Microregional fragmentation in a Swedish county

This study of the county of Vasterbotten in northern Sweden reveals signifi cant differences in socio-economic conditions between populations living in different residential environments. A cluster analysis was performed in or der to classify the nearly 500 microregions into a manageable number of gro ups with distinctive profiles. A seven-cluster solution contains groups ran ging from remote and sparsely populated areas with poor socio-economic cond itions and a large proportion of elderly to the most prosperous residential environments within the major centers. Besides high disposable incomes, th e relatively wealthy areas also show high educational levels and better-tha n-average health status. In this way the county could be broken down into a mosaic of local housing environments with very different prerequisites for consumption and economic development. Increasingly, we find socio-economic marginality problems even within densely populated regions. The complex an d dispersed pattern of disadvantaged and underprivileged residential areas all over Vasterbotten indicates the difficulty in treating counties and mun icipalities as homogeneous regions. Our finding's may have major implicatio ns for regional planning and regional policy.