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Sparsely populated areas (SPAs) have recently been described as a special geographic category with a range of unique features. One such feature is the idea that individual settlements are disconnected from each other (internally disconnected), and becoming increasingly disconnected over time, as they are separated by distance, diverse development pathways and different socio-economic characteristics. SPAs lack the sorts of stable and reciprocal core-periphery structures common for rural areas in more densely populated settings, meaning that they do not share populations and labor markets within their regions and rely on external and more unpredictable sources of human capital. This paper examines the extent to which the disconnectedness hypothesis applies in the context of sparsely populated municipalities in northern Sweden. Specifically, it compares local (within-county) migration intensities of working age people in northern SPAs with those in other Swedish municipalities over a 21-year period, considering differences across age groups. It also analyses the relationships between change in migration intensity, net-migration position, and population growth over time. The results confirm that northern SPAs were more disconnected than the rest of Sweden, particularly when looking at in-migration intensity. However, they were not consistently more disconnected than other rural municipalities in the south, raising questions about the validity of disconnectedness as an independently defining feature of SPAs. We also find that increased connectedness (through higher local migration intensities) leads to lower in-migration rates for most age groups and poorer net-migration position, suggesting that more resource intensive external labor recruitment may have more desirable outcomes than local labor development.

Les zones faiblement peuplées (SPA) ont récemment été décrites comme une catégorie géographique particulière avec un éventail de caractéristiques uniques. Une de ces caractéristiques est l’idée qu’elles sont déconnectées en interne, et deviennent de plus en plus déconnectées au fil du temps, étant donné que les villages sont séparés par la distance, par différents modes de développement et par des caractéristiques socio-économiques différentes. Les zones faiblement peuplées sont dépourvues des types de structures centre-périphérie, stables et réciproques, qui sont courantes dans les zones rurales plus densément peuplées, ce qui signifie qu’elles ne partagent pas les populations et les marchés du travail à l’intérieur de leurs régions et qu’elles comptent sur des sources de capital humain externes et plus imprévisibles. Cette étude analyse dans quelle mesure l’hypothèse de déconnexion s’applique dans le contexte de municipalités faiblement peuplées dans le nord de la Suède. En particulier, elle compare les intensités migratoires locales (à l’intérieur du comté) des personnes en âge de travailler dans les zones faiblement peuplées du Nord avec celles dans d’autres municipalités suédoises sur une période de 21 ans, prenant en considération les différences entre les groupes d’âge. Elle analyse également les relations entre le changement de l’intensité migratoire, la position nette de la migration, et la croissance démographique au fil du temps. Les résultats confirment que les zones faiblement peuplées du Nord sont davantage déconnectées que le reste de la Suède, particulièrement lorsqu’on observe l’intensité de la migration entrante. Cependant, elles ne sont pas constamment plus déconnectées que d’autres municipalités rurales dans le Sud, ce qui suscite des questions sur la validité de l’hypothèse de déconnexion comme un trait caractéristique distinct des zones faiblement peuplées. Nous constatons aussi qu’une connectivité accrue (par des intensités migratoires locales plus élevées) mène à des taux plus faibles de migration entrante pour la plupart des groupes d’âge et une position moins bonne en migration nette, ce qui suggère que le recrutement de main-d’œuvre externe, qui exige plus de ressources, pourrait avoir des résultats plus souhaitables que le développement de la main d’œuvre locale.

This paper investigates municipal government initiatives targeting ‘local development’ and community sustainability in municipal peripheries in rural Västerbotten, Sweden. Analysing planning documents, we identify 142 initiatives from 2022 to 2023 using a social determinants of health (SDH) framework, particularly focusing on labour, business development, technology adoption, municipality-business collaboration, supporting village associations, and alternative modes of service delivery. We conclude that municipalities are attempting to support individual villages and place-based communities in determining their own development paths across all SDH domains, suggesting a shift from central-place to decentralised planning models.

This paper investigates rural–urban disparities in the experiences of in-home care services for older adults in a sparsely populated municipality (Storuman) in Northern Sweden. Such municipalities are characterised by long-term population loss and ageing, an increasing concentration of residents and services in municipal centres and resultant rural ‘resource deserts’. Disparities are measured through four ‘endpoint’ measures—exits to residential care, resource use, longevity and survival in the in-home care system. Data were drawn from the municipality’s care service contract database (2014–2020). Users living in the municipal centre had lower resource use and used direct care less frequently than those in smaller and more distant settlements. Those living near a grocery store were more likely than others to survive long term in the in-home care system. The research reveals a potential to reduce exits to residential care, to make more effective use of direct care and shopping services and to limit disruptive transfers of care, particularly between municipal and regional health services. Overall, there was limited evidence of rural–urban disparities in in-home care outcomes, but particular attention should be paid to transactional proximity of different parts of the care system and proactive rather than reactive care planning. The paper contributes to debates about quality measures for in-home care and the impacts of micro-urbanisation on the lives of people living in sparsely populated areas.

Statistikmyndigheten SCB (2023) visar att 14774 människor födda i Nederländerna bodde i Sverige 2022 vilket var mer än tre gånger så många som år 2000. Befolkning från Tyskland och Schweiz ökade också, och många av dem bosatte sig i avlägsna landsbygdsområden eller isolerade byar (Carson & Carson, 2018; Eimermann, 2015a). Migranterna gör ofta så i hopp om att kunna komma ifrån karriärhetsen och det hektiska stadslivet och i stället kunna ägna sig åt utomhusaktiviteter i orörd natur och lugn omgivning samtidigt som de kan spendera mer tid med familjen (Carson m.fl., 2018; Eimermann, 2013). Dessa före-ställningar om det goda livet på Sveriges landsbygd motsvarar många internationella livsstilsmigranters motiv (Benson & O’Reilly, 2009, 2016). Utifrån detta kommer vi att kortfattat introducera livsstilsmigration som en teoretisk ram och interkulturell kommunikation som ett mer praktiskt verktyg för att förstå våra empiriska data, innan vi nyanserar myten om att dessa européer lätt integreras i de svenska värdsamhällena.

