This is how politicians keep diversity away from their quarters

Published 29 August 2024 at 14.48

Domestic. Swedish politicians keep their own residential areas homogenous and safe by systematically stopping the construction of new multi-family houses in these areas. This is shown by a new study from researchers in Lund and Uppsala published in the Journal of Politics.

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The study, which is based on data from three election periods and all municipalities in Sweden, shows that municipal politicians are less inclined to approve building permits for new multi-family buildings in the areas where they themselves live.

In order to conduct a comparative study, the researchers use municipal elections where the left-wing or right-wing bloc won by a small vote margin – that is, both blocs had roughly the same chance of winning or losing when the election was close. After a typical even election, approximately 10 percent fewer apartment buildings are approved in areas where more politicians from the governing majority live.

– It is clear that politicians place new, unpopular construction projects in areas where they themselves do not live, says Olle Folke, professor of political science at Uppsala University, and one of the researchers behind the study.

The researchers worried
The results worry the researchers because the local inequality can affect the living environment in the entire municipality. When politicians avoid placing new, potentially unpopular construction projects in their own residential areas, other, less affluent parts of the municipality risk being hit harder. According to the researchers, this pattern can lead to increased inequality within the municipality, where already privileged areas are protected while other areas are burdened with more new construction projects.

The study also shows that both right-wing and left-wing politicians often live in relatively well-off residential areas.< /p>

– We see a clear pattern regarding the income level in the residential areas where our politicians live. Municipal politicians live to a greater extent in residential areas with a high level of education and high incomes, says Matz Dahlberg, professor of economics at Uppsa University, in a press release.