Dealing with rural-urban economic welfare challenges in the Nordic countries - a theory-based overview

Abstract

Geography has played an important part in creating the Nordic welfare states. This article discusses how the urban-rural dimension has been dealt with in the context of developing economic welfare. Four different policy interventions are presented: exogeneous shocks, buy out, palliative treatment and endogenous growth through innovation. Of these, the latter prevails in contemporary policy discussions. The application of policy measures varies substantially between the Nordic countries. We have different Nordic models rather than a single model. While in the aftermath of World War II economic development and welfare arguments combined to justify geographical centralisation, the present climate concerns seem to align with economic interests to form a new wave of centralisation, though on different geographical scales. It remains to be seen whether this tendency is politically sustainable or not. If it is, we face a new geography of welfare along the rural-urban axis.