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On the unintended consequence of area stigmatisation: selective flows of residents in and out of Swedish vulnerable area

Author(s): Juta Kawalerowicz, Gabriella Elgenius

Friday 16  |   11:40-12:00

Room: TP53

Session: Spatial Marking, Neighborhood Stigma, and Neighborhood Inequality

In this paper, we use Swedish register data and regression analysis to estimate the extent to which putting an area on the police-denominated list of vulnerable areas (utsatta områden) affects the flow of residents in and out of these areas. We hypothesise that putting areas on a publicised list makes these areas less sought after incentivises residents to move out. Recent research observed that putting areas on the vulnerable areas list is associated with a drop in housing prices (Andersson et al., 2023), this research is an extension of this inquiry and will focus on flows of residents. Even though area policies such as the police list of vulnerable areas list may be well intended with the objective of focusing resources on improving living conditions in these areas, they may unintentionally create a situation where the outcome is a further concentration of poverty, which may only escalate existing problems. Moreover, we address the lived experiences of residing in an area on the police-denominated list and outline key themes that contribute towards explaining the quantitative patterns above. We do so with help of a large-scale qualitative dataset and semi-structured interviews collected 2019 -2023 with residents, civil society actors and other stakeholders in five vulnerable areas in Sweden.