In Sweden the number of rural food shops has decreased for more than 50 years. Often the closing of a village shop is supposed to affect the migration patterns in the area it has been serving. However, according to this study, neither in- nor out-migration in the area affected by the closing is...

The last decades have seen a rapidly growing interest in foresight methodology. Methods have been developed in corporate and governmental communication exercises often labelled technology foresight. In reality, these foresights have often drifted into processes of social change, since...

The scholarly interest in the political consequences of industrial decline across Western nations is growing. Despite the current global energy crisis, the electoral impact of increasing natural gas and electricity prices has received less attention, even though it represents a direct threat to...

Rural depopulation is a concern in many countries and various policy initiatives have been taken to combat such trends. This paper examines whether a hidden potential for rural population growth can be found in Sweden. If such potential exists, it implies that the development prospects for many...

Since the early 2000s regional enlargement (“regionförstoring”) has become an important objective in the Swedish regional policy. Smaller regions are intended to be functionally integrated into larger neighbours through intensified commuting. This strive is facilitated by the fact that the...

Efter några decennier av måttlig befolkningsomfördelning i Sverige gav 1990-talets andra hälft tydligt prov på en geografisk koncentration av befolkningen. Här argumenteras för att befolkningsomfördelningen bör undersökas på en geografisk nivå med samma höga upplösningsgrad som...

Though estimating rural population change at first glance seems simple, it in fact involves methodological difficulties and requires the accommodation of definitional ambiguities. This article addresses the matter of urban spillover in rural population development. Simply stated, "urban...

The paper will address the changing status of rural regions in policy formation in Sweden. Two basic processes are at work. First, decades of out-migration have given many rural regions a demographic structure, which is causing a self-propelling de-population. Secondly, the internationalisation...

-