One foot here one foot there: how is sustainable economic development, innovation and working life affected by second home ownership in Sweden?

This project is based on the premise that our daily lives are increasingly fragmented across different locations, for many that is between their primary and secondary homes.

Technological advancements, changing work and employment practices, such as freelancing and working from home, have meant that the home and other places besides the traditional office are becoming more central to work life for many people.

The purpose of this three-year research project, which brings together researchers from three Swedish human geography departments, is to study the role of second homes in work life and what they mean for sustainable development.

The analysis focuses on three areas: spatial patterns for the relationship between second homes and regional development, case studies of regions where second homes are prominent, and sectors where workers and entrepreneurs are overrepresented.

The goals of the project are to contribute to emerging research that challenges a traditional spatial division of urban core and rural periphery, to better understand emerging space of work and mobility, and to better understand second homes’ role in sectors and in regions.

Drawing on quantitative and qualitative methods, the project aims to question whether second homes can contribute to more dynamic local and sustainable economic development; and if using a second home contributes to people´s working lives in ways that might be positive to economic sustainability and well-being.