Although the idea of the entrepreneurial city is nothing new, recent research in contemporary urban geography and related disciplines indicates that the modus operandi of such entrepreneurial endeavors has shifted, as a result of an increasing recognition and acceptance of global climate change, to include and even prioritize sustainable urban development discourses and practices. While these discourses purportedly culminate in the production of the “sustainable city,” they often fail to deliver upon their promise to create a greener, more sustainable city for all. Such practices, in an effort to help cities obtain an urban sustainability fix (While et al. 2004), often lead to the selective uptake and implementation of “sustainable” policies and projects by local governments and members of the urban elite in their efforts to positively market their respective cities to potential residents and investors. The city of Lexington, Kentucky’s ongoing efforts to establish a new downtown park system—the Town Branch Commons—along the route of a once buried stream, is representative of how such a sustainability fix is both conceived of and ultimately produced by urban elites in the contemporary neoliberal city.

This thesis applies a historical approach to critical planning research to deepen the understanding of the ways in which the planning process of Stockholm Royal Seaport can be viewed as ideological. The Seaport is understood as a case study, in which sustainability is understood as a bearer of neoliberal ideology and a depoliticised concept. This study concludes more research is needed, and not the least more critical planning research which applies a historical lens to compare this case with other similar seaport projects to broaden the understanding of how planning processes and the ideology within them take shape over time. / Denna uppsats applicerar ett historiskt perspektiv till kritisk urbanforskning i syfte att fördjupa kunskapen om på vilka sätt planeringsprocessen av Norra Djurgårdsstaden kan förstås som ideologisk. Norra Djurgårdsstaden är använd som en fallstudie, där hållbarhet tolkas som en bärare av neoliberal ideologi och därmed ett depolitiserat koncept. Den här studien konstaterar att mer forskning behövs, inte minst kritisk urbanforskning som applicerar en historisk lins för att jämföra denna fallstudie med liknande sjöstäder för att öka förståelsen av hur planeringsprocesser och dess underliggande ideologi tar form över tid.