Planning for shrinkage? Policy implications of demographic decline in Swedish municipalities

Abstract

The aim of this article is to understand local government response to demographic decline. The article is based on documentary sources from five municipalities in Östergötland County, Sweden, and illustrates how local governments understand demographic change as an important prerequisite for policy and planning. It also shows that although demographic decline is conceptualized as being driven by external factors, demographic growth does stand out as an important policy goal for these local governments. The article also demonstrates that demographic decline has led to several political decisions in terms of budget cuts and new priorities. Yet these decisions do not belong to an overall strategy. Instead, they stand out as fragmented attempts to solve multidimensional problems. It is clear that local governments are not succeeding in working out explicit strategies for dealing with shrinkage. Two major implications of this shortcoming are identified: lack of transparency and lack of understanding of best practice. As a consequence, the author thus calls for the development of local adaptation policies in shrinking municipalities in Sweden.