Interdependence in urban systems: the urban consequences of the growth of higher education and research in Sweden

This study suggests that history may repeat itself, especially in the context of ideas as, for example, in the concept of interdependence in urban systems. The background to the study is that there have been three main phases of development in the Swedish urban system: the first in the 1950s and 60s was a period of growth with a strong hierarchical component, focused on the bigger cities; the second was a phase of relative decline in the cities, with the growth of suburban and urbanized regions; the current trend, since the mid 1980s is another phase of growth in those centres that have higher educational institutions which have been deliberately spread throughout the system. This has led to the ‘saving’ of many towns that would probably have declined. Today we may be seeing the emergence of a new phase of change related to what may be called ‘cosmopolitan interdependence’ in which cities are linked into wider international patterns of interconnection. This study draws atten-tion to some of the main components of these changes, set in an historical context. It emp-hasizes how increasing flows of persons, goods, information, transactions, etc., have deep-ened the dependence between regions and cities, which has led to the strengthening of the urban system through the greater interdependence of its parts and demonstrates the in-creasingly important role of higher education in our urban system. Hence the concept of interdependence should be seen as important a concept as ever in our study of urban sys-tems, although in new forms.