| 1. |
- Zhang, Jundan Jasmine, et al.
(author)
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Selling greenness
- 2020
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In: Dipping in to the North. - Singapore : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9789811566226 - 9789811566233 ; , s. 333-348
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In recent news reports and social media, there is a portrait of making 'green business' in rural areas in Sweden. Two myths are relevant here: the first one holds that rural areas are better places for making ecological or green business, and the second one that the rural needs to be saved and can be saved by such green business. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with nature-based tourism business owners in Västerbotten and Norrbotten (Sweden), this chapter problematizes the norms existing in the commercialization of natural environments for rural areas' economic development.
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| 2. |
- Bohn, Dorothee, 1984-
(author)
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Arctic geographies in the making : understanding political economy, institutional strategic selectivity, and agency in tourism pathway development
- 2024
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Tourism has long been promoted as a catalyst for socio-economic development in sparsely populated areas based on the commodification of culture and natural environments. This thesis examines the case of Arctic tourism in the two neighbouring northern counties of Finnish Lapland and Norrbotten (Sweden). Although characterised by similar resource endowments for tourism, these two regions have historically pursued divergent pathways, leading to different industry characteristics and spatial development outcomes. More recently, Lapland and Norrbotten have witnessed a remarkable increase in Arctic-themed tourism featuring soft nature-based winter activities and resort accommodation for export markets.To better understand the complex factors facilitating the emergence and consolidation of this pathway, a theoretical framework combining perspectives drawn from evolutionary economic geography, geographical political economy, and the strategic relational approach to structure and agency was selected. Through this theoretical lens, the thesis studies how wider politico-economic trajectories, institutional priorities and strategic selectivity, and entrepreneurial agency are intertwined in tourism path creation that takes place in path-dependent regional opportunity spaces. Empirically, the thesis rests upon a case study methodology that integrates expert interviews, document analysis, and spatial mapping of regional development funding for tourism projects and firms.The findings show that the geographical reimagination of Lapland and Norrbotten as Arctic tourism regions is part of wider socio-economic transformations. Export-oriented Arctic tourism is linked to a global political economy promoting economic growth and entrepreneurship, governed by multiscalar public-private networks, as the foundation of sustainable development and social wellbeing. For local places, the alignment with the Arctic represents an upscaling strategy to gain visibility and competitiveness within globalised politico-economic environments. At the regional level, public organisations mediate Arctic tourism pathways inter alia by granting funding and financing for firms and public-private development projects. The institutional strategic selectivity entailed therein privileges commonly established actors and business ideas over new ones, fostering pathway reproduction and the (unintended) continuation of uneven development structures. These opportunity spaces also conditioned the rise of Arctic-themed resort enclave as a distinct tourism product in Lapland and Norrbotten. Although these venues offer potential for new tourism development in previously underdeveloped locations as well as local business cooperation and spinoffs, there remain challenges, not least in relation to their limitations regarding year-round employment and a homogenous market focus implying a boom-and-bust vulnerability.To summarise, the findings of the four papers included in the thesis provide a nuanced picture of the processes that have shaped Arctic tourism in the two case study regions, raising attention to the limits and opportunities of export-oriented tourism for regional development and local communities in sparsely populated areas.
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| 3. |
- Bohn, Dorothee, et al.
(author)
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Public funding and destination evolution in sparsely populated Arctic regions
- 2023
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In: Tourism Geographies. - : Routledge. - 1461-6688 .- 1470-1340. ; 25:8, s. 1833-1855
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper examines the role of public funding in transforming tourism pathways in sparsely populated Arctic destinations, comparing Northern Sweden and Finnish Lapland. Our theoretical framework considers destination path plasticity and moments of change through the lens of geographical political economy to understand patterns of uneven development. This perspective helps explain how regional development funding driven by multi-scalar political priorities and global markets set structural conditions for tourism. We present a spatial analysis of public funding between 2007 and 2021 for private firms and public projects, complemented by document analysis and expert interviews. We find that public funding in Finnish Lapland has largely reinforced ‘Arctification’ and export-driven tourism in a few locations. In Northern Sweden, it has focused more on redistributing resources to micro-businesses and broader socio-economic development in lagging regions, yet with limited impacts on changing dominant tourism pathways. Public projects improved knowledge creation and networking among public and private actors but were largely unable to consolidate emerging pathways in the long run. Overall, regional development funding supported incremental change around existing pathways and had limited transformative effects in response to shocks or disruptive moments due to the rigid nature of funding programmes.
