| 1. |
- Bienkowska, Dzamila, 1978-, et al.
(author)
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Brain circulation and flexible adjustment : labour mobility as a cluster advantage
- 2011
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In: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0435-3684 .- 1468-0467. ; 93:1, s. 21-39
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article explores the role of labour mobility as a potential cluster advantage. We review the theoretical arguments as for how and why labour mobility could enhance the dynamism and performance of clusters of similar and related firms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data from two information and communication technology (ICT) clusters is used to answer two research questions: (1) What is the role of mobility enhancing (or restricting) institutions in clusters? (2) In what ways does labour mobility contribute to knowledge transfer within clusters? The two ICT clusters studied in the article generally seem to have higher levels of mobility, compared to the labour market at large. Although it is regarded as beneficial in theory, most cluster firms try to restrict mobility of workers since they fear the risk and costs of losing staff. Labour mobility is also rarely viewed as a viable way to increase the knowledge bases or contact networks of firms. However, when firms need to recruit the clustered labour markets seem to benefit them by facilitating the use of informal recruitment processes. By way of conclusion it is suggested that cluster firms might be under-investing in mobility and that innovative institutional solutions could help realize clusters’ mobility potential.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Johanna, 1978, et al.
(author)
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User involvement in Swedish residential building projects : a stakeholder perspective
- 2015
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In: Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. - Dordrecht, Netherlands : Springer Netherlands. - 1566-4910 .- 1573-7772. ; 30:2, s. 313-329
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One factor influencing quality in the building industry is the ability of users, such as residents, to identify and express their requirements for the product, i.e. the residential building. However, the handling of communication with users in building projects has been insufficiently specified and studied. Drawing on a study of user involvement in building project design, production, and management, this paper examines user involvement in Swedish residential projects. To map current perceptions and approaches, building industry actors met in four focus groups. Group participants were asked to reflect on the definition of users, communication handling, how information from users is used, and challenges and opportunities in user involvement. Our initial emphasis was front-end activities, but focus group results revealed that user involvement was a continuous process extending from project initiation to evaluating the finished project as a basis for future projects. Discussions indicated confusion about who constituted users in various situations but, regardless of level of experience, focus group participants agreed on the importance and potential of user involvement and on the need for specific methods to acquire useful input.
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| 3. |
- Eimermann, Marco, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Exploring Dutch migration to rural Sweden : international counterurbanisation in the EU
- 2012
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In: Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0040-747X .- 1467-9663. ; 103:3, s. 330-346
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper explores whether the concept of counterurbanisation, expanded with an international dimension, offers a valuable framework for understanding recent migration flows from the Netherlands to Sweden. Using a geo-referenced database comprising demographic and socio-economic variables, the post-migration employment status, employment sector and settlement location of Dutch migrants in Central Sweden are analysed. In addition, results from observation, interviews and a survey during emigration fairs are employed to describe the motives for migration from the Netherlands to Central Sweden. We argue that counterurbanisation is not an exhausted research topic, when international political, economic and socio-cultural factors are added to the study.
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| 4. |
- Holgersen, Ståle, 1980-
(author)
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Economic crisis, (creative) destruction and the current urban condition
- 2015
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In: Antipode. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0066-4812 .- 1467-8330. ; 47:3, s. 689-707
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates the contemporary economic crisis, and explores crisis theories developed by Marx and Marxists alongside discourses surrounding human geography and the urban condition. Two positions currently dominate Marxist crisis theory: realization/overproduction and Law of the Tendential Fall in the Rate of Profit. Within human geography, however, scholars rarely discuss crisis theory in and of itself, and when they do, they tend to rely solely on the realization/overproduction approach popularized by David Harvey. This paper argues that both approaches aid a conceptualization of the current crisis while deepening our understanding of changing urban policies and landscapes. This paper also claims—in contrast to Keynesians’ calls—that crises are “solved” by destruction and devaluation of capital, not an increase in effective demand. These debates, as of yet not thoroughly discussed in human geography, can provide us with new knowledge concerning the current crisis and contemporary urban policies.
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| 5. |
- Holgersen, Ståle, 1980-, et al.
(author)
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“Green fix” as crisis management. or, in which world is malmö the world's greenest city?
- 2015
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In: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0435-3684 .- 1468-0467. ; 97:4, s. 275-290
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As economic and ecological crises evolve in combination, some policy strategies might aim at killing the two birds with one stone. One recent example can be found in Malmo, Sweden, where crisis management has operated, we propose, as a green fix. The district of Vastra hamnen (Western Harbour) is at the centre of the reinvention of the city: once the home of a world-leading shipyard, it is now a no less prominent neighbourhood of ecological virtues. Through outlining the history of Malmo in general and the Western Harbour in particular, we identify how the municipality and local capital in concert increasingly used "green" strategies in the urban policies that started as crisis management in the 1990s. Today Malmo is reckoned to be among the world's greenest cities, and we reflect on the importance of this international recognition for the city. Finally, we develop a critique of the green fix as concealing crucial factors of scale, and hence running the risk of myopia.
