Swedish Local Authorities' Buildings Mismanaged: FIVE WAYS TO GREATER EFFICIENCY Available to Purchase

The public sector utilises approximately 20 per cent of the total floor space in Sweden. Half this space is owned by the municipalities and is used for schools, child care, geