Planning for Refugee Settlement and Integration: A Strategic Social Sustainability Approach

Abstract: This thesis explores how municipal planning for refugee settlement and integration can move strategically towards sustainability. A conceptual framework was developed by integrating the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development with best practices and recommendations identified in the literature. A case study was conducted in Karlskrona, Sweden, to investigate how a municipality plans to settle and integrate a large and unprecedented influx of refugees, and to assess how the constructed Framework can assist in planning. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the Karlskrona Municipality were conducted. Keywords from the constructed Framework were used as a priori codes, to analyze the data obtained in the interviews. As perceived in our case study there is no full understanding of the importance of reaching Social Sustainability and all the essential aspects needed to achieve it.