Växjö Municipality’s Planning Strategy to Increase the Construction of Wooden Multi-Family Buildings

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

An interesting and timely piece of research.

The study is significant, in recording the progress and challenges in policies to boost wood buildings and sustainable construction.

My comments are primarily to do with the grammar of some sentences. Your English is very good, however the complexity of concepts described occasionaly poses gramatical problems. I hope the below are useful:

Page 2, line 67, results (plural)

page 2 line 93, seems to be an incomplete sentence, some words needed after 'where climate and environmental issues...'

page 3, line130-132, I am not sure this sentence is complete. e.g. 'The regulations in the ... Act set out/describe the municipality's ability to pose...'

Note also, that sometimes you have municiplaities' as a plural as well as a possessive, I am not sure it this is intended. Most times you are speaking of one municipalitiy (Vaxjo) so municipality's would be better

page 4, line 152, possibly missing word, and word order issue. e.g. Vaxjo municipality has, since setting its goal of becoming a fossil fuel-free municipality, been actively working ...'

Page 4, line 160, would the reference [28] be appropriate after the title of the report "Vaxjo - the modern wood town" elsewhere you have used modern wood city for this translation... which one is best?

Page 4 line 163, incomplete sentence. You seem to want to say that by 2020 Smaland will be a leading wood region, if so clarify

Page 4, line 167, you use ref 29 for the modern wood city document, i think there is a confusion, isn't this reference 28? Also a similar title occurrs later [32] is this the same? This use of 29 for 28 occurs several times from here onwards, check all.

page 4, line168, no need for 'by' at the end of the sentence, as you have already used it 'by whom these actions should ...'

page 4 line 173, first use of Valle broar probably needs to be in double quotes, as it is a few lines later.

page 4, line 178, do you mean 'The municipality decided ...' or has decided that ...

page 4, line 191, do you mean 'land allocation agreements'?

page 5, line 198, sentence seems incomplete, e.g. '...awarded to the project once it is already at ...'

page 5, line 214, it is difficult to match the grammar of the energy efficient and environmentaly-friendly parts of this sentence. could use 'building environmentally friendly and energy efficient structures using wood...'

page 5, line 233, specifies (not specify)

page 6, line 248, assigned (not assign)

page 6, 254-255, 'definition of a wooden house is a building' needs to be singluar to match through the sentence.

page 6, line 258, Word order would be better: 'It was decided for Torparangen that a land allocation competition would be used to identify ...', later in the sentence it is 'right' (not wright).

page 6, line 267, Criteria, not criteria's (already plural, criterion is the singular)

Several times on Page 6-7 you start bulletted lists with semicolons, these whould be colons

page 7, line 293, no need for apostrophe after apartments

page 7, line 318, building start was varied (not is)

page 8, line 330, sentence is confusing, may be improved by adjusting word order, e.g. 'As mentioned, Vaxjo municipality's strategy is to use land allocation projects, as the main method ...'

page 8, line 335, and 350, PPA is used without explaining what the acronym stands for, expand

page 8, lines 340-342, grammar slightly wrong, i think that 'providing' would be better to match creating on first line

page 8, line 369, no apostrophe after its

page 8, 376-377, sentence unclear, either could be 'However, the insufficient process with limitted standardiseation ... makes objective evaluation a challenge' or remove make and add 'is a challenge'.

page 9, line 382, should be 'irrespective of' not irrespectively of

page 9, 387, instead of 'if' you could use 'whether' or 'assess whether' to make the sentence meaning more direct

page 9, line 398-399, i wonder whether past tense 'has provided a faster process...' would be better than present tense here?

page 9, line 406, the reason ... is based on (not are based on)

later in the same sentence, 'that is based on selling land'

page 9, line 408, you refer to section 4.1, do you mean 3.1?

page 9, line 411, word order, 'this is a process'

line 414, add 'and', 'allocation activity and requires ...'

line 417,  'can' should move later in the sentence 'the flexible structure, and lack of standardisation can hinder ...' but please check the sense of this final sentence, it seems unclear (and partly contradicts what I have read in the paper)

You have been very thorough with the translations for Swedish documents and web sources, but you missed reference 36

Author Response

Response to the comments (reviewer 1)

First of all, thank you for your feedback.

