Now another attempt is being made to change Gottsunda. With new condominiums and a tram through the center, the municipality hopes that people will stay.
The area around the center is classified as particularly vulnerable, with high crime. Today, roughly 10 percent of those who get a job move from Gottsunda. Among those who remain, unemployment is at 30 percent, and income is significantly lower than neighboring neighborhoods.
– Many who live here today will not have the opportunity to buy the newly produced condominiums. But those who receive an earned income should in any case be given the opportunity to remain in the area, says Christian Blomberg, director of urban planning in Uppsala.
– But building housing does not in itself solve segregation, you have to work with a much broader palette. Here, we invest a lot in a well-functioning school, high-quality sports facilities and preventive measures at young ages, he continues.
Housing: Gottsunda’s reputation contributes to segregation
Many that SVT spoke to welcome the new investments in housing, but do not think that they have been sufficiently included in the plans. Ayad Abizhri wonders where the people in charge are.
– They do things without thinking about people, I have never seen a politician here. They write on signs that you can like it, but no one can read Swedish, he says.
The investments that have been made over almost 50 years have not succeeded in washing away the stamp on Gottsunda as a “problem area”. That particular label also contributes to segregation, according to those SVT spoke to.
– It is not good that people think like that. There is a lot of beauty in Gottsunda that is not shown on the news, says Ayad Abizhri.