We would like the municipality to collaborate in a positive way to build more student dorms. We support extended discounts for those constructing student accommodation units. We support testing leaseholder rights, meaning there is no obligation of buying a property and building procedures will be more cost-effective,” Anders Almgren says.
Text: Casper Danielsson
Translation: Maximilian Aleman-Tennell
First published on lundagard.se
