Sweden is leading the race to the city - Urbanization in Sweden
Due to Eurostat figures Sweden’s most densely populated areas grew at a rate of 17.3 people per thousand residents, far outstripping the EU average of 5.2. With more than one in five residents now living in a city, Sweden is outpacing other EU countries with its rapid rate of urbanization.
This trend is not new. Urbanization in Sweden emerged already in the mid-19th century, when a combination of the expansion of the manufacturing sector and an increased birth rate of the city dwellers made existing cities grow and new one emerges.
Natural resources like iron ore and wood were the main engines of growth in these days and resource-based production was located close to the these resources. In this way the industrialization process gave birth to many new cities. Not until the 1940s did the population of the urban areas exceed that of the rural areas.
The remains of the old times are visible everywhere. Probably tens of thousands of forgotten or lost places are spread over the country. Each of them telling a fascinating story about life some 50 or 100 years ago.