Endemic and Diverse: Planning Perspectives on Second-home Tourism’s Heterogeneous Impact on Swedish Housing Markets

ABSTRACT Second-home tourism’s transformative power on local communities is widely recognized through numerous studies on its social, environmental and economic effects in many parts of the world. A significant share of this literature examines how second-home tourism impacts local housing markets and access to housing. However, few studies have looked into how planning authorities navigate these impacts of second-home tourism and how they differ spatially. Based on previous studies on the heterogeneity of second-home tourism and a comprehensive interview material from 20 Swedish municipalities, this paper examines impacts on local housing markets and the management efforts by local planning authorities. The results show how second-home tourism impact housing markets very differently depending on context when it comes to growth, housing demand and effects for locals’ access to housing. The study argues for an acknowledgement of this heterogeneous geography and more context-aware second-home research that moves beyond the rural-urban dichotomy.