Renewing Urban Renewal in Landskrona, Sweden : Pursuing Displacement through Housing Policies

The city of Landskrona in the South of Sweden has never fully recovered from a phase of heavy deindustrialization during the 1970s and 1980s. After years of socially inspired plans and projects, the local authorities have now decided to shift gear and tackle problems of criminality, unemployment and social exclusion through a renovation and eviction plan of the inner city. The basic thought behind the plan is to radically alter the social fabric of the inner city through major alterations of the housing market. The “Crossroads Centre/East” plan proposes that the municipal authorities, together with five real estate companies, form a new company to renovate houses, convert rental apartments to condominiums, demolish and rebuild. One hundred million Swedish Crowns are invested in the company – 95 million will come from municipal funds. The proposal in the City Council, led by the Liberal Party, was supported by 49 out of 51 Councilors, including the Social Democrats and the extreme right-wing Sweden Democrats. The aim is not hidden: welfare recipients should be actively steered away from the city center and make place for a (imaginary) wealthy middle class. The overall objective of the company is “to improve both the physical and socio-economic status in Landskrona’s central and eastern parts." To understand this urban renewal proposal, we would like to present Landskrona as an example of a watershed in Swedish housing politics that forces us to consider: 1) the nature of gentrification processes in Scandinavia – from gentle to brutal; 2) the shift in viewing affordable housing as a problem, rather than a solution; and 3) the possible introduction of ‘renoviction’ in Sweden