Photo: Johannes Jansson/norden.org

Over the last decade, feelings of being left behind have increased in some regions in Europe and other Western countries (Berman 2021, Chilvers et al. 2024). Trust in politicians and government institutions has fallen in parts of the Western world, and the liberal democratic model appears to have come under dispute. The emergence of these so-called "geographies of discontent" has, among other factors, been linked to - real or perceived but in any case, multi-dimensional - inequalities between regions (Galston 2018, de Ruyter et al. 2021).

This visual guide aims at showcasing the extent of such inequalities in the Nordic Region. It uses maps and charts to show key demographic, social, and economic indicators at the local level, allowing for comparisons between municipalities, regions, and the Nordic countries. The charts next to each map highlight the distribution across municipalities and indicate which rural-urban differences are statistically significant at the Nordic level (see Box 1). The indicators were chosen to reflect the factors identified in academic literature as drivers of discontent.

See section 3 in the Nordregio policy brief “Navigating Nordic discontent: Regional divides, electoral trends and the green transition”: http://doi.org/10.6027/PB2025:18-2001-3876

In this visual guide, municipalities in the Nordic Region are classified as rural, intermediate or urban based on the Nordic rural-urban typology developed by Nordregio (see Annex 1 for more detailed information). Urban municipalities include inner and outer urban areas, and intermediate municipalities include peri-urban areas, rural areas close to urban areas and, in part, local centers in rural areas. Rural municipalities include rural heartlands, sparsely populated areas, and some local centers in rural areas.

Overall, the guide shows that that urban, intermediate and rural areas in the Nordic Region differ along demographic, social, and economic dimensions, with urban municipalities being advantaged in several respects. For example, urban municipalities usually have younger, more educated populations with a more balanced gender ratio. Households in urban municipalities also tend to have higher incomes. Additionally, urban economies register lower greenhouse gas emissions per employee and more green jobs.

Rural municipalities, by contrast, tend to face various demographic and socio-economic challenges, such as aging populations with a less balanced gender ratio, higher greenhouse gas emissions per worker, and lower household incomes. However, rural municipalities also have strengths. For example, they have lower income inequality than urban municipalities and may therefore be considered more socially cohesive. Additionally, in 2022, unemployment levels were lower in rural compared to urban municipalities in many Nordic countries, with Finland being an exception.

Intermediate municipalities fall between their urban and rural counterparts based on these indicators.

This visual guide complements the Nordregio policy brief “Navigating Nordic discontent: Regional divides, electoral trends and the green transition”

See more: https://nordregio.org/publications/navigating-nordic-discontent/

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The policy brief explores whether geographies of discontent exist in the Nordic Region and analyses the factors that contribute to this discontent, including the role of the green transition.

See also related discussion papers:

This work is part of the project “Ensuring inclusive economic growth in the transition to a green economy”

See more: https://nordregio.org/research/ensuring-inclusive-economic-growth-in-the-transition-to-a-green-economy

and was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Each of the following figures contains a map and a violin plot. A violin plot is a statistical visualization that shows the distribution of a continuous variable across different groups or categories.  

Understanding the plot: The x-axis represents different groups or categories (here: rural, intermediate, and urban areas). The y-axis represents the continuous variable being measured. Each group is represented by a violin-shaped distribution, showing the density of the data points within that group. The width of the violin at each level represents the proportion of data points at that value. The black box inside each violin shows the interquartile range (IQR), which is the range of values between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The black thick line inside each IQR represents the median of the data points within that group. 

Significance brackets: The significance brackets above the violin plots indicate which pairs of groups have statistically significant differences between their means. These brackets are created using the two-sided Wilcoxon rank sum test, a non-parametric statistical method for comparing two groups or samples. Being non-parametric, the test can also be used when the data does not follow a normal distribution. Statistical significance is indicated above the brackets with the following notation: 

Interpreting the plot: Groups with violins that are shifted to the top or bottom indicate differences in the median values. Groups with wider or narrower violins indicate differences in data variability. Points outside the shaded area are more than 1.5 times the IQR above the third quartile or below the first quartile and are considered statistical outliers.