Urban and local social policies in the Nordic countries

Abstract

Nordic welfare states continue to rely on strong central and local governments in the regulation, funding, and implementation of social policies. However, decentralization of particular policy areas (e.g. activation policies) have further increased the significance of the local level in Nordic social policy regulation. However, increasing differences between local entities (e.g. between urban and rural communities) throw the Nordic egalitarian ideals into question. This chapter contributes to these debates by comparing local social policies in the Nordic welfare states, addressing the relationships between local and urban social policies and how they are put into practise in urban settings in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The chapter briefly addresses how the 2020 pandemic has affected central and local relations with regard to social policy regulation.