Planering i tider av mindre : Att omforma krympande städer med Överkalix som exempel

Urban planning has traditionally been guided by the assumption that growth is both inevitable and desirable. Expansion, densification, and economic acceleration have long defined its goals. However, in many parts of Europe – particularly in northern Sweden – this paradigm no longer holds. Instead, smaller towns face a different trajectory: long-term population decline, aging demographics, and the steady withdrawal of services. This is not a passing crisis, but a structural transformation. This project explores one possible scenario if these trends persist. Taking Överkalix – a municipality in Norrbotten County that has lost over half its population since the 1960s – as a case study, it asks: If decline becomes the norm, how can planning foster not just survival, but care, resilience, and meaning? Rather than aiming to reverse the trend, the project introduces the concept of strategic shrinkage – an approach that accepts and manages decline as a long-term condition. The proposed spatial and strategic framework consists of two main components. The first component is Phasing Out – a management plan that maps the stages of urban shrinkage. It serves as a strategic guide for when, where, and how to intervene, ensuring that policies and projects remain responsive, timely, and attuned to shifting local conditions. The second is a Set of Five Interlinked Strategies designed to support the transition – Slow and Caring, Circular, Seasonal, Rewilding, and Imaginary – each responding to a different dimension of a shrinking town. Together, they propose an alternative planning logic – one that treats “less” not as failure, but as an opportunity for renewal, adaptation, and imagination.