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| 6. |
- Hysing, Erik, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Building acceptance for congestion charges – the Swedish experiences compared
- 2015
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In: Journal of Transport Geography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0966-6923 .- 1873-1236. ; 49, s. 52-60
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lack of public and political acceptance is the main barrier to introducing congestion charges. Here we compared the experiences of congestion charge introduction in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg, with the aimof explaining differences in political and public acceptance. The results showed the importance of procedural factors, such as the consistency of objectives in policy packages, communication and marketing efforts, and the use of public referendums, and of contextual factors, including urban form, level of congestion, and functioning of public transport. Important lessonswere drawn between the two cities, but primarily on how to design, rather than secure public acceptance for, a congestion tax scheme. To build acceptance for congestion charges, close attention must be paid to the local political and geographical context when designing and implementing such a scheme.
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| 7. |
- Hysing, Erik, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Compromising sustainable mobility? The case of the Gothenburg congestion tax
- 2015
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In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0964-0568 .- 1360-0559. ; 58:6, s. 1058�-1075
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Congestion charging is widely considered an effective policy measure to regulate and reduce car traffic demand and associated environmental and health problems in cities. However, introducing restrictive measures to constrain individual choice and behaviour for the common good has often proven difficult. Using a specific case, the Gothenburg congestion tax introduced in 2013, we study the policy process behind the introduction of the tax and assess to what extent green values were compromised along the way. The tax was made possible by co-financing infrastructure investments, including roads, which seemingly contradicts stated goals of reducing car traffic and emissions. We show how the tax was ‘muddled through’ in a top-down political compromise by a grand coalition where different interests could legitimate their support in relation to the achievement of partially conflicting objectives and projects. However, to declare the regulatory goals fully neutralised would be to underestimate the scheme’s direct environmental effects and restrictive potential. Finding a compromise with powerful political and economic interests was necessary to get it off the ground. Once launched, however, it can over time regain its restrictive properties and lead to more profound long-term effects.
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| 8. |
- Jönsson, Erik, 1983-, et al.
(author)
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Spectacular, realisable and ‘everyday’ : Exploring the particularities of sustainable planning in Malmö
- 2017
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In: City. - : Routledge. - 1360-4813 .- 1470-3629. ; 21:3-4, s. 253-270
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ‘Sustainability’, often presented through an ecological–economic–social triad, is today one of spatial planning’s absolute key concepts (and key priorities). But it is also a highly contested concept, whose meaning is often considered evasive or vague. In this paper, we try to counterweigh such evasiveness by putting emphasis on the material landscape produced within a project that is frequently depicted as a pinnacle of sustainable planning: the Western Harbour in Malmö, Sweden. Regardless of how vague discursive definitions of sustainability are, we argue that there is a sense in which planning projects such as this one help stabilise the meaning of the concept. They become material manifestations of particular takes on sustainability. Through examining what has emerged as former shipyards and factory grounds have since 2001 been transformed within the Western Harbour, we develop a heuristic triad that highlights what is presented as sustainability therein. We argue that through the Western Harbour’s development, sustainable planning becomes ‘spectacular’ through a focus on building sustainably in a way that also attracts public attention. It becomes regarded as ‘realisable’ in that it should be achievable within current political and political–economic structures. And sustainable planning becomes about the ‘everyday’ in that technological solutions for greening inhabitants’ everyday lives are developed in a way that emphasises the local scale.
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| 9. |
- Thulemark, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Tourism Employment and Creative In-migrants
- 2014
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. - : Routledge. - 1502-2250 .- 1502-2269. ; 14:4, s. 403-421
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper analyses the importance of tourism employment for in-migration to Malung/Sälen and Älvdalen, two rural municipalities hosting two major tourist destinations in the southern Swedish mountains. It uses micro-data from a database that includes, among many other variables, residence and employment information. This work is explorative and uses longitudinal data that permit examining individuals and go beyond simple net employment figures to show that many in-migrants to these municipalities are employed in tourism and constitute part of what is defined as the “creative workforce” in the local labour market. In this sense, tourism employment is found to be a pull factor for in-migration of highly skilled and well-paid people.
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Ida, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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Clamour for glamour? City Competition for hosting the Swedish tryouts to the Eurovision Song Contest
- 2010
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In: Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. - Utrecht : University of Utrecht. - 0040-747X .- 1467-9663. ; 101:2, s. 111-125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For some time it has been argued that cities all over the world have become more entrepreneurial and increasingly competitive. Most research has focused on spectacular events in well-known metropolises, but far less is known about how smaller cities engage in competitive activities. This paper focuses on how, why and what Swedish cities hope to achieve by engaging themselves in hosting the tryouts to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which provides an opportunity for a critical case study of place marketing and city competition in Sweden. The empirical material is based on interviews with stakeholders in the tryouts. Our findings show that the local authorities do not compete in the same way as suggested by the literature, but instead collaborate to a great deal. While there are various motives behind arranging a tryouts tryout, it is noted that whereas the ESC presents an opportunity for a host city to 'place itself on the map', hosting a tryout is often mainly seen as an opportunity to show the organisers of the event the city's potential for hosting other events in the future. Our findings suggest that the main outcome of hosting a tryout, an outcome that the local authorities seem content with, is having arranged a glamorous party for the local inhabitants. The paper concludes by discussing why competition was found to be less outspoken than the literature suggests.
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