Public housing companies’ role in reducing segregation

Segregation and the development in disadvantaged housing areas is one of the most pressing issues in Swedish society.

The purpose of this project is to analyse public housing companies’ role in reducing segregation in disadvantaged areas. This will contribute to clarity in what can be done, and which interventions work and which do not.

Framtidenkoncernen in Gothenburg is currently investing in disadvantaged areas, with the intention of reducing segregation, on an unprecedented scale compared to previous efforts by public housing companies.

The project will have access to detailed data about the development in the building stock from a sister project that evaluates the investment.Two project elements have particularly high potential to contribute to the state of the art within research, practice and policy development.

First, neighbourhood development has not been studied within segregation research with access to both detailed information about investments and mobility patterns for the entire building stock in a major city.

Second, data from customer satisfaction surveys (conducted by Framtidenkoncernen) contain questions of perceived safety, security and attractiveness of housing areas and have significantly more respondents compared to the national surveys of safety and security.These academic contributions can provide clarity for real estate owners, national authorities that are active in disadvantaged areas, and to the discourse about segregation and disadvantaged areas.