1. Introduction 

The Nordic Region is characterised by various demographic trends. A noticeable trend is that all five Nordic countries have seen population growth in recent decades, largely due to immigration. At the same time, demographic development is unbalanced, and different regions, municipalities, and local areas are undergoing noticeably different forms of development. While differences between regions and municipalities have been relatively well studied (see e.g., Grunfelder et al. 2020; Norlén et al. 2022), there has been comparatively less research on demographic trends occurring more locally within regions and municipalities in the Nordic countries. This is largely due to a lack of easily available, comparable, and harmonized data suitable for such analysis across this region. Against this background, one of the main starting points of this study was to gain a better understanding of these types of changes at more local levels. To achieve this, a new territorial typology for classifying different types of areas suitable for conducting such spatially detailed analysis was developed. 

This report and the grid-based Nordic urban–rural typology presented in this study are outcomes of the project Remote work: Effects on Nordic people, places and planning 2021–2024, which is a collaborative project between the three Nordic Thematic Groups under the Nordic co-operation Programme for Regional Development and Planning 2021–2024. In essence, a territorial typology or classification can be understood as a way of delimiting or classifying different territories according to certain common spatial characteristics and qualities (see e.g., Stjernberg et al., 2023). For this project a typology has been created that classifies different types of territories across the Nordic countries based on different degrees of urbanity and rurality. The Nordic typology was then used as an analytical tool for studying territorial differences, settlement patterns, and population change dynamics across the urban–rural continuum. Here, the terms ‘typology’ and ‘territorial classification’ are used interchangeably when referring to the Nordic typology as well as to other typologies or classifications that are addressed in the study. 

This project was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic when remote work became an increasingly common practice for many Nordic workers. One of the hypotheses at the onset of the study was that remote work would have more long-lasting territorial effects, with both workers and employers being keen to maintain at least some flexibility in working conditions, also post-pandemic. Against this background, one of the rationales for developing a new grid-based Nordic territorial typology was to allow for a better understanding of the spatial effects of increased remote work and multi-locality in different types of urban and rural areas. More generally, the main purpose of creating this territorial classification was to generate a new analytical framework, to which different types of data could be combined, thus helping to provide a more nuanced and fine-grained understanding of territorial differences across the Nordic countries. 

The typology was developed through collaboration between Nordregio and Ubigu, where the project team at Nordregio managed and coordinated the work to develop the typology, while Ubigu was tasked with the technical development of the typology. The analysis presented in this report, where the typology is used to study territorial and settlement patterns and development trends, was carried out by Nordregio. 

The work has been guided by the following methodological questions: 

The typology is used for examining urban–rural differences across the Nordic countries. The analysis focuses on the following key questions: 

This report is structured as follows. Section 2 presents the new grid-based Nordic urban–rural typology, focusing on aspects such as the aims and objectives as well as the analytical and operational steps taken in developing the typology. Section 3 shows how the typology can be used as an analytical tool for studying settlement patterns and demographic change dynamics across the urban–rural continuum in the five Nordic countries. Finally, Section 4 presents the main conclusions and final reflections concerning the typology development and a discussion of the main points and observations drawn from the analysis using the Nordic typology.