Enacting vulnerable areas

Research questionsIn recent years, urban segregation and inequality has emerged as a central problem in Swedish politics. Special focus has been on neighborhoods categorized as vulnerable areas (utsatta områden).

Researchers have analyzed why certain areas become vulnerable and the effects of measures taken to address social issues in the areas, from intensified policing to urban redevelopment; however, they have often treated vulnerable areas as a given category.

This project, in contrast, critically examines the concept of vulnerable areas, and how the classification changes law, state presence, and state-society relations.

Our overarching research question is how does the enactment of vulnerable areas reconfigure law and state practice in urban areas in Sweden?Data and methodThe project adopts a comparative case-study design, focusing on two urban neighborhoods classified as vulnerable: Biskopsgården (Gothenburg) and Rosengård (Malmö).

To map the effects of the categorization, we rely on a mix of qualitative methods, combining traditional legal and document analysis with short stints of ethnographic fieldwork and semistructured interviews with state authorities, private actors, and civil society active in the neighborhoods.

The methods will allow us to trace the impact of the classification of areas as vulnerable from the level of law and policy to the local level of state-society interactions.Societal relevance and utilizationThis project fills a significant gap in academic and societal knowledge regarding vulnerable areas.

For policy makers, state authorities, and civil society actors, our findings will provide evidence-based insights into how the novel changes in law and investments in vulnerable areas impact the issues of segregation they are meant to address.

In dialogue with reference groups consisting of local stakeholders, the project will generate policy recommendations relevant also for broader urban contexts on how to best address pressing societal issues of urban segregation.Plan for project realizationThe project runs over three years and will be carried out in four work stages.

The first two years consist of empirical research, including legal analysis and interview studies, while the third year is devoted to data analysis, and two writing up and disseminating findings.

The budget covers travels for fieldwork, organization of workshops with local stakeholders, one academic-practitioner conference, and the publication of a policy report.