Elm Conflict

The Stockholm city council, supported by the Swedish government, proposed cutting down the trees to prevent damage to the nearby subway.

The Elm Conflict led to an examination of the need for citizens to have more input into the decision-making process of the city council, and received significant attention in Sweden's national media.

[3] Officials decided that undertaking repairs would be too difficult, so they proposed cutting down the trees and placing the entrance to the new subway station at that location.

The protesters made phone lists (an early form of the smart mob technique of public mobilisation) in case the police entered the tent camps.

[4] The protests and the outcome are considered a turning point in the redevelopment of Norrmalm and have contributed to more attention being paid by the Swedish government to public demands and questions.