VR funds three Urban Lab studies on housing demolitions, social integration, and political participation

The first project, Demolitions of housing – Effects on individuals and neighborhoods, addresses a question that is often discussed but has rarely been evaluated systematically in a Swedish context: what happens when entire blocks are torn down to “break social exclusion”? The research team combines rich historical sources—censuses, population registers, aerial photographs, and detailed development plans—with modern register data to follow both children and adults who were forced to move due to demolitions from the postwar era to the present. The analysis will show how residents’ life chances are affected in the short and long term, but also how the socioeconomic composition changes in the affected neighborhoods when older buildings are replaced with new ones. The project fills an important research gap: existing knowledge is based primarily on experiences from other countries, where housing policy and the social context differ from Sweden’s. By building a Swedish evidence base spanning more than seventy years of experience, the results can provide concrete input for future decision-making processes.

The second project, Exposure to diversity and the social integration of ethnic minorities: evidence from exogamic partnerships, turns to social integration in its most personal form—who we live with. Sweden is a multicultural country where integration is often discussed in terms of work and school. Here, the focus is instead on how partnerships form across ethnic lines (exogamy) and how these patterns are linked to where and how people meet in everyday life: in neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, but also through changes in urban infrastructure such as public transport expansions. Using geocoded register data and historical population records, the project maps developments over time and seeks to distinguish between “pure contact” (actually meeting one another more often) and changing preferences (shifts in attitudes and norms). The results are expected to provide a more nuanced understanding of the link between residential segregation and social cohesion—and what can in fact be influenced through policy.

The third project, Refugee's Political Participation in Times of Restrictive Migration Policies, starts from the observation that voter turnout among people with a refugee background is lower than among the native-born—a pattern shared by many receiving countries. Against the backdrop of policy changes after 2015, where temporary rather than permanent residence permits have become more common, the researchers investigate whether and how the conditions tied to residence permits affect political inclusion. By combining administrative data on actual voter turnout with surveys on political trust and engagement, the project analyzes what a more restrictive migration policy means for the representativeness of democracy at the local and regional levels. The project can provide practically useful knowledge about existing barriers—and what measures can strengthen participation.

“We are very pleased with the grants from VR, which enable us to address three central dimensions of a sustainable and cohesive society: how we plan and build cities, how we meet and form relationships, and how we participate in democracy. Through Urban Lab’s interdisciplinary orientation and close collaboration with municipalities and other societal actors, the results will be disseminated and discussed on an ongoing basis, with the aim of translating research-based knowledge into more well-targeted decisions and initiatives,” says Matz Dahlberg, Professor of Economics at IBF and Director of Urban Lab.