Samtida bosättning på svensk landsbygd

Sammanfattning: This study has two main aims. First, to describe population change and the growth of housingstock in the Swedish countryside. Secondly, to find possible explanations for these changes. The countryside is understood as the livingmilieu outside the builtup cities and localities (urban places). In line with the first aim, data on the population within and outside Swedish localities 1970-1 995, and individual data on the dwellings outside localities in East Central Sweden, are analysed. In line with the second aim the data on dwellings are supplemented by socioeconomic and demographic data on their residents. The study shows that the population outside built-up localities has been growing, particularly in the areas surrounding bigger cities. This is primarily due to an influx of families with children. Although many of them have converted existing second-homes into permanent dwellings, the dwelling-stock is growing even faster than the population. That is primarily due to young people leaving home. A British-inspired possible explanation based on the attractive force of the middle-class image of the rural idyll is rejected on empirical grounds. The same goes for an explanation in terms of low-budget detached housing. Explanations emphasising the reduced geographical restrictions on rural living (e. g. improved commuting possibilities) seem to fit the empirical data better. That does also implies that the attractions of the countryside as a living milieu should be sought for further back in history than in recent time. Sweden is a recently urbanised country where many people still have personal ties to a farmstead or village. It has also been argued that the national culture, for a number of reasons, is oriented towards nature and the rural.