Sweden's Northern Sparsely Populated Areas

The purpose of this chapter is to provide recommendations about how the national government can work better with the country’s northern regions (Norrbotten, Jämtland Härjedalen, Västerbotten, and Västernorrland) to improve growth, employment and service delivery outcomes. It begins with an overview of the growth opportunities and challenges facing these regions and the policy priorities for addressing them. The second part of the chapter discusses how well national policy settings related to regional development are adapted to the needs and circumstances of northern Sweden. The third part of the chapter discusses how to improve governance arrangements for regional development.