Which families move out from metropolitan areas? Counterurban migration and professions in Sweden

Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing revitalisation of the counterurbanisation research within population geography by nuancing counterurban migration beyond the rural–urban dichotomy, including all moves downwards in the urban hierarchy. The focus is to explore counterurban migration patterns among families with children leaving Swedish metropolitan areas, and whether some groups of skilled professions are more likely to make a counterurban move than others. Using register data on all families moving out from metropolitan areas in Sweden during the period 2003–2013, we found a small but steady outflow of families, mainly to medium-sized or small towns. The highly educated are overrepresented among these families, thus providing potential for an inflow of competence to the receiving areas. Contrary to expected, the assumed flexibility in time and space among knowledge sector professionals does not seem to enable them more than others to pursue counterurban moves. Instead, public sector professionals characterise families making a counterurban move to all destination regions, while men with a profession within arts and crafts to a higher extent move with their family to more rural areas.

Nuancing Holistic Simplicity in Sweden: A Statistical Exploration of Consumption, Age and Gender

“…At first sight, our study thus suggests 'more of the same', as the studied holistic simplifiers undertook urban-rural moves without drastically reducing their consumption of housing and cars (in line with [5]). Their move from affluent suburbs to near and remote countryside nevertheless signals novel contexts that plea for re-evaluating the urban-rural divide [55].…”

“…Voluntary simplifiers may contribute to local transformative capacity in Swedish rural areas by their social and human capital (e.g., work engagement, networks, skills [37]). For instance, Sandow and Lundholm [5] found a small but steady outflow of highly educated adults and their families from Swedish metropolitan areas to medium-sized and small towns (in 2003-2013). Most of them were public sector professionals or males working within arts and crafts [5].…”

“…For instance, Sandow and Lundholm [5] found a small but steady outflow of highly educated adults and their families from Swedish metropolitan areas to medium-sized and small towns (in 2003-2013). Most of them were public sector professionals or males working within arts and crafts [5]. In another example, retirees' spontaneous activism for the protection and reclamation of a riverbank in West Sussex (UK) was studied in the context of "nowtopias" [56].…”

“…At the grassroots level, societal movements indicate tendencies for bottom-up translocal transition initiatives [3] and 'green waves' of counter-urban migration [4][5][6]. This offers sustainable development opportunities inspired by degrowth to decrease excessive resource use [7].…”

Using Remote Sensing in Monitoring the Urban Green Spaces: A Case Study in Qorveh, Iran

“…In 2014, 54 percent of the world's population lives in urban regions, a proportion that is estimated to raise to 66 percent by 2050. Medium-sized cities are growing rapidly as people escape the overcrowded and increasingly expensive major metropolitan areas to small metro areas and small service centers [6]. Urban high-density in and around developing countries' medium-sized cities affects multiple aspects of the urban environment including lack of urban green space.…”