1. Shrinking Cities
- A Scandinaivian planning perspective
versus international shrinkage politics
IRS Leibniz Institute of Regional Development and Structural Planning
Stina Bäckström February 2014
In some cities, the high density of people in one place is the main challenge. To build
effective and expand in a sustainable way for everyone involved becomes the challenge, as
more inhabitants continuously joins. At the same time, other places experience shrinkage, and
find themselves in need to plan for a decreasing number of residents. In shrinking cities, the
obstacle lies in the loss – How does one go on when people leave? Will someone fill the gap
after them, or does the focus sometimes have to be to accept and adapt to the new situation?
In European countries, the highest concentrations of people can be found around and in the
capital, and in other rather large cities (www.landguiden.se). In these areas, the number of
people tend to increase steadily, and in some cases a rather large share of the newcomers, are
emigrants from less dense parts of the same country. In this paper it is my aim to bring some
of the cases of shrinkage problems into light, and analyse what similarities I can find between
them, as well as the differences that makes every case somehow unique.
I have studied the situation of the Norwegian and Swedish population trends, seeing as it is
two Scandinavian countries that both experience shrinkage in their less dense areas. Since the
largest population losses have been taking place in the northernmost regions of both Sweden
and Norway, these areas in the north are the ones that I will look deeper into.
Sweden

2. Sweden today is home to about 9.5 million people, and this number is increasing yearly. The
population growth is concentrated to he most densely populated areas in the southern part of
the country, while most of the northernmost areas are experiencing shrinkage, and watch
many of their inhabitants move south. Nearly 40% of the Swedish population live in one of
the three largest cities: Stockholm, Göteborg or Malmö. All these cities are located in the
southern parts of the country, and all in coastal areas. This growth image is expected to
remain in a foreseeable future, and the pressure on the south to provide services, employment
and accommodation for the rising population is big (boverket.se).
In the upper half of the Swedish country, the image is reverse. Many of the northernmost
areas are experiencing a population decrease since many decades, followed by weak
economies, aging populations and a lower life quality due to bad maintenance (boverket.se).
Southern Sweden. The marked area is the capital region, and the strongest County in Sweden – Stockholm.
1987-2012 the County increased its population by 30%. (Map: Stina Bäckström)
At the economic department of the Swedish government, members of a selected focus group
are currently investigating the question of giving extended financial aid t in the future, to
cities that are severely hit by shrinkage. The extended aid would be necessary in some of the
affected municipalities for these to be able to offer a basic commercial range and health care
locally. The investigation is broad, and one large project that has attracted attention during
2013 and 2014 is a rural/peripheral evaluation that currently goes under the working name
“Landsbygdsprogrammet” (“The rural programme”, author’s transl.). One of the questions being

