Den krympande kommunen i det samtida tillväxtparadigmet

Sammanfattning: This study deals with municipal planning in municipalities that has a declining population, often referred to as shrinking municipalities. Data collection was done by interviews with civil servants tasked with planning in municipalities. The interview’s purpose was to gather knowledge on the experience of working within a shrinking municipality. The civil servants interviewed worked within Laxå, Sävsjö, Vimmerby, Hultsfred and Valdemarsvik municipality. The data from the interview was analyzed in relation to earlier research about societies and region with a decline in population and has its theoretical framework in the growth-critical theory degrowth. The results that’s the basis for analysis is structured after four different themes. These themes touch on the subjects of challenges, possibilities, strategies, activities as well as attitude in relation to the civil servants’ experiences.  The analysis of the results ends up problematizing the growth paradigm since shrinking municipalities becomes disadvantaged by creating growth-oriented strategies. Furthermore, the results show how creative solutions to counter or alternatively adapt shrinkage remains absent in shrinking municipalities due to a lack of a long-term perspective in planning.