Relocation as a Strategy for Families in Search of a Sustainable Everyday Life outside the Metropolitan Areas

Emma Lundholm , Umeå University
Erika Sandow, Department of Geography, Umeå University

The objective of this study of this study is to explore the extent to which families’ migration motives are influenced by considerations of different aspects of organisation of everyday life in place of origin and destination. Thereby we analyse counter-urban migration as a relocation strategy in order to improve the social sustainability of daily life (i.e. better work-life-balance and quality of life) among families with young children in Sweden. Previous research in Sweden on counter-urban migration consists mainly of register based studies failing to address the complexity of factors in everyday life. In international counterurbanisation studies, lifestyle is often either overlooked or treated in a simplified manner emphasising “the rural idyll” rather than embracing the complexity of everyday lives. The project is based on a recent survey of families moving out of the metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö. In order to provide a more nuanced analysis of counter-urban migration, the analysis will not be limited to the traditional destination of rural areas, but on all moves out from the metropolitan areas to all parts of Sweden; cities, towns and small settlements. Thereby this research will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of recent counter-urban migration behaviour among families with young children. Our research will also recognise how families’ organisation of their everyday life, before and after the counter-urban move, is associated with their decision to move.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 59. Family and Life Course Perspective on Internal Migration