{"title":"Demographic challenges in regional development: A study of regional political leadership in Sweden and Finland","authors":"E. Sundqvist","doi":"10.1080/13597566.2021.1959322","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Urbanization has fostered territorial polarization in many countries with the shift from an industrial to an increasingly knowledge-based economy. This shift benefits urban regions by spurring economic development, while many rural regions experience population decline, shrinking tax bases, and economic stagnation. While demographic development is a major factor in regional development, it is unclear how it affects regional political leadership. This article examines how demographic factors affect politicians’ influence on regional development in Sweden and Finland based on survey data of regional council representatives from both countries (n = 930). The findings indicate that strong population growth does not have a strong influence on regional development in these countries, implying that regional political leadership is not limited to dynamic urban regions with great development prospects, as leadership is also present in rural regions. Moreover, political variables are more important for politicians’ influence than demographic factors.","PeriodicalId":46657,"journal":{"name":"Regional and Federal Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Regional and Federal Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2021.1959322","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"POLITICAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
ABSTRACT Urbanization has fostered territorial polarization in many countries with the shift from an industrial to an increasingly knowledge-based economy. This shift benefits urban regions by spurring economic development, while many rural regions experience population decline, shrinking tax bases, and economic stagnation. While demographic development is a major factor in regional development, it is unclear how it affects regional political leadership. This article examines how demographic factors affect politicians’ influence on regional development in Sweden and Finland based on survey data of regional council representatives from both countries (n = 930). The findings indicate that strong population growth does not have a strong influence on regional development in these countries, implying that regional political leadership is not limited to dynamic urban regions with great development prospects, as leadership is also present in rural regions. Moreover, political variables are more important for politicians’ influence than demographic factors.
期刊介绍：
The upsurge of academic and political interest in regional and federal questions since the 1980s has been stimulated by the salience of regions in EU policy-making and the Structural Funds but also by regionalization and federalization processes in many Western states. The most striking example is the devolution occurring in the UK, but the process is at work all over Europe and in other parts of the world. These developments have led to many important research programmes and projects. Regional and Federal Studies is a refereed social science journal which provides an academic forum for the publication of international research on these issues. It is essential reading for both academics and practitioners in politics, administration and the business world.
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