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From Folkhem to lifestyle housing in Sweden: segregation and urban form, 1930s–2010s

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  • Karin Grundström
  • Irene Molina

Abstract

This article analyses the political and ideological transformations underlying the gradual privatisation and deregulation of the mid-twentieth-century Keynesian model of housing provision in Sweden. We identify a series of three political and ideological shifts in housing policy and urban form since the 1930s: regulating Folkhem housing, deregulating Folkhem housing, and back to business in housing. We argue that even though the Folkhem parole of ‘housing for all’ differs extensively from the current situation where the market is ‘housing the privileged’, segregation trends have, from the Folkhem to the post-welfare period, been shaped by both state interventions and market forces. Second, we argue that there is a continuing trend through which newly constructed housing has metamorphosed from a basic human right for the working class into an expression of individual distinction and ‘style’ for the upper middle and middle classes. While privileged classes, more than ever before in modern Swedish housing history, have the possibility to choose new forms of housing, the most impoverished groups live in residual and often stigmatised peripheral housing areas. One main conclusion is that recent forms of housing for privileged groups signal a cultural and ideological shift towards new, more elitist conceptions of housing and privilege.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Grundström & Irene Molina, 2016. "From Folkhem to lifestyle housing in Sweden: segregation and urban form, 1930s–2010s," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 316-336, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:intjhp:v:16:y:2016:i:3:p:316-336
    DOI: 10.1080/14616718.2015.1122695
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    Cited by:

    1. Kolkowski, Lukas & Cats, Oded & Dixit, Malvika & Verma, Trivik & Jenelius, Erik & Cebecauer, Matej & Rubensson, Isak Jarlebring, 2023. "Measuring activity-based social segregation using public transport smart card data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Leon Müller & Jens Forssén & Wolfgang Kropp, 2023. "Traffic Noise at Moderate Levels Affects Cognitive Performance: Do Distance-Induced Temporal Changes Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Jenny Olofsson & Erika Sandow & Allan Findlay & Gunnar Malmberg, 2020. "Boomerang Behaviour and Emerging Adulthood: Moving Back to the Parental Home and the Parental Neighbourhood in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(5), pages 919-945, November.
    4. Lina Hedman & Maarten van Ham, 2021. "Three Generations of Intergenerational Transmission of Neighbourhood Context," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 129-141.
    5. Terence Fell & Johanna Mattsson, 2021. "The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Housing as a Potential Contributor to Sustainable Cities and Communities: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    6. Karin Grundström, 2022. "Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 499-509.
    7. Karin Grundström & Christine Lelévrier, 2023. "Imposing ‘Enclosed Communities’? Urban Gating of Large Housing Estates in Sweden and France," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, August.
    8. Barend Wind & Lina Hedman, 2018. "The uneven distribution of capital gains in times of socio-spatial inequality: Evidence from Swedish housing pathways between 1995 and 2010," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(12), pages 2721-2742, September.
    9. Ingemar Elander & Eva Gustavsson, 2019. "From policy community to issue networks: Implementing social sustainability in a Swedish urban development programme," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(6), pages 1082-1101, September.

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