I detta kapitel introduceras begreppen ”tomrum” och ”platser emellan”. Begreppen är delvis kopplade till en jämförelse mellan Nordnorge och norra Sverige. Tomrum kan begreppsliggöras på många sätt, från ett fysiskt vakuum till ett rum tomt på företeelser eller geografiska objekt. Inom samhällsvetenskap och geografi hänvisar det ofta till bristen på något i det geografiska rummet, brist på resurser, människor eller aktiviteter. Fördelningen av geografiska objekt som människor är också relaterad till aktiviteter, resurser och andra människor. Rummet blir relationellt. Den relationella förståelsen av rummet refererar bland annat till hur individer försörjer sig. Människans eller individens relation till det fysiska rummet förändras också över tid. Det relationella rummet genomgår en förändring. Många idéer om relationen mellan människor och rum är baserade på Torsten Hägerstrand och hans tidsgeografi (Hägerstrand 1974, Stjernström 1998, Rönnlund & Tollefsen 2016). Det relationella rummet (Lefebvre 2014) och tanken om den dynamiska relationen mellan aktör och struktur, som utvecklats av Anthony Giddens (1984) (inspirerad av Hägerstrands tidsgeografiska postulat om det fysikaliska rummet), markerar en av de teoretiska utgångspunkterna i denna text.

This paper examines the social context of “domestic food production” (dfp) in the inland North of Sweden, with a focus on understanding the contributions of non-commercial food distribution to local food security and sustainable rural community-building. We report on the findings of an exploratory pilot study that included an online survey of 305 people who engaged in at least one dfp activity (hunting, fishing, foraging, or farming). The aims were to uncover common social practices of dfp, as well as to identify key values attached to dfp, the extent of commercial and non-commercial distribution of home-produced food, and motivations to give away food. The main findings emphasize the social nature of dfp activities, with the vast majority of respondents undertaking dfp in groups or as part of formal clubs. Key values attached to dfp included social and community-related aspects, while commercial interests were limited. Respondents were more likely to engage in non-commercial distribution networks, usually involving close family and friends. Food givers mostly cited social factors as their main motivations rather than other food-related aspects (such as food security, health benefits, or food waste). Food givers were also likely to receive food from others, emphasizing the relatively narrow and reciprocal character of non-commercial food networks. We conclude that non-commercial dfp networks may be expanded to the broader community by exploiting the social nature of dfp and encouraging generalized reciprocity led by dfp clubs. This could potentially reduce the negative impacts of food deserts whilst also stimulating community interactions, learning and local dfp communities of practice.

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.

This chapter explores the relation between folklore, food, and tourism in the Swedish part of the cross-national country of Sápmi, the land of the indigenous Sámi. Tourism has been labelled as an experience industry, offering opportunities for entrepreneurs in remote regions to create unique stories as a tool for marketing, product development, and branding. However, when heritage is commercialised, issues related to control are vital in order to remain respectful. Two examples of Sámi food tourism initiatives are described here, both based in the region Västerbotten and operated by Sámi organisations. Together, they illustrate how food, heritage, and communication can be performed in virtual as well as tangible ways, offering both economic and sociocultural potential.

This article introduces the special issue Changing dimensions of lifestyle mobilities in turbulent times: impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks and multiple crises. It aims not just to understand the individual drivers and consequences of mobility but their interactions with local manifestations of spatial (in)justice in various meaningful places. This editorial synthesizes the four studies of population flows in proximate and remote rural areas in Europe, and puts their contributions to the fields of lifestyle migration and mobilities in context. We introduce the lifestyle migration hub meeting that inspired this special issue and a mobility spectrum around which the article revolves. We then indicate common interests of lifestyle migration and rural tourism geographies, focusing on the contributors’ use of human geographic perspectives and aided by observations from ongoing ethnographic work about the demographic future of small villages in northern Sweden. A discussion of multiple disruptions, precarity and vulnerability is linked with a review of the papers before elaborating on destinations and communities as meaningful but vulnerable places. The conclusion outlines how concerns with people’s and place’s vulnerability and precarity in multiple disruptions to mobility flows can be further explored in cordial dialogue between scholars of lifestyle migration/mobility and tourism geography.

This chapter increases our understanding of how intra-European lifestyle migrants may transform communities in sparsely populated areas (SPAs) through their engagements in civil society, using the example of a dogsledding community in Arctic Sweden. In-depth narrative analysis of interviews with international migrant dogsledders and longer-term residents shows the heterogeneity of communities in sparsely populated settings and their diverse perspectives on community transformation and renewal in response to challenges of demographic shrinkage (Eimermann et al., 2022). The case study village of Gafsele in Åsele municipality provides an interesting study context as it is home to a relatively large group of international migrants, many of whom were attracted by exceptional opportunities for dogsledding and an internationally renowned trail network. The local dogsledding club organizes an annual dogsledding event (the Gafsele Open) attracting Swedish and international participants. Balancing their incomes and lifestyles around dogsledding activities, migrants are engaging in the club and co-organizing the event as individuals and through their businesses (D.A. Carson et al., 2018; Eimermann & Singleton, 2021). This area is thus exploring its potential for local rural development through community- and nature-based tourism.