3. investigated in the programme, is if there is a chance for all the small municipalities with less
than 5000 inhabitants to survive on their own, or if some of them need to be combined into
larger administrative areas in the future. If this would be implemented in reality, it could
increase the competitiveness of the cities, but critics argue that it could also eliminate the
local histories and cultures in a long term perspective (regeringen.se).
One of the greatest problems with the shrinkage of these northern municipalities is that when
people leave, the tax basis for the municipality is reduced, and at the same time, the remaining
population gets older, and needs a reliable health care.
In the political system that runs in Sweden today, a basic welfare ensures that all counties get
a yearly share of the budget, to be able to supply their municipalities with a base of health
care, local transportation and other things. In addition to this fund, counties apply for the
support they are in need of in other questions, such as larger infrastructural improvements or
large building projects that could be considered a national interest (regeringen.se).
During 2013 Norrbotten county applied for about 20 billion Swedish Crowns to finance an
extension of the train tracks in the area, but got only 6,4 billions, which have to be shared with
three other northern counties (Dagens Arena 26/9-13).
The Northern County as a whole has lost nearly 5% of its inhabitants over the last 25 years
(regionfakta.com), and there is no bright future to ahead, according to recent statistical
reports.
One of the statistical reports and municipal reports that have resulted in this programme, is an
extensive evaluation that was presented in 2013, by the statistical consult firm WSP, ordered
by the Swedish Government. This evaluation shows that 19 Swedish municipalities are at risk
of losing all their inhabitants within this century, if nothing radical changes. Tore Englén, one
of the persons behind the WSP report, says the following:
“By today’s date knowledge is considered much more important than being skilled with
handcrafts. Many municipalities with a low educated population, and escaping industries and
inhabitants, have serious problems with adapting to the new situation (svd.se, author’s
translation).
One of the most important industries in the Norrbotten County today, is the export of iron ore.
The ore is mined in the municipalities of Kiruna and Gällivare, two small areas that alone
produce about 90% of the yearly iron ore stock extracted inside the European Union.
(botniskakorridoren.se) It can therefore be argued that the iron ore-industry is the most
important business that is located place in Norrbotten today, since it is in the iron ore mining
that the most money flows yearly.
Luleå municipality on the south eastern coast of the Norrbotten County is one of the only two
municipalities that have been experiencing a population growth during the last decenniums.
The city has grown 12 % since 1987, (www.scb.se), the year that is my general starting point
for the population development research, to enable an easy, clear comparison. Luleå has about
75. 000 inhabitants, and is the main city of the county. About 22%, (17.000) of these are

4. students at the city’s technical university, founded in 1970. Other important industries are
steel industry and research related to steel, mining and mechanical engineering (lulea.se).
Northern Sweden, Norrbotten County marked out, with the regional capital municipality (Luleå) and the three
municipalities with the biggest population decrease 1987-2012. (Map by Stina Bäckström)
Pajala is a northern municipality, located in the western part of the county. It has been
shrinking since the late 1960’s, and is still experiencing shrinkage every year. Today, it is
home to about 6500 persons. In earlier times, Pajala was a place living from wood- and
agricultural industries, and it had its population peak during the beginning of the 1950’s, with
15.400 inhabitants. Pajala’s problem can in a retrospective perspective be translated into the
fact that the city was so dependent on a few employers and sectors. As in many other cities
with a monotonous economy, Pajala was hit hard by mechanicalization and relocation of
industries from the 1950’s and onwards, and also by the closing of the mine in the area,
resulting in that many people left, seeking employment in other cities (Pajala.se).
Pajala has lost 27% of its inhabitants since 1987, and the municipality is experiencing
continuous shrinkage yearly (scb.se). A new mine in the area is currently awaiting
governmental consideration and evaluation, and if it gets permission to open, a scenario that is
likely going to happen, this would result in many new jobs and attract people.

5. Övertorneå municipality borders to Pajala, and with 4.700 inhabitants it is smaller than it’s
neighbour. During the 19th and the 20th centuries it was a lively town, living from the
industries of wood and steel, as well as from some fishing industry (overtarnea.se). During its
heydays, the town had its population peak around 1950, where after it has been shrinking until
today’s date, and is expected to continue to do so. Since 1987, Övertorneå municipality has
lost 22% of the inhabitants.
The Swedish Newspaper ”Dagens Samhälle” (”Today’s Society”, author’s translation) has
been collecting and evaluating statistics from the Swedish governmental statistics database
SCB (Statistical Central Bureau), and the indications from the SCB-reports do not predict a
bright future for Övertorneå. If the shrinkage continues to follow the current downward
trends, the city will have lost its entire population by year 2075 (dagenssamhalle.se). The
inhabitants of Övertorneå today are mainly employed in the governmental sector, with health
care, municipality duties or similar employments (scb.se). The graph below is published on
the official homepage of Övertorneå Municipality, and illustrates the population trends in the
area over nearly two centuries, 1800-1990. The peak year was 1950, when the population
reached more than 10.000 inhabitants. After this, the shrinkage was nearly as big as the rise
had been until this year, and later reports from 2002 and onwards indicate a continuing
decrease.
(Graph: overtornea.se)
Another neighbouring municipality is Överkalix, one that also is among the top three in the
county regarding the loss of inhabitants. Överkalix was in earlier years offering most of its
employments in the wood and paper-industry, with a big sawmill running from mid 19th-
century until 1988, and a paper mill producing big loads of paper for export between 1950-
1993. Hence, the paper mill was established during the time when the wood industry started to
get less profitable, but in retrospect it was not enough to help up Överkalix from the drop.
(kalixbyar.se) Today Överkalix has about 3.700 inhabitants, and experiences a small but
steady shrinkage yearly. Among the people still left, nearly 67% are employed in the service
sector, 23% in the manufacturing industry, and 7% in areal industries such as reindeer
holdings (ÖP Överkalix 2010 p.41).

6. These three municipalities are all small, and therefore cooperation initiatives become
important, to lower the costs for each municipality, and to strengthen the attraction of new
inhabitants (ÖP Överkalix 2010: p, 41). One of these initiatives is focused on increasing the
level of higher education in the area, and has been going on since 1999. It is an association
called ”Högskoleförbundet Östra Norrbotten” (Eeastern Norrbotten College Association), and
it includes all of the three municipalitiesalready mentioned in this article, and two stronger
ones, Piteå and Haparanda. The association is working together cross the municipalities to
enable support with distance studies, open up institutions where students can write their
exams, and advert the possibility of staying in the area and still being able to proceed with a
higher education (hfon.se).
An extended evaluation done by the Swedish researcher Nima Sanandaji (2013) shows that he
growth of the southern parts of Sweden, as well as the shrinkage of the Northern parts, is
expected to continue at least until year 2040. New inhabitants will supposedly settle in or
nearby the counties of Stockholm, Halland, Skåne and Västra Götaland, where the highest
birth rate will also continuously be found (Sanandaji 2013, p.25). Even if only parts of the
calculations should turn out to be correct, this development would mean that a radical change
has to take place to be able to turn the trends in Northern Sweden in a foreseeable future- if
growth remains the desirable goal, that is.
The growth of the southern parts of Sweden, especially the cities with more than 100.000
inhabitants, as well as the shrinkage of the North, is expected in forecasts on a national level
to remain at least until year 2040, or as far into the future as most predictions reach. The
counties of Stockholm, Halland, Västra Götaland and Skåne will supposedly grow the most,
and more companies are expected to relocate to these parts of the country (Sanandaji, 2013, p.
25).If these predictions are true, radical changes have to take place to turn the trends in the
Northern most parts of Sweden - if growth remains the desirable goal, that is.
“Equal welfare” system for Swedish municipalities
One of the incentives to enable people to spread out somehow over the country, and provide
equal conditions for all municipalities, is the Swedish cost compensation system. This
compensation model has been used since the early 20th
century, though many improvements
have been made over the years, and the main idea behind it is to support geographically or
financially strained municipalities. This is being done by a system that frees economically
weak areas from paying a tax to the government, while the municipalities with an
exceptionally favourable economic and geographic structure, due to a high number of
inhabitants or visitors, a strong market or similar conditions instead pay a tax. The tax
incomes from stronger municipalitiesis distributed from the nation state as a support to poor
municipalities, enabling them to offer health care, food stores, maintain recreation places and
meet other basic needs of their inhabitants (regeringen.se).
A recently published research project, presented by the analytics company TCO for the
Swedish Governmental Institution “SCB”, shows the demographic challenges that Sweden is
expected to experience during the period 2013-2030. The study provides the reader with a
clear image of the divided country that Sweden has become, where the focus lies around the

7. capital and the big cities in the southern part, and the ambitions to drag small, challenged
cities out of the mud appear to small to make any real difference. Many municipalities are
dependent on the money they receive from taxes, and when the inhabitants leave, funding
basic needs such as a hospital and a small commercial market, become very hard. (Dn.se
27/1)
Norway
Map of the Norwegian Countys. The strongest County is Oslo, that has been growing 36% 1987-2012 (map:
Statens Kartverk Norway)
In the Scandinavian neighbouring country of Norway, the shrinkage of cities is a topic that
has been discussed, evaluated and fought for many years. During the latter half of the 20th
century, many industries, likewise in the case of Sweden, relocated or closed down due to
more effective technicalities, changes in demand and a numerous other reasons.
In addition to investment-aid forms and transportation support, the Norwegian governmental
system for enabling a functioning market in the challenged, less dense parts of the country
also opens for other supporting forms to keep people in these areas, and bring new inhabitants
there. Some examples of these are financial aid packages to companies moving their business
here. (“Norut Alta” report 2013)
Population loss in Finnmark County
One of the Counties of Norway that has been struggling with population loss for many years
is the northernmost one, Finnmark. In Finnmark today lives about 75.000 people, and the
largest age group by far is the older ones, inhabitants aged 55-70. In Finnmark only about

8. 40% of the adult population has completed a higher education, according to statistics
presented by the Norwegiam Statistical Database in 2008. This level is, together with the
neighbouring County of Tromsø, the lowest in the country (ssb.no). Since 1985 Finnmark has
lost 8% of its inhabitants (ssb.no), and is still shrinking. The largest outmigrating age group is
young adults, 25-34 years of age. The group has shrunken by nearly 35% the last decades.
This downward trend has been observed since the late 60’s, wherefore the Norwegian
Government started up a project aiming to turn this image as early as in 1990 .The capital of
The municipalities that have been hit the hardest by outmigration over the years are Lebesby
and Porsanger, illustrated in the map below.
Lebesby is a small costal town in the middle of Finnmark, and the municipality has no more
than 1300 inhabitants (lebesby.kommune.no). The economy is built up around fishing,
agriculture, tourism, wind- and waterpower. Lebesby has lost 25% of the population since
1987. The main reasons behind the population loss is the distant location, with long
transportation to the capital and to southern Europe, as well as the economic crisis during the
1980’s.
Another municipality with one of the largest population declines in Norway during the studied
period, is the neighbouring Porsanger. with nearly 4000 inhabitants today. Since 1987, the
population of Porsanger has been shrinking 11%. The shrinkage was bigger during the 1980’s
and the first half of the 90’s, where after it slowly stabilized. One of the reasons behind the
stabilization is believed to be the increased focus on nation state-level directed towards the
area, starting in 1990.
As stated, the Norwegian government has done much to prevent inhabitants of the Northern
counties from leaving, and also to attract new inhabitants. The County of Finnmark gets half
of the yearly aid funds from a project called “Tiltakssonen Nord-Troms og Finnmark”
(“Action Zone Nord-Troms and Finnmark”) The project is governmental, and financed by a

9. combination of the Counties and the nation state. It is multi-dimensional, and today it includes
the following incentives for Finnmark:
- A yearly depreciation of your student loans (If you are a Norwegian resident, and have
received the loans from the Norwegian State) if you move to Finnmark, or already live
there. The depreciation depends on how big your loan is, but the maximum is 25.000
NOK per year.
- Transport aid to companies locating their business in Finnmark County, due to the fact
that the transport costs might be higher for the export than if you locate in another
area. The aid package applies to companies that have a transport way of 350 km or
more.
- A cap system for electricity in private households. During the winters, Finnmark tend
to get very cold, and the electricity prices be unpredictable and a large cost for
families with a house. This initiative enables a safer economy, where the Action Zone
project pays the electricity bills if the get higher than a certain level, decided by the
size of your property and a number of other factors.
- Lower fees for employers that recruit new employees in Finnmark.
- Lower income taxes for private persons
- Higher salaries for preschool teachers
(lebesby.kommune.no)
Part of this financial action project is the transportation aid for companies. The main goal with
this system is to reduce the number of companies relocating or locating in another part of the
country than the North, due to high transportation costs and long distances. The money is
given to the affected municipalities as a part of the yearly governmental aid, and the cities
may also choose to use it for another purpose that they find to be of higher relevance.
The municipality itself finances it, and participants of this aid system include the three
northernmost counties of Norway. (Regjeringen.no 2013)
International shrinkage politics
In an international context, many similarities to the cases of Sweden and Norway can be
observed. One of them is the case of Eastern Germany after 1989. In 1989, major political
changes led to the fall of the Berlin wall, and the following years were tough ones for the
East, population wise. People left as the uncertainty of the eastern future was unwritten, and
the western regions could provide a safer base. As the market had been strictly controlled in
the communist regime, many industries in eastern Germany did not make it through the 90’s,
with new demands and conditions (www.ne.se).
Leipzig, Germany
One of the cities that have been fighting against a shrinking population and a rising empty
housing stock is Leipzig, one of the largest cities of the eastern part of the country. Between
1989 and 1998, the city lost nearly 100.000 of its 530.000 inhabitants, leaving a large empty
housing stock, an image of the city as unattractive, and many companies leaving. Leipzig has

