Shrinking municipalities are lacking strategies

The population decreases in approximately half of Sweden’s 290 municipalities. The big challenge for these municipalities is to continue offer its citizens a good municipal service and a good living despite lower tax revenues. A new research report highlights how the municipalities handle this challenge.

This is evident in the research report “Policies for shrinking municipalities”, written by human geographer Josefina Syssner. The report shows that the uneven population growth creates big differences in planning conditions between small and large, growing and declining municipalities.  

The report shows that representatives of the municipalities with a decreasing population rarely speak about it. They seem to consider this to be a political failure which has to be hushed up. Furthermore, one can deduce that these municipalities rarely have strategies prepared to meet the challenges a negative population growth brings.

“It is unfortunate from democracy and citizens’ perspective. The municipalities are facing major challenges, but they do not discuss them with the citizens in a structured way”, says Josefina Syssner.    

At the same time, measures are taken to adapt the organization and operations of the municipalities in question based on conditions that are brought on by a smaller population.
“Municipalities with a decreased population base should develop a local adjustment policy”, says author Josefina Syssner. That kind of policy establishes how to prioritise and organise the municipality with decreasing resources.

“It’s about shrinking wisely. Instead of having unrealistic expectations of getting more people to move there, they should focus on developing ideas on how to manage their municipal assignments innovatively despite a decreasing population”. 
Let’s hope the country’s municipal politicians and officials embrace the content and follow the author’s recommendations. 

The report “Policies for shrinking municipalities” is published by the Centre for Municipality Studies at Linköping University, and it is fascinating.