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QUALITY OF LIFE

What makes a northern Swedish town of 1,000 a great place to live?

The small town of Sorsele in Swedish Lapland has been rated as the best small town in Sweden for local amenities by a new study.

Published: 2 September 2021 13:21 CEST
Updated: 4 September 2021 14:05 CEST

What makes a northern Swedish town of 1,000 a great place to live?

Would you want to live here, in Sorsele? Photo: Anna Simonsson/SvD/TT

Property and housing magazine Hem & Hyra looked at the total number of service points, including grocery stores, pharmacies, schools, ATMs, and petrol stations, and measured which towns had the highest number of facilities per capita.

Sorsele, a town otherwise known for its hiking and skiing opportunities, came top of all 2,011 “urban areas” in the country. It’s the main town in the municipality of the same name, home to part of the huge Vindelfjällens Nature Reserve.

It boasts a high school, three grocery stores, doctor’s office, and a branch of the alcohol monopoly Systembolaget. All in all, it counts 17.1 amenities per 1,000 residents, more than anywhere else in Sweden.

Also available in Sorsele (but not included as service points for the purpose of the study) are a hardware store, bakery, florist, and grill restaurant, but no dentist and no bank after its last bank branch closed in May of this year.

“We are pretty good but some parts are missing. We have no clothes shop. But we have just enough,” Kjell Öjeryd, the chairman of the municipal board, told the magazine.

A total of 1,113 people lived in Sorsele at the end of 2020, according to Statistics Sweden.

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'Pleasantly constant': Why Switzerland ranks as the 'world’s best country' — again

It’s official: Switzerland has been ranked ahead of 87 other countries analysed by the US News & World Report for its 2023 ranking, which was released on Wednesday morning.

It is the sixth time that Switzerland tops the rankings, which measure a country’s global performance based on 73 categories. They include entrepreneurship; quality of life; adaptability and progress; social purpose; and other attributes listed here.

What exactly makes Switzerland the best in the world?

The country “snags the top spot for business-friendliness and education, “and ranks in the top 10 for quality of life, social purpose and cultural influence,” according to study authors. “Among attributes, it was considered No.1 for being economically stable, safe and least corrupt.”

“And while people may not see it as the sexiest place, they would like to live there.”

One of Switzerland’s top qualities, the study showed, is ‘consistency.’

Unlike the political and economic volatility of many other countries, “there is something pleasantly constant about Switzerland,” the survey found.

It is true that change of any kind is slow to come here.

Part of the reason for this sluggishness is cultural: the Swiss don’t like spontaneity (unless it’s planned) or doing anything on a whim.

They believe that rushing things and making hasty decisions will have disastrous results, which is why they prefer to take a cautious — even if painstakingly slow — path.

As a general rule, the Swiss have a penchant not only for planning, but for pre-planning as well. They like to thoroughly examine each aspect of a proposed change and look at it from all possible angles.

Another reason (besides the cultural one mentioned above) contributes to Switzerland’s notorious slowness in decision-making — the country’s political system.

Due to Switzerland’s decentralised form of government, the Federal Council must consult with cantons before a decision can be made at the national level.

That, as you can imagine, could take a while as each of the 26 cantons may drag their individual feet, and there could be no consensus among them.

READ ALSO : Why are things so slow to change in Switzerland?

While some may see this ‘consistency’ as a negative, the US News & World Report considers it to be a definite plus.

How did Switzerland rank in major categories?

‘Open for business’

In this category, the country is in the first place (100 points out of 100).

Simply, this means the country is ‘business friendly’ because the government has created a good environment for businesses to thrive.

“Switzerland has low unemployment, a skilled labour force and one of the highest gross domestic products per capita in the world,” the report relates.

‘Educated population’

Here, too, Switzerland excels (100 points, first place).

Switzerland not only has an excellent and accessible education system, but according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), well over 80 percent of the country’s population have an upper secondary education or above.

This proportion is higher than the OECD average of 75 percent.

READ ALSO: How can foreigners get into a Swiss university?

‘Quality of life’

Here, Switzerland also got a high score ( 96.7), which places it in the fourth place.

This particular category, which includes essentials such as broad access to food, housing, quality education, healthcare, and employment, also comprises “intangibles such as job security, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality.”

This is not exactly a surprise, as Switzerland often ranks highly in this category in other international surveys as well.

In which categories does Switzerland rate poorly?

‘Power’

Switzerland’s score here is 26, which lands it in the 20th place.

But this is actually good news, if you consider criteria for this category:

“The world’s most powerful countries also are the ones that consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape global economic patterns. Their foreign policies and military budgets are tracked religiously.”

Needless to say, Switzerland has no interest in wielding global power.

Besides (unintentionally) invading neighbouring Liechtenstein on three occasions, Switzerland is not at all power-hungry.

This is not only because it is neutral, but also because its politics is based on peaceful coexistence.

(The number 1 spot in this category was snagged, not surprisingly, by the United States).

‘Movers’

This too is not a major surprise, since the sub-category here is ‘dynamic’, for which Switzerland was given a low score of 29.1.

The country did a bit better in the ‘distinctive’ and ‘unique’ sub-category, with scores of 43.5 and 42.1, respectively.

Overall, Switzerland is in the 26th place.

You can see details of each category here.

What is the Swiss reaction to the report?

Overwhelmingly positive, of course.

“What people love about us is our reliability and our predictability,” said Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S.

“With us, you know what you get, which is rare nowadays,” Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, pointed out.

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