10. through many different adaptions and initiatives in the past decades after the German
reunification managed to attract new inhabitants and businesses. (leipzig.de) Today, the
population of Leipzig is nearly back at the point it left off at the year of the reunification 25
years ago. Some reasons behind this turn in the population trend, is the focus on a high life
quality that has been very prominent the last decades. Culture is an important part of Leipzig
today, and it shows through many projects. Several empty properties have become concert
venues, poetry cafés, event venues or second hand shops, among other things. This has been
made possible over many years, and through initiatives and energy from many different
actors. Continuous cooperation between planners, architects, volunteers and brave
entrepreneurs has made change happen, and Leipzig is now increasing its population again.
An important factor enabling creative use of the empty housing stock of the city, is that many
property owners rather see that something happens on their property and that the houses are
being maintained, than just letting them remain empty (leipzig.de).
Bilbao, Spain
Bilbao, a former iron-mine and steel-producing city, and the capital of the Biscayan province
in Spain, is a place that has undergone radical changes during the past 100 years. Bilbao today
has a population of about 350.000 inhabitants. For several years, this was an important
exporter of iron and steel, with a blossoming industrial economy. The population rise was
very strong during the early 20th century, and Bilbao was a city with a remarkably developed
infrastructure. In contrary to this, the latter half of the century brought other times to the
region. During the 1980’s, Bilbao was hit very hard by the economic crisis that led to many
industrial closures all over the world, and not the least in Spain. About 100.000 industrial
workers lost their jobs in the region during a time-span of 6 years (1975-1979). The
shipbuilding industry was affected the worst, and 42% of the employees were fired, while the
steel industry staff declined by 21% (V. Goméz 1998, p.108-109).
By the end of the 80’s, Bilbao had become an uninspiring, injured and shrinking city, and the
ones thinking that Bilbao had a bright future ahead were probably easy to count. Many large
industry sites were left at their fate, the unemployment rates high, and higher crime rates than
before were among the negative effects that have been pointed out.
During the 90’s though, the gloomy spirit of Bilbao started another transformation. As a result
of a combination of things- the right decision-makers being involved and urban planning
trends taking new turns, the regional government introduced the Bilbao ”Plan for
revitalisation”. This plan was a document meant to change the image of the city quite
radically, and included a new metro line, cleansing of the river and other life-quality
improving strategies. A milestone in the development was when Bilbao got a Guggenheim
Museum branch built in 1997. This museum, and the new planning directions and
investments, has resulted in a city with a new face. Gone is the smoke from the heavy
industries, and with focus on fields such as tourism and cultural experience, Bilbao has
managed to survive an industrial shift and adapt to the new economic conditions- with all the
new demands and lifestyles that come with them (del Castillo; Haarich 2004, p.3).

