Negotiating the risk of segregation - public and civic responses to growing social inequalities in a "not yet" divided city

There is much research on residential segregation in large cities, but little knowledge on how the risk of increasing socio-spatial divisions is handled in smaller urban environments.

This study is located in Umeå in northern Sweden, a growing city with low levels of ethnic and socioeconomic segregation.

By following municipal and civic efforts for social cohesion in Umeå, the project will explore how social problems associated with large cities can be avoided when a smaller city is growing.The aim is twofold: 1.

To study how public and civic responses to (a perceived) increase of socioeconomic segregation shape community and the meaning of belonging in the city, and 2.

To identify key factors for a sustainable and democratic collaboration between public and civic actors in counter-segregation work. How is the risk of segregation negotiated by different actors?

What role may civil society play for local democratic and social development?The study comprises multiple qualitative methods, including interviews and workshops with public and civic actors and an analysis of municipal policy and civil society strategies.

With theoretical footing in intersectional analyses of conviviality and belonging, the study will explore the nexus between urban development policy and changing state-civil society relations, as well as the gendered and racialized dimensions of these intersecting processes.