Dipping in to the North: Living, Working and Traveling in Sparsely Populated Areas

Carson, Dean B.; Eimermann, Marco; Lundmark, Linda

This chapter sets the scene for this book. It introduces issues that we relate with living, working and traveling in sparsely populated areas. We explain that ‘the north’ is more than an area on a geographic map. We relate this with seminal previous research on sparsely populated municipalities under constant pressure due to socio-economic challenges. This chapter also provides concrete local examples of civil society-based local development. It explains how this book nuances both myths of rural areas as struggling and dull or as ideal idylls. We relate this with views of countrysides as productivist, post-productivist and multifunctional. In turbulent times due to global political struggles, climate change and the Corona outbreak, this book shows how the north of Sweden and similar areas are heterogeneous in their dos and don’ts.