I have updated all of your comments below but I have not made any references to the line number since I have made a slight change in the paper structure and some clarifications in the introduction. These changes have made your line references obsolete in respect to where they are in the paper.

The study is significant, in recording the progress and challenges in policies to boost wood buildings and sustainable construction.

My comments are primarily to do with the grammar of some sentences. Your English is very good, however the complexity of concepts described occasionally poses grammatical problems. I hope the below are useful:

I have worked through the grammatical issues and sent it for proof reading as well.

1. Page 2, line 67, results (plural)

Updated

2. page 2 line 93, seems to be an incomplete sentence, some words needed after 'where climate and environmental issues...'

Reworked sentence

3. page 3, line130-132, I am not sure this sentence is complete. e.g. 'The regulations in the ... Act set out/describe the municipality's ability to pose...'

Partially updated, but a great part I related to the Planning and Building Act

4. Note also, that sometimes you have municiplaities' as a plural as well as a possessive, I am not sure it this is intended. Most times you are speaking of one municipalitiy (Vaxjo) so municipality's would be better

Reviewing this throughout the document

5. page 4, line 152, possibly missing word, and word order issue. e.g. Vaxjo municipality has, since setting its goal of becoming a fossil fuel-free municipality, been actively working

Updated

6. Page 4, line 160, would the reference [28] be appropriate after the title of the report "Vaxjo - the modern wood town” elsewhere you have used modern wood city for this translation... which one is best?

Updated

7. Page 4 line 163, incomplete sentence. You seem to want to say that by 2020 Smaland will be a leading wood region, if so clarify

Changed the sentence structure to match the intention

8. Page 4, line 167, you use ref 29 for the modern wood city document, i think there is a confusion, isn't this reference 28? Also a similar title occurrs later [32] is this the same? This use of 29 for 28 occurs several times from here onwards, check all.

One of the references was a book and the other a municipality document with the same name. Either way, the references have been reviewed and updated

9. page 4, line168, no need for 'by' at the end of the sentence, as you have already used it 'by whom these actions should ...'

Updated

10. page 4 line 173, first use of Valle broar probably needs to be in double quotes, as it is a few lines later.

Updated

11. page 4, line 178, do you mean 'The municipality decided ...' or has decided that ..

Updated

12. page 4, line 191, do you mean 'land allocation agreements'?

Yes, Updated

13. page 5, line 198, sentence seems incomplete, e.g. '...awarded to the project once it is already at ...'

Sentence structure is changed and updated

14. page 5, line 214, it is difficult to match the grammar of the energy efficient and environmentaly-friendly parts of this sentence. could use 'building environmentally friendly and energy efficient structures using wood...'

Updated and changed accordingly

15. page 5, line 233, specifies (not specify)

Updated

16. page 6, line 248, assigned (not assign) also

Updated

17. page 6, 254-255, 'definition of a wooden house is a building' needs to be singluar to match through the sentence.

Updated

18. page 6, line 258, Word order would be better: 'It was decided for Torparangen that a land allocation competition would be used to identify ...', later in the sentence it is 'right' (not wright).

Sentence structure is changed and updated

19. page 6, line 267, Criteria, not criteria's (already plural, criterion is the singular)

Updated

20. Several times on Page 6-7 you start bulletted lists with semicolons, these whould be colons

Updated

21. page 7, line 293, no need for apostrophe after apartments

Updated

22. page 7, line 318, building start was varied (not is)

Updated

23. page 8, line 330, sentence is confusing, may be improved by adjusting word order, e.g. 'As mentioned, Vaxjo municipality's strategy is to use land allocation projects, as the main method...'

