Wicked problems are problems that have many dimensions, are hard to pin down and consequently are extremely challenging to solve. As there are no winning formulas, there is a need for different approaches towards a sustainable future where wicked problems are no more. Gothenburg, like several other European cities, experiences big gaps between its geographical areas and sectors of society. Especially the city's northeastern parts grapple with uneven development induced by unreleased social capital through failed integration and unexploited green areal resources. Onto this arena enters the project Urban Rural Gothenburg, although with a strikingly different agenda. Rather than yet again rehearse familiar policies of unrestrained openness and multiculturalism, the project consciously eschews this rhetoric and instead focuses on achieving socioeconomic sustainability for all through improved conditions for green innovation and green business development. It also aims to link the physical and conceptual boundaries between the city and the countryside, given that the North-East of Gothenburg forms a transitional zone between the two spheres. As such, the project attempts to think outside the box by indirectly capturing several wicked problems at once, including poverty, migration, food injustice, ethnic tensions, climate change and informality. This presentation focuses on the methodologies involved that can help contribute to the development of new knowledge and new ways of local economic development while maintaining a low-carbon impact with beneficial outcomes for every citizen.