Leaked 'Save Slussen' film goes viral

In central Stockholm, on the island of Södermalm facing Gamla Stan, there's a junction that's been causing a stir for years. Plans from the City of Stockholm to drastically redo Slussen (the Sluice in English) have divided the capital.

 

A team working to keep Slussen as it has been for the past 80 years found themselves in the spotlight this week after they made a short video (below) detailing exactly what the new renovations mean for Stockholmers.

 

The team hired a company to produce a virtual tour of the "new Slussen" based on the City of Stockholm's proposals, which promised new glass buildings and shopping complexes in place of the cloverleaf design roundabouts. The new design also includes a road bridge between Södermalm and Gamla Stan, a new bus terminal, and new office and retail properties. The redevelopment is budgeted to cost 8 billion kronor ($1.25 billion).

 

The visual result, however, is not pretty, says the film's editor Jan Ohlin.

 

"People are very upset about the plans and the response to our video has been amazing. We've had a lot of support," he told The Local.

 

The film, called "Stop the craziness and save Slussen", was leaked via Vimeo earlier this week and drew in 30,000 viewers within the evening.

 

"We thought it was incredible, it went to over 100,000 hits the next day. And not only is it viral but it's kicked off a big discussion. The Stockholm municipality is threatened, they want to start building the new version and people are going wild."

 

The video shows before and after shots of the area, including a T-junction highway. A voice-over says: "This is not an improvement, it's uglier, more expensive, and worse than today's solution."

 

Stockholm officials have slammed the film as misleading, Ohlin said, but he remains adamant that his team followed the proposals in their video.

 

Below is an updated version of the film with English subtitles.