Stockholm
Creative Footprint Stockholm was conducted in 2021 on behalf of Stockholms stad (the City of Stockholm), Fastighetsägarna Stockholm and Atrium Ljungberg to address the current state of the Swedish capital’s nightlife. As Stockholms stad prepares to implement its first nightlife strategy, this report aims to empower both the city’s administration and the wider range of actors and stakeholders operating in Stockholm’s music and nightlife scenes.
What does the report contain?
- This report documents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research conducted in the summer and autumn of 2021.
- Creative Footprint’s signature analysis methodology is based on over 5,000 data points relating to Stockholm’s approximately 102 music and nightlife venues and the input of 50+ stakeholders gathered in 3 focus groups and 11 in-depth interviews.
- Like other CFP reports, these results are calculated in an overall “city score,” provided alongside further analysis on the economic and spatial patterns of Stockholm’s creative spaces. In comparison to other CFP cities, Stockholm’s overall score is similar to Tokyo’s and lower than both New York and Berlin.
- And in all four cities, similar patterns have been observed: venue density correlates positively with factors such as density of transit, density of young adults in a particular area, and rental costs, while areas with high rental costs tend to display lower levels of artistic experimentation.
- Scores and analysis are divided into three focal areas of Space, Framework Conditions, and Community and Content. Stockholm’s higher Space score is balanced by comparatively lower scores for Community and Content and Framework Conditions, suggesting both assets and challenges in the city.
- Research participants celebrated the city’s energy and diversity, and potential for a vibrant and sustainable nightlife scene. But clear barriers to a vibrant nightlife were also identified, including high operating costs, a restrictive licensing and permitting climate, systemic forms of social exclusion and an imbalanced “venue ladder” that limits opportunities for early-career artists, promoters and would-be venue operators.
This report also includes a set of recommendations focused in two areas:
- relationship and capacity building between nightlife stakeholders
- a pilot programme approach for innovative nightlife spaces and policies in Stockholm.
These recommendations are based upon both detailed analysis and good practice from the other nightlife cities profiled here. These strategic steps can both strengthen the city’s nightlife and its broader agenda towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in support of a future Stockholm model of economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable nightlife.
Creative Footprint: Stockholm is a research project by VibeLab and is funded by our partners Stockholm Business Region, Fastighetsägarna Stockholm and Atrium Ljungberg.
In collaboration with:
