Urban Flight & the Pandemic - A study of the drives behind urban emigration in Sweden in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract: In March 2020 the Swedish public health authorities imposed the first of many restrictions on social interaction, as a way to limit the spread of the covid-19 pandemic. Coinciding with this is a new standard to work from home, as well as increased waves of migration out of Sweden’s major cities. This thesis aims to gain an understanding of current trends of urban emigration in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden, as well as how said pandemic is affecting people’s relationships to the urban environment. This is accomplished through a case study research design, focusing on collecting empirical material through six semi-structured interviews with people who have moved from an urban to a rural location, mainly since the start of the pandemic. The data has been processed and then analysed through a conceptual framework focusing on a relational approach to urbanity and migration. The findings of the study concludes that there is an ongoing romantization and a longing for rural life within Sweden’s middle class, increasingly acted upon as a result of the pandemic and the subsequently increased digitalization of day-to-day life. Additionally, digitalization is deemed to be a major enabling factor to the process of migration as it removes some of its obstacles, enabling more to pursue it. Finally, it is concluded that the process of urban emigration is a privileged one, allowing some to exchange an increasingly overwhelming urban life for a self-realizing rural.