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Area-based Initiatives by Municipal Housing Companies in the Swedish City of Gothenburg

External opponent

Ida Borg, researcher at the Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University

Internal opponent

Karl Kronkvist, doctor in Criminology and senior lecturer at the Department of Criminology at Malmö University

Practicalities

You are welcome to join the seminar on Zoom or at Niagara.

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Project description

The negative effects of living in marginalized neighborhoods characterized by concentrated poverty and social exclusion remain a central concern for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars. Area-Based Initiatives (ABIs) have emerged as a policy instrument to address socioeconomic deprivation, segregation, and urban inequalities. Yet, despite substantial investment in various ABIs, evidence of their effects remains mixed. While some studies address their potential to revitalize these areas, others suggest that benefits often remain limited to individual outcomes, leaving structural inequalities unchanged. Moreover, research has relied on large administrative units and a limited number of indicators, overlooking the multidimensional and small-scale dynamics of neighborhoods.

This thesis analyses the effects of area-based interventions in marginalized neighborhoods, focusing on initiatives led by Framtidenkoncernen (the Framtiden Group), Sweden’s largest municipal housing organisation, based in Gothenburg. In 2020, Framtiden launched a ten-year, large-scale investment programme aimed at improving the city’s so-called “vulnerable areas” through housing renovations, new management approaches, and initiatives to enhance safety and social cohesion.

Using quantitative analyses from several data sources at a lower spatial level, such as the property level, the study explores how municipal housing company–led initiatives affect neighbourhoods through changes in sociodemographic composition, residents’ perceptions, and housing conditions. The thesis aims to contribute to a better understanding of whether and how area-based initiatives can improve living conditions in marginalized urban areas and the role of public housing providers in these developments.

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