Districts of Sweden
Municipalities in Sweden are in some rare cases divided into smaller districts or urban districts, and are sometimes assigned administrative boards responsible for certain areas of governance in their respective areas. These districts are not specified by national Swedish law, but rather are created by individual municipalities, and thus the Swedish names of these districts vary greatly from municipality to municipality, including kommundelar, stadsdelar, stadsdelområden, primärområden, or stadsdelsnämndsområden. The degree of administrative autonomy of these districts similarly varies greatly, but is normally very limited.[citation needed]
On 1 January 2016 a new form of division of Sweden was introduced. This division is called registration districts (Swedish: distrikt). These are used for certain administrative purposes by some national authorities, such as land ownership and statistics. This is not the same as the urban districts which are divisions held by some municipalities.
Stockholm
[edit]Overview
[edit]
Metropolitan Stockholm consists of 26 municipalities, each municipality is divided into smaller subdivisions/districts.
Stockholm Municipality uses the English term "city district departments" (stadsdelområde) to describe these subdivisions.[1]
The districts were first created in 1997 to facilitate the efficiency of local government in Stockholm. The number of districts was reduced from 24 to 18 the following year, and reduced again to the 14 in 2007. Since the establishment of these districts, certain administrative tasks, such as school administration were re-centralized.[citation needed]
Each district has its own district administration, led by a district council, which is responsible for certain areas of municipal governance within their district, including pre-school education, park maintenance, local economic initiatives, elderly services, financial counseling, and refugee reception services. Individual district councils have no power over city planning or tax policy, both of which are retained by the central city council.[2][3]
The councilors that serve on these district councils are often part-time politicians, also holding other employment. They are preferably residents of the district whose council they serve upon. The central city council itself is responsible for setting the budget, goals, and responsibilities of the district councils. The city council also appoints the members of each district council, so the political makeup of the district council resembles that of the central city council, not necessarily that of the district. The member of the district council are not elected in any fashion by the residents of the district in question.[3]
Stockholm's districts are sometimes divided into smaller parts for statistical purposes, however these smaller districts have no administrative function in the city's governance.[citation needed]
Districts
[edit]As of 2024[update], Stockholm Municipality has eleven districts:[4]
From 1997, Stockholm had 24 districts. On 1 January 1999, the number of districts were reduced to 18: Enskede and Årsta merged to Enskede-Årsta; Hässelby and Vällingby merged to Hässelby-Vällingby; Västerled joined Bromma; Söderled joined Farsta; Hornstull joined Maria-Gamla stan; and Hammarby was split between Skarpnäck och Katarina-Sofia.[5]
On 1 January 2007, the number of districts were reduced to 14: Enskede-Årsta och Vantör merged to Enskede-Årsta-Vantör; Hägersten and Liljeholmen merged to Hägersten-Liljeholmen, Kista and Rinkeby merged to Rinkeby-Kista; and Maria-Gamla stan and Katarina-Sofia merged to Södermalm.[6]
On 1 July 2020, Älvsjö and Hägersten-Liljeholmen merged to Hägersten-Älvsjö.[7] On 1 July 2023, two new mergers occurred: Rinkeby-Kista and Spånga-Tensta merged to Järva; and Östermalm and Norrmalm to Norra innerstaden.[8]
Boroughs
[edit]Metropolitan Stockholm has 26 municipalities (boroughs):
Gothenburg
[edit]Overview
[edit] | This section needs to be updated. (May 2025) |
Gothenburg Municipality is also divided into subdivisions which it refers to as "districts" in English, though as with Stockholm's districts, they are often referred to as boroughs in unofficial contexts. The Swedish term used by the city council is stadsdelsnämndsområden (literally "city-part committee area"). These districts were created in 1990. Just like in Stockholm, these districts each have a local governing body which Gothenburg calls "district committees". These committees serve a nearly identical function to Stockholm's district councils, including recreation, local economic issues and social services, and the lower levels of the education system, and like Stockholm's councils, these committees are appointed by the centralized city council.[9]
Gothenburg is divided into 21 districts, each with a district committee. These 21 districts can be further divided into 94 subdivisions (called primärområden/primary areas) which exist only for statistical and organizational purposes, and serve no administrative function.
