Mobilizing policy capacity amid rapid green industrialization: peripheral local government in the Northvolt boom-and-bust
Abstract
This article explores how local governments mobilize to address labor market challenges during green industrialization, focusing on Skellefteå in Northern Sweden. Following the Northvolt battery plant, Skellefteå faced intense pressure to rapidly grow its population, services, and infrastructure amid significant uncertainty. Drawing on the policy capacity framework and qualitative fieldwork, we analyze local efforts aimed at converting industrial growth during a critical juncture into durable societal development. Findings reveal how green industrialization shifts responsibilities and risks onto the local level, how its speed and scale differ from long-standing regional development challenges, and the difficulties of transforming a mobile labor force into a sedentary one.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Regional resilience and development
Rural development and sustainability
Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Planning Practice and Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 536–553
- Publication date
- 8 February 2026
- Language
- EN