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| 4. |
- Carson, Dean B., 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Resource deserts, village hierarchies and de-growth in sparsely populated areas : The case of Southern Lapland, Sweden
- 2022
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In: Fennia. - : Geographical Society of Finland. - 1798-5617. ; 200:2, s. 210-227
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Small villages in northern Sweden have seen a continuing removal of key services, such as schools, shops and public transport, since the 1970s. Disinvestment in public services has not been strategically planned but has happened in response to population loss and increased costs on a case-by-case basis. More recently, there has been a shift in policy thinking to what might be termed a ‘de-growth’ approach where digitalisation and increased personal mobility are used to provide new ways of delivering services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of ‘resource deserts’ in Southern Lapland and the emergence (or consolidation) of village hierarchies in allocating public services. We map out the distribution of neighbourhood services (grocery stores, pre-/schools and petrol pumps) among villages, and explore the lived experiences in accessing these resources in different villages. Our results show that resource deserts clearly exist in the south and east of the region, while villages in the more sparsely populated western mountain areas were generally in a better position to retain resources. We identify a lack of consistent and transparent service planning at the village level as a key shortcoming in municipal and regional service strategies. There appear to be unofficial settlement hierarchies in the differential treatment of villages that are otherwise similar in population size, population change and distance to central places. We find that political decisions on service allocations are likely influenced by several factors. These include legacy effects relating to historic settlement status, the location of villages in relation to key transport or mobility corridors, as well as ideological factors favouring villages with more ‘exotic’ features and development potential in line with the municipalities’ economic, social and political priorities. We finally argue that a shift to de-growth needs to be more strategically planned if it is to eliminate resource deserts and promote equity of service access across all villages.
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| 5. |
- Demiroglu, O. Cenk, et al.
(author)
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A virtual geobibliography of polar tourism and climate change
- 2024
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In: Journal of Sustainable Tourism. - : Routledge. - 0966-9582 .- 1747-7646.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The polar regions are increasingly at the center of attention as the hot spots of climate crisis as well as tourism development. The recent IPCC reports highlight several climate change risks for the rather carbon-intensive and weather-based/dependent polar tourism industry in the Arctic and the Antarctic. This study presents the scholarly state-of-knowledge on tourism and climate change in the polar regions with a literature survey extending beyond the Anglophone publications. As a supporting tool, we provide a live web GIS application based on the geographical coverages of the publications and filterable by various spatial, thematic and bibliographical attributes. The final list of 137 publications indicates that, regionally, the Arctic has been covered more than the Antarctic, whilst an uneven distribution within the Arctic also exists. In terms of the climate change risks themes, climate risk research, i.e. impact and adaptation studies, strongly outnumbers the carbon risk studies especially in the Arctic context, and, despite a balance between the two main risk themes, climate risk research in the Antarctic proves itself outdated. Accordingly, the review ends with a research agenda based on these spatial and thematic gaps and their detailed breakdowns.
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| 6. |
- Demiroglu, Osman Cenk, et al.