11. The initiatives in Bilbao have been inspired by planning models of other similar cities, one of
them being Glasgow, today the largest city in Great Britain. Glasgow was like Bilbao an
industrial city during the majority of the 20th century, strongly affected by the economic
crises during the 60’s until the late 80’s. The city has been focusing on culture and other soft
values since the mid 80’s, and big efforts put into increasing the life quality of the inner city
to attract tourists and new inhabitants (V. Goméz 1998, p.110-111).
Denmark
In January 2014, the Danish Planning Institute “Dansk Byplan Laboratorium” published the
results from a two year study on population shrinkage in Danish regions and municipalities.
The report is called “Future of the periphery”, and is an evaluation of the current situation,
ordered by the Danish government. In the report, evidence is being given that the nation
would profit in the long run, if they decided to entirely “close down” a number of small,
peripheral municipalities, currently being held over the water surface by governmental
support (taxes) enabling them to maintain basic services to their inhabitants. The Byplan
Laboratorium show and argue that a complete demolition of these villages and relocation of
their services and inhabitants until year 2034, would cost the country less than keeping them
alive until this the same year(Byplan Report p.3).
Facts like these undeniably rise difficult questions about everybody’s right to choose where to
live, and if this is an undesirable top-down way of planning, with a narrow focus on the
economic part of sustainability, rather than on a human scale. Calculating costs and economic
advantages is clearly on of the easiest ways of evaluating shrinkage and its direct effects, as
quality of life is a soft value that is individual, but it might be hasty to found a complete
demolition of a city on hard facts like economic advantage.
Initiatives and ideas for a positive change
One of the questions that are frequently discussed in the topic of shrinking cities is whether
the shrinkage has to be considered negative, a threat against the development. Another
starting point is to consider shrinkage a challenge, a chance to change old patterns of a place,
and try out new planning tools and ideas.
This positive perspective on shrinkage in a planning context is presented by urban planning
professors I Zasada, S Alves, M Nefs and D Haase, in the “Environment and Planning”
Magazine 2013. The authors argue in their paper “Shrinking Cities as retirement cities?” that
shrinkage could, if used right, be used as a positive indicator, a marketing tool for attracting
old people seeking a calm environment to settle down the last years of their lives (Zasada et.
al, 2013 p.1455). Another point presented in the article is that if shrinking sites are maintained
in an appropriate way for the specific case, the quality of life could increase for the right
target groups in these environments. Acceptance of shrinkage and the right investments and
initiatives could, according to Zasada et al, shape neighbourhoods and city cores with less
stress, great housing options and a more relaxed lifestyle, contrary to the case of many big
cities (Zasada et. al, 2013 p.1456).

12. Stina Bäckström

13. References
Books
Sanandaji, Nimas (2013): ”Krympande eller växande städer” (”Shrinking or growing
cities?” Published by Reformnstitutet Sweden 2013.
Available at:
http://reforminstitutet.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Krympande-Eller-Vaxande-
Stader.pdf
Articles/reports
Nefs, Merten; Alves Susanna; Zasada, Ingo; Haase, Dagmar (2013): Shrinking Cities as
Retirement Cities? Opportunities for shrinking cities as green living environments for older
individuals. Environment and Planning A 2013, Volume 45, pages. 1455-1473.
Erkki, Carola (2005): “The decrease of Swedish Northern Municipalities: A study of 3 cities”
Bachelor Thesis Luleå Technical University 2005.
Dansk Byplanlaboratorium (Danish Centre for town planning) (2014): Vejkantsdanmarks
fremtid. Dansk Byplanlaboratorium January 2014.
Del Castillo, Jaime; Haarich, Silke N. (2004):”Urban renaissance, arts and culture: the Bilbao
region as an innovative millieu” in ”Resources naturelles et cutlturelles, millieux et
développement local” 19 pages.
Pallagst Katarina, Hollander Justin B, Schwarz Terry, J Popper Frank (2009):
Planning Shrinking Cities
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/popper/ShrinkingCities.pdf
V. Goméz, Maria (1998): Reflective Images: Urban Regeneration in Glasgow and Bilbao
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research., p.106-121: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
1998.
Governmental/municipal/EU-publications (Official documents)
EU regulations: Article 107
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2008:115:0047:0199:en:PDF
Swedish Government (2013): Landsbygdsprogrammet 2014-2022
http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c6/08/27/24/0421beef.pdf
Swedish Government (2013): Ökade exportsatsningar i Norrland för fler jobb
http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/119/a/226620
Norwegian Government (2012): Tilltakssonen Norrut
(http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/KRD/Rapporter/Rapporter_2012/Gjennomgang_tiltaksson
en_norut.pdf)
Norwegian Government (2012): “Transport aid for geographically segregated cities”