Districts
[edit]The 21 districts of Gothenburg and the primärområden enclosed within each:[10]
- Askim
- Askim
- Hovås
- Billdal
- Backa
- Backa
- Brunnsbo
- Skogome
- Skälltorp
- Bergsjön
- Västra Bergsjön
- Östra Bergsjön
- Biskopsgården
- Norra Biskopsgården
- Södra Biskopsgården
- Jättesten
- Svartedalen
- Länsmansgården
- Centrum
- Guldheden
- Heden
- Johanneberg
- Krokslätt
- Landala
- Stampen
- Vasastaden
- Lorensberg
- Inom Vallgraven
- Frölunda
- Järnbrott
- Tofta
- Ruddalen
- Frölunda Torg
- Gunnared
- Lövgärdet
- Rannebergen
- Gårdstensbergen
- Angereds Centrum
- Härlanda
- Härlanda
- Kålltorp
- Torpa
- Björkekärr
- Högsbo
- Kaverös
- Flatås
- Högsbohöjd
- Högsbotorp
- Högsbo
- Kortedala
- Gamlestaden
- Utby
- Södra Kortedala
- Norra Kortedala
- Kärra-Rödbo
- Kärra
- Rödbo
- Linnéstaden
- Masthugget
- Änggården
- Haga
- Annedal
- Olivedal
- Lundby
- Sannegården
- Brämaregården
- Kvillebäcken
- Slättadamm
- Kärrdalen
- Lärjedalen
- Hammarkullen
- Hjällbo
- Eriksbo
- Agnesberg
- Linnarhult
- Gunnilse
- Bergum
- Majorna
- Kungsladugård
- Sanna
- Majorna
- Stigberget
- Styrsö
- Styrsö
- Torslanda
- Hjuvik
- Nolered
- Björlanda
- Arendal
- Tuve-Säve
- Tuve
- Säve
- Tynnered
- Bratthammar
- Guldringen
- Skattegården
- Ängås
- Önnered
- Grevegården
- Näset
- Kannebäck
- Älvsborg
- Fiskebäck
- Långedrag
- Hagen
- Grimmered
- Örgryte
- Olskroken
- Redbergslid
- Bagaregården
- Kallebäck
- Skår
- Överås
- Kärralund
- Lunden
Malmö
[edit]
Overview
[edit]Malmö Municipality is divided into five districts (stadsområden).[11][12] These districts each have a board or council called a stadsdelsfullmäktige, each consisting of eleven members, which are responsible for various local administrative tasks. In Malmö, the district councils are also responsible for assisting members of the community in contacting their politicians or navigating their way through government agencies.[13]
Districts
[edit]These are the five districts of Malmö:
Other examples
[edit]Other smaller municipalities in Sweden also use municipal subdivisions for official purposes, however these are not always administrative. For example, Strängnäs Municipality uses district councils (kommundelsråd) which serve a purely advisory function and have no administrative power.[14]
Borås Municipality is divided into ten districts (kommundelar), each with a district council (kommundelsnnämd) responsible for pre-school and primary school, recreational services, and services for the elderly.[15]
Torshälla is a region inside Eskilstuna Municipality which has withheld a degree of autonomy since merging with Eskilstuna, including their own city council (Torshälla stads nämnd).[16]
Other municipalities that use districts for advisory or administrative purposes include Huddinge, Kalmar, Köping,[17] Södertälje,[18] Umeå[19] and Västerås.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Areas - City of Stockholm". 17 January 2024.
- ^ City of Stockholm: "District Councils"[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b City of Stockholm: "Stockholm by districts"
- ^ "Områden - Stockholms stad". 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Kommunfullmäktige protokoll 23, 19981214". Stockholms stad. 14 December 1998. p. 25. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
- ^ https://sok.riksarkivet.se/nad?postid=ArkisRef+SE%2FSSA%2F0560
- ^ https://start.stockholm/globalassets/start/om-stockholms-stad/politik-och-demokrati/revision/revisionsrapporter/arsrapporter/arsrapport-namnder-2020/hagersten_alvsjo_arsrapport_2020.pdf
- ^ "Ny stadsdelsorganisation – Norra innerstaden - Stockholms stad". start.stockholm (in Swedish). 25 April 2023. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ City of Göteborg: District Committees Archived 15 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ City of Göteborg: Primärområden (Swedish)
- ^ "Nystart för ett bättre Malmö". Malmö Municipality (in Swedish). 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ "Malmös karta har ritats om". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 1 July 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ Malmö stad: Stadsdelar - lokal demokrati Archived 30 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Strängnäs kommun: Politisk organisation Archived 25 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Borås kommun: Borås tio kommundelar Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Eskilstuna kommun: Torshälla Stads nämnd Archived 26 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Köping kommun: Organisationen i kommunen Archived 11 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Södertälje kommun: Politisk organisation Archived 10 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)
- ^ Umeå kommun: Information om Umeå kommuns kommundelsförvaltningar Archived 21 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Swedish)