Mobilizing policy capacity amid rapid green industrialization: peripheral local government in the Northvolt boom-and-bust

Andreas Asplén Lundstedt, Emma Ek Österberg and Patrik Zapata

Planning Practice & Research, 2026, vol. 41, issue 3, 536-553

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.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1080/02697459.2026.2623119

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