ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Informal settlements card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 38 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPlaces & infrastructure
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Places & infrastructure

Informal settlements

Life in forgotten parts of town

Swedish cities too have housing outside the system: tent camps, caravans on industrial land, mattresses sublet third-hand with no contract. Who holds the responsibility is one of the city's hardest questions, shared between the social services, the landowner, the police and the Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden).

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · social services & land · approx 55 %
  • Region · healthcare for all · approx 5 %
  • State · law, police & enforcement · approx 35 %
  • EU · free movement · approx 5 %

The municipality's social services hold the ultimate responsibility for everyone staying in the municipality, but evictions and legislation are central government's tools.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe ultimate responsibility · centre of gravity
The regionHealthcare
Central governmentThe law & the coercion
Who decides?
The social welfare committee and the social services, plus the municipality in its role as landowner.
The region's health centres and hospitals.
The Riksdag, the Police (Polismyndigheten) and the Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden).
What do they decide?
Emergency help, shelters, outreach work and the decisions about the municipality's own land.
Care that cannot wait is to be given even to those who lack papers or insurance.
The rules for removing unauthorised settlements, the public order act and EU citizens' right to stay here for three months.
Where are decisions made?
In the social welfare committee and out in the field, often together with voluntary organisations.
In healthcare and in the regional council's guidelines.
In the Riksdag. Evictions are examined and carried out by the Enforcement Authority, sometimes with the police.
Who pays?
The municipal tax: social services, shelters and support to associations.
The regional tax covers most of it.
The central government budget: police, the Enforcement Authority and certain targeted grants.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Get involved in a voluntary organisation, raise the issue with the social welfare committee.
Regional election Views to the region's politicians on the guidelines for healthcare.
General election A referral response (remissvar) and shaping opinion around the legislation.
EUThe EU's free movement gives union citizens the right to stay in Sweden for three months. How the countries share the social responsibility is an EU matter, shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A settlement appears, what happens next
  1. EU

    Free movement, different conditions

    The EU's free movement lets union citizens look for work in Sweden for three months without a permit. Large differences in living conditions between the countries mean that some end up in vulnerability here.

  2. State

    The Riksdag has set the rules

    An unauthorised settlement on someone else's land can be removed after a decision by the Enforcement Authority, under rules the Riksdag has clarified. The police can assist when the decision is carried out.

  3. Municipality

    The social services reach out

    The social services hold the ultimate responsibility for everyone staying in the municipality and reach out to the settlement, often with voluntary organisations that have already built trust. Emergency help, shelter and information are offered.

    Point of influence

    The voluntary organisations are the hub. Becoming a volunteer or a donor is the most direct way to make a difference.

  4. Municipality

    The landowner applies for removal

    If the land is the municipality's, politics weighs in: how long the settlement is tolerated and what alternatives are offered are in practice municipal decisions. The application is submitted to the Enforcement Authority.

    Point of influence

    The municipal election shapes the social welfare committee's budget and stance. The issue can be raised through a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) and open committee meetings.

  5. State

    The Enforcement Authority examines and carries out

    The Enforcement Authority checks that the residents have been given a chance to be heard and decides on removal. The enforcement is to be carried out with regard for those affected.

  6. Your everyday life

    The people are still in your city

    The settlement disappeared but not the needs. How your municipality balances land ownership, social responsibility and voluntary efforts decides what you meet on your street next winter.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What responsibility does a city have for people staying there without being registered residents?

  2. Where is the line between the landowner's rights and people's need for somewhere to sleep?

  3. What role do the voluntary organisations play where you live, and what role should the public sector take?

  4. How would your municipality react if a settlement appeared in your block, and how would you?

  5. How should the EU's free movement be combined with such different social safety nets across the member states?

Glossary

Yttersta ansvaret
The social services' statutory responsibility for everyone staying in the municipality, regardless of where they come from.
Avlägsnande
The Enforcement Authority's decision that an unauthorised settlement on someone else's land is to be removed.
Papperslös
A person staying in the country without a permit.
Fri rörlighet
EU citizens' right to stay in other member states, for three months without conditions.
Härbärge
Emergency overnight accommodation, often run by the municipality or a voluntary organisation.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.