(author)
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The last resort? : Ski tourism and climate change in Arctic Sweden
- 2020
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In: Journal of Tourism Futures. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 2055-5911 .- 2055-592X. ; 6:1, s. 91-101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the external and internal factors that support or challenge a possible transformation of Arctic Sweden into a major ski destination under a changing climate.Design/methodology/approach – The paper questions future availability of the physical and the human factors that foster ski tourism development in Arctic Sweden and suggests a comparative case study in relation to the already existing large resort-based ski destinations in Arctic Finland.Findings – Preliminary documentary analysis shows that the governmental and the industrial discourses over the past decade have acknowledged a competitive edge for Sweden and its northernmost regions in particular and may even propose a structural shift for ski tourism in the near future agenda. The visualisations based on natural snow projections presented in this paper confirm this comparative advantage but other technical and socioeconomic development factors are further discussed, in relation to Arctic Finland.Research limitations/implications – Future research agenda is suggested to cover, first, assessment of natural and technical snow reliability of existing and all potential ski areas in Sweden and within its competitive set extending to all the Nordics and the Alps, then, incorporation of adaptive capacities of the suppliers but especially the likely substitution tendencies of the consumers, and finally, evaluation of the overall situation in terms of the regional development needs.Social implications – It is apparent that land use conflicts will arise in case of large ski resort-based destination development in Arctic Sweden, especially around the environmentally protected areas, which are not only already important attractions for nature-based tourism but also traditional livelihoods for the Sami.Originality/value – This is the first paper to discuss a potential regional and structural shift of ski tourism in Sweden.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Lundmark, Linda, 1975-, et al.
(author)
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Arctification and the paradox of overtourism in sparsely populated areas
- 2020
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In: Dipping in to the North. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9789811566226 - 9789811566233 ; , s. 349-371
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this chapter, the Arctic is put in relation to increasing tourism to the North caused not least by increasing geopolitical interests in combination with the focus climate change is putting on the area, here referred to as Arctification. The growth of tourism, and the dispersion or concentration of tourists, has led to new challenges characterized as overtourism that in an Arctic context materializes on a microscale, where small communities can experience relatively large numbers of tourists for a limited time period. The implications of this increase and changing flow require more in-depth or locally based research. This chapter ends by asking what effects there might be of anti-tourism social movements, xenophobia or climate change in the future?
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| 9. |
- Lundmark, Linda, 1975-, et al.
(author)
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Dogs, frogs and degrowth : sustainable development and arctification as a destination development dilemma in northern Sweden
- 2024
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In: Tourism destination development. - Berlin/Boston : Walter de Gruyter. - 9783110794021 - 9783110794090 - 9783110794311
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The North of Sweden is a part of Arctic Europe that includes both wilderness and expansive industrial developments. Both contribute substantially to attracting tourism. In this chapter, the North of Sweden (Arctic Sweden) is used to illustrate how and in what ways nature and nature experiences are utilised for sustainable destination development. Furthermore, that development is connected to issues of degrowth, arctification and the possibilities of regenerative tourism. Here, two cases from Arvidsjaur are used to illustrate different levels of sustainable development involved in destination planning and development: that of the private and that of the public. The cases are the Frog Spring (Swedish: Grodkällan, Sami: Tsuobbuoája), which is used to discuss public destination development in a sparsely populated place, and the dogsledding companies which are used to illustrate (as part of) degrowth ideologies on an individual level. Adding to the current debates on degrowth we want to bring together and highlight the complexity and nuance of public destination development based on ideas of sustainable development and outdoor recreation activities locally and the individual motivations for setting up and running a business based on degrowth ideologies to look at how trends affect the outcome of such endeavours. We draw on interviews, documents and publicly available online material, all of which provide insights into strategies, plans and businesses on the local level. Results suggest that although the awareness of the need for sustainable development and the will of public actors to contribute to it are high, the outcome of development and management using such frameworks does not necessarily lead to sustainable destination development as seen from a holistic point of view. This also holds for private entrepreneurs who, as individuals, are seeking a sustainable mode of life and income.
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| 10. |
- Lundmark, Linda, 1975-
(author)
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Housing in SPAs : too much of nothing or too much for 'free'?
- 2020
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In: Dipping in to the North. - Singapore : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9789811566226 - 9789811566233 ; , s. 89-106
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, the lack of housing has been widely discussed as an urban not a rural problem. Population decline and ageing have been a common development pattern implying a surplus of housing. However, new patterns of economic activity as well as sustainability goals among the population at large will likely involve new types of housing demand. This has implications for the way in which housing and future settlement are planned for by municipalities in the north. According to the municipalities there is not enough (appropriate) housing and building new housing is too expensive. This is creating even more obstacles for rural development in the north.
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