How local policy for sustainable development considers transport: comparing four cities in Sweden

Urban areas play a central role in climate mitigation, and transport constitutes one of the most challenging sectors in the transition towards sustainable cities. This paper explores how local urban policy incorporates ambitions for sustainable transport by analysing political steering documents in four Swedish second-tier cities: Uppsala, Linköping, Örebro, and Västerås. The study examines annually ratified ‘Budget and plan’ documents from 2012 to 2025, using qualitative content analysis and the avoid–shift–improve framework as an analytical lens. The results show that all four municipalities articulate ambitions related to all three dimensions of the avoid–shift–improve model, albeit with varying emphasis. Strategies aimed at shifting travel towards walking, cycling, and public transport are the most prominent, reflecting strong municipal mandates over local infrastructure and physical planning. Avoid strategies, such as densification and parking reform, are present but often implicit and cautiously implemented, while improve strategies related to technological solutions receive comparatively limited attention. The findings highlight both convergence driven by international planning trends and divergence shaped by local trajectories, governance arrangements, and large-scale infrastructure projects. The paper concludes that second-tier cities constitute important arenas for sustainable transport transitions, where political leadership for radical shifts in transport play decisive roles.