Sentence structure is changed and updated

24. page 8, line 335, and 350, PPA is used without explaining what the acronym stands for, expand

Updated

25. page 8, lines 340-342, grammar slightly wrong, i think that 'providing' would be better to match creating on first line

Updated

26. page 8, line 369, no apostrophe after its

Updated

27. page 8, 376-377, sentence unclear, either could be 'However, the insufficient process with limited standardisation ...makes objective evaluation a challenge' or remove make and add 'is a challenge'.

Sentence structure is changed and updated

28. page 9, line 382, should be 'irrespective of' not irrespectively of

Updated

29. page 9, 387, instead of 'if' you could use 'whether' or 'assess whether' to make the sentence meaning more direct

Updated

30. page 9, line 398-399, i wonder whether past tense 'has provided a faster process...' would be better than present tense here?

Sentence structure is changed and updated

31. page 9, line 406, the reason ... is based on (not are based on) later in the same sentence, 'that is based on selling land'

Updated

32. page 9, line 408, you refer to section 4.1, do you mean 3.1?

Yes, updated

33. page 9, line 411, word order, 'this is a process'

Updated

34. line 414, add 'and', 'allocation activity and requires ...'

Updated

35. line 417, 'can' should move later in the sentence 'the flexible structure, and lack of standardisation can hinder ...' but please check the sense of this final sentence, it seems unclear (and partly contradicts what I have read in the paper) contradict

Sentence structure is changed and updated

36. You have been very thorough with the translations for Swedish documents and web sources, but you missed reference 36

This is a name of the building and can’t be translated

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper “A case study of Växjö Municipality’s actions to increase the construction of wooden multi-family houses" is an original paper that aims at increasing the use of sustainable building materials in Swedish multi-family housing projects. The paper provides an analysis of the current situation and possible benefits coming from the construction of wooden houses.

The topic is relevant and is included in the Journal’s fields of interest. However, a major review is needed before the manuscript can be considered for the publication. In particular, the paper lacks a structure and more details on the proposed solutions should be provided. I would suggest the Author to revise the whole paper structure following the common house planning procedures, giving the Readers the opportunity to understand potentiality and capacity of the city, the visions and strategies based on leading factors in the governance framework, seeking precisely into different scenarios and finally achieving a strategic plan of the urban housing decisions. 

More specific comments are reported as follows:

1-The general structure of the content should be systematic. As example, Author states that the building development of the city has shown continuous usage of concrete in the buildings against governmental visions. The beginning point of the study should show a basic knowledge of recognising the reasons of this failure, however it has not been investigated in the paper. (since it is based on a existing case study, the missed section must be available in the documents of the strategic plan)

​2-Author says that the process has been transferred from government to private and social actors to consider public interest in housing development. Even in the next sections, no consideration for this claim can be found. It has not been mentioned what are the benefits of this transfer, what were the goals of the government that this procedure has come out as a solution

​3-For sure the research process has not been begun through land allocation… the reader may get surprised in this section, the first step of any urban development plan is recognition of stakeholders and shareholders, the mutual benefits and potential contradictions. what are the reasons of the proposed solutions?

​4-The background of housing planning in the city was mentioned in the last sections of politics and control mechanism… whereas, before starting the current situation, the background must be discussed and concluded with key point in every social, economic and political aspects. I would suggest to relocate this part.

Author Response

Response to the comments (reviewer 2)

Thank you for your detailed feedback. I have reviewed and updated the paper accordingly, which is explained below.

The paper “A case study of Växjö Municipality’s actions to increase the construction of wooden multi-family houses" is an original paper that aims at increasing the use of sustainable building materials in Swedish multi-family housing projects. The paper provides an analysis of the current situation and possible benefits coming from the construction of wooden houses.

