Land Strategies in Swedish Municipalities : A Study of Proactive Land Acquisition Strategies and Its Impact on Long-Term Urban Development

Sammanfattning

This master’s thesis investigates how Swedish Municipalities implement proactive land acquisition strategies and their impact on the long-term urban development. Urbanization and sustainability are central issues in modern society and municipal land ownership provides opportunities to steer physical planning. The research aims to examine how active land acquisition strategies in Swedish municipalities influence long-term urban development, while analyzing practical working methods, success factors and challenges. The study consists partly of a document analysis of 18 municipalities and partly of an interview study involving 13 municipalities. The interviews show that 8 of the 13 municipalities have formal policy documents governing land acquisition, while the others rely on internal guidelines. Most of the interviewed municipalities allocate dedicated annual budgets for land acquisition, ranging from 10 to 350 million SEK. Municipalities primarily acquire undeveloped land within development areas designated in their comprehensive plans. The time horizon varies in the municipalities, ranging from a few years to more than 50 years. Results indicate that development processes accelerate significantly when municipalities own the land, and that land ownership enhances control over urban development. The Swedish Land Acquisition Act restricts the ability to acquire agricultural land outside comprehensive plan areas, complicating truly long-term acquisitions. Economically, strategic land acquisitions are viewed as profitable investments, enabling value capture when undeveloped land becomes zoned for development. The study concludes that municipal proactive land acquisition strategies strongly positively influence long-term urban development, particularly regarding development pace, design, location, and holistic planning. Municipalities with active land strategies demonstrate greater capacity to achieve long-term objectives in housing, public services and infrastructure.