14. http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kmd/tema/regional-_og_distriktspolitikk/virkeomrader-
retningslinjer-og-regler/transportstotteordningen.html?id=527177
Norwegian Government (2012): Distriktspolitik: Virkeomrader
www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kmd/tema/regional-_og_distriktspolitikk/virkeomrader-
retningslinjer-og-regler.html?id=526844
Norwegian Governmental comparision abut shrinkage:
http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/KRD/Sentraliseringens%20pris/1.3%20Norge%20i%20en%20inter
nasjonal%20sammenlikning.pdf#search=befolkningsminskning
Lebesby Kommune (2013) “Economical advantages of a life in Finnmark and Nord-Troms”
http://www.lebesby.kommune.no/okonomiske-fordeler-i-finnmark-og-nord-troms.4645012-
145809.html
Boverket (Swedish Governmental Institution)(2013): Vägledning för samordning
http://www.boverket.se/Planera/Nationell-planering/Vagledning-for-samordning/
Boverket (Swedish Governmental Institution)(2013): Tillväxt utanför storstäderna
http://www.boverket.se/Global/Planera/Dokument/Regional_planering/konferens131105/9_2
0131105%20Lars%20Westin_Tillv%C3%A4xt-utanforstorstaderna.pdf
Official webpage of the Norrbotten-Municipality Övertorneå
Www.overtarnea.se
Official webpage of the Norrbotten-Municipality Pajala
Www.pajala.se
Overview Plan Pajala (2010)
http://www.pajala.se/PageFiles/488/%C3%96P%2020100702%20andra%20versionen.pdf
Official webpage of the Norrbotten-Municipality Överkalix
Www.overkalix.se
Overview Plan Överkalix (2010):
http://www.overkalix.se/Documents/%C3%96versiktsplan/%C3%96versiktsplan%20%C3%96verkali
x.pdf
Newspapers
Dagens Nyheter (27/1-2014): Avfolkning av landsbygden urholkar Sveriges Välfärd
http://www.dn.se/debatt/avfolkning-av-landsbygden-urholkar-sveriges-valfard/
Svenska Dagbladet (10/4 2013): Förslag: Slå ihop små kommuner / Suggestion: Merge small
cities
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/forslag-sla-ihop-sma-kommuner_8069066.svd
Dagens Samhälle (28/8 2013): 19 kommuner riskerar att dö
http://www.dagenssamhalle.se/nyhet/19-kommuner-riskerar-att-doe-6062
Dagens Arena (26/9 2013): Norrland nästan utan pengar i regeringens infrastrukturplan

15. http://www.dagensarena.se/innehall/norrland-nastan-utan-pengar-i-regeringens-
infrastrukturplan/
Sveriges Radio 15/9-2006: ”Norrlandskommuner söker kraft från Göteborg” (Northern
Municipalities seek aid from
Gothenburg”)http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=104&artikel=940266
Webpages
College project Eastern Norrbotten Webpage:
Www.hfon.se
A webpage about the history of Överkalix, partner of the official municipality website: (In
Swedish)
www.kalixbyar.se
Leipzig City Webpage:
www.leipzig.de
Statistics concerning the population development of Leipzig:
http://www.leipzig.de/buergerservice-und-verwaltung/unsere-stadt/statistik-und-zahlen/
Official Statistical Database Sweden:
www.scb.se
Official Statistical Database Norway:
www.ssb.no