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The battle for Stockholm – how the Social Democrats and Moderates are campaigning for victory
🇸🇪 Sweden /Elections & Politics

The battle for Stockholm – how the Social Democrats and Moderates are campaigning for victory

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Moderate Party in Stockholm criticizes the Social Democrats' housing plans, arguing they prioritize small apartments and destroy green spaces.
  • The party advocates for building fewer, larger homes and preserving natural areas, citing the need to retain families with children in the city.
  • The Moderates also propose lowering municipal taxes, paying off the city's debt, and strengthening protections for green and residential areas if they win the election.

Christofer Fjellner, a Moderate opposition councilor in Stockholm, is leading his party's charge against the ruling Social Democrats' housing policies. Fjellner argues that the current administration's focus on building 140,000 new homes by 2035 primarily results in small apartments, failing to meet the needs of families who are increasingly leaving the city due to high living costs.

Here the Social Democrats want to tear down the forest and put up a five-story building.

— Christofer FjellnerDescribing proposed development in Gamla Enskede.

"Half of the capital should be green," is a key promise from the Moderates, who want to see fewer, larger apartments, townhouses, and single-family homes built, with ample access to green spaces. Fjellner believes that Stockholm must cater to families with children to avoid becoming a "dying city." He also expressed concern that building new rental apartments in established villa areas could displace problems from disadvantaged neighborhoods to other parts of the city, citing plans for 30 rental units in Bromma.

It is families with children who are leaving Stockholm to the greatest extent, and we must build according to their needs. A city without children will sooner or later be a dying city.

— Christofer FjellnerExplaining the need to build family-oriented housing.

Fjellner stated, "Bromma should not become more like Rinkeby. Instead, Rinkeby should become more like Bromma." He clarified this to mean building more multi-story buildings in garden cities, suggesting that Stockholmers are more concerned about the loss of green areas than their neighbors.

Bromma should not become more like Rinkeby. Instead, Rinkeby should become more like Bromma.

— Christofer FjellnerAddressing concerns about social integration and development.

If the Moderate Party takes control of Stockholm, they plan to halt several planned apartment constructions. A national policy promise to strengthen legal protections for green and residential areas could aid Fjellner in stopping projects, even without a municipal majority. Additionally, the Moderates aim to lower the municipal tax rate, which they note is at its highest since 1998, and begin paying down the city's nearly 100 billion kronor debt.

If you lose control of the economy, you lose control of everything.

— Christofer FjellnerStating his most important election issue.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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