Landskrona: The Industrial City

This chapter describes the long-term social, economic, demographic, and political development of Landskrona, a mid-sized industrial city in southern Sweden. Around 1910, the population was about 15,000 and the demographic structure of the city was in line with other emerging industrial cities in Sweden. Industrial activity expanded, with some shorter periods of crisis, until the late 1960s. In most respects, the socioeconomic and demographic developments of Landskrona were similar to other Swedish industrial cities, with improved population health and education and expansion of the welfare state occurring in parallel with industrial growth. When the industrial crisis hit in the 1970s, this also affected population development and living standards. In-migration was replaced by considerable out-migration, and the population declined. This crisis had long-term effects on the city’s development and, although the population is now growing again and new firms have been established during the 1990s and 2000s, social and economic problems remain.