The topic is relevant and is included in the Journal’s fields of interest. However, a major review is needed before the manuscript can be considered for the publication. In particular,

The paper lacks a structure and more details on the proposed solutions should be provided. I would suggest the Author to revise the whole paper structure following the common house planning procedures, giving the Readers the opportunity to understand potentiality and capacity of the city, the visions and strategies based on leading factors in the governance framework, seeking precisely into different scenarios and finally achieving a strategic plan of the urban housing decisions.

I have made some structural changes in the paper according to your suggestion and balancing this with the other two reviewers that where happy with the structure. However, you had a lot of valid points that I tried to take into consideration but I feel the general conceptual structure works well to explain the situation I describe regarding Växjö municipalities situation, planning process, strategy etc. Than reviewing this based on a specific project in order to find some conclusions based on the project, municipality strategy/structure combined with the responses from the respondents.

More specific comments are reported as follows:

1-The general structure of the content should be systematic.

As example, Author states that the building development of the city has shown continuous usage of concrete in the buildings against governmental visions. The beginning point of the study should show a basic knowledge of recognising the reasons of this failure, however it has not been investigated in the paper. (since it is based on a existing case study, the missed section must be available in the documents of the strategic plan)

I have changed the structure based on your comments and added a clarification to why the municipalities struggle with the switch from concrete to wood. This is not information that is available in any strategic plan from Växjö municipality and is the reason why I have not included this in any other way than in the introduction to create a general understanding/awareness about the current situation between wood and concrete

2-Author says that the process has been transferred from government to private and social actors to consider public interest in housing development. Even in the next sections, no consideration for this claim can be found. It has not been mentioned what are the benefits of this transfer, what were the goals of the government that this procedure has come out as a solution

This section has been reworked in order to further clarify my intention with the change in governance process. I agree with you that this could be reworked to further explain why the municipalities are acting in a certain way. This is also part of the point later on in the text that demonstrate despite the municipalities intention this have a risk of falling short of its intended target due to an insufficient process without standardisation.

3-For sure the research process has not been begun through land allocation…

the reader may get surprised in this section, the first step of any urban development plan is recognition of stakeholders and shareholders, the mutual benefits and potential contradictions. what are the reasons of the proposed solutions?

I have updated the research process and included how the building process is structured, i.e. decision-making process, that influence the municipality’s planning process. This segment has also been updated with the text you mention below in section 4 of your comments. I believe this change and update of this section has clarified how the structure looks like and the choice of research process in this context.

4-The background of housing planning in the city was mentioned in the last sections of politics and control mechanism… whereas, before starting the current situation, the background must be discussed and concluded with key point in every social, economic and political aspects. I would suggest to relocate this part.

As mention above, this part has change location and has moved up in the structure of the paper in order to provide a better understanding of the conditions the municipality is faced with.

Reviewer 3 Report

There are quite a few spelling and grammar errors and some sentences don't quite make sense

eg line 92/93

I would suggest giving this to a proof reader to finalise for you and reach the next level of perfection - this would improve the article.

On line 92 you translate "God bebyggd miljo" directly into English. As a native English speaker and fluent in Swedish I would translate this as "Quality urban environment" or "Quality built environment"

line 263 criteria is the plural, criterion the singular (this is a common mistake)

I enjoyed reading this article and learning about the wood precinct Torparangen. These types of demonstration precincts really increase our understanding of innovation with the possibility of taking the learnings to scale. The findings from the extensive interviews are written in a block form. I think I would have liked to have seen this broken up with a sprinkling of quotes from the various stakeholders. This a recommendation to make the text more palatable and exciting!

Author Response

Response to the comments (reviewer 3)

Thank you for your feedback on my paper.

I have made a few structural changes in the introduction and the research process to facilitate requirements in the review process. These changes have made changed your line reference slightly but since.

There are quite a few spelling and grammar errors and some sentences don't quite make sense

I have reviewed the document and it was proof read that hopefully took care of your concern regarding this topic.

eg line 92/93

Sentence have been reworked and updated

I would suggest giving this to a proof reader to finalise for you and reach the next level of perfection - this would improve the article.

I have gone through the document and sent it out for proof reading for additional changes.

On line 92 you translate "God bebyggd miljo" directly into English. As a native English speaker and fluent in Swedish I would translate this as "Quality urban environment" or

"Quality built environment"

Thank you for this comment, it’s been updated accordingly!

line 263 criteria is the plural, criterion the singular (this is a common mistake)

Updated

I enjoyed reading this article and learning about the wood precinct Torparangen. These types of demonstration precincts really increase our understanding of innovation with the possibility of taking the learnings to scale. The findings from the extensive interviews are written in a block form. I think I would have liked to have seen this broken up with a sprinkling of quotes from the various stakeholders. This a recommendation to make the text more palatable and exciting!

I have updated section 4.2 with quotes from the developers or members from the municipality. These are anonymous and I can only write developer or municipality, not specific people. This was already present in this section but I have added a few more comments from the respondents in this study.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The work is now improved. I suggest the paper for the publication after a minor revision

• The abstract is all about the necessity of the subject. The aim, main conclusion of this paper (not the mentioned project) are missing in the abstract.
• Outline of the paper should be mentioned in the beginning sections thus the reader has the conception of what he is going to read in the rest.

Need of English coherency revision: Hence, Växjö municipality have since the implementation of the national wood-building strategy focused on using wood in new building projects.

• What is this in line 52??

The planning13], which is a situation that have gradually changed over time relating to the building process and is intended to encourage positive development.

• Line 64: what is building process? Do you mean building intervention process?
• Line 74: what is Planning And Building Act ?

However, the Planning and Building Act pose restrictions regarding the municipality’s possibilities to pose specific technical requirements for land development projects.

• Line77: needs an immediate reference
• Line 120: One such policy is the national strategy "More wood in construction"", which was adopted in 2005, where. The strategy highlight climate and environmental issues.
• Figure 1 is not mentioned in the main text, also it must have explanations, labels, …

Author Response

I have addressed the general suggestions and comments indicated in the initial part of the review document, also more specified below.

• The abstract is all about the necessity of the subject. The aim, main conclusion of this paper (not the mentioned project) are missing in the abstract.

I have updated the abstract to include the aim, contribution and result to a certain degree, which will further clarify the structure and intent of the paper.

• Outline of the paper should be mentioned in the beginning sections thus the reader has the conception of what he is going to read in the rest.

I normally don’t include an outline since it is fairly easy to grasp the different component just by reading the abstract, which is why I still consider this to be sufficient.

• Need of English coherency revision: Hence, Växjö municipality have since theimplementation of the national wood-building strategy focused on using wood in new building projects.

The structure has been changed and this section has a better and more coherent structure

• What is this in line 52??

It seems that there is no line 52 in my version

The planning13], which is a situation that have gradually changed over time relating to the building process and is intended to encourage positive development.

Updated and clarified this sentence to fit into the context of the planning processes and wood building solutions.

• Line 64: what is building process? Do you mean building intervention process?

The building process relates to the total process of activities and decisions from the start of the project (e.g. planning decision) until finalized and building.

• Line 74: what is Planning And Building Act ?

However, the Planning and Building Act pose restrictions regarding the municipality’s possibilities to pose specific technical requirements for land development projects.

This is specific legislation that includes stipulations/boundaries for the actions that can be taken by municipalities in relation to the development of new building developments. I have also included a direct reference related to the legislation to make this much clearer.

• Line77: needs an immediate reference

This has been included and relates more directly to the legislative conditions in this process.

• Line 120: One such policy is the national strategy "More wood in construction", which was adopted in 2005, where. The strategy highlight climate and environmental issues.

This is now corrected and the reference that was at the end of the paragraph has been included directly after the sentence in question to minimize uncertainty.

• Figure 1 is not mentioned in the main text, also it must have explanations, labels, …

The figure is now included in the text and a direct reference have been included for clarification of the area and the agreed development plan.

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

The Author addressed all the risen issues. I suggest to accept the paper in the present form