Off the Beaten Track? Selectivity, Discretion and Path-Shaping in Swedish Public Housing

Abstract

By its universal approach, Swedish public housing has traditionally been an instrument to contribute to the national policy aim of “good housing for all”. However, the universal approach is under pressure. Demands on competitiveness and a businesslike return on investment means public housing companies are increasingly striving for profit in their everyday business. This paper analyses this development with the strategic-relational approach (SRA) and argues that a new economic imaginary has emerged, which limits the companies’ perceived possibilities to retain the universal approach. However, spatio-temporal variations are evident and the findings give evidence to ample actorial discretion for companies to negotiate the economic imaginary in the current political-economic landscape. Thus, the potential to retain the undertaking of “good housing for all” still exists, but it is unevenly actualized. How this discretion is used may be decisive for the future of the universal character of public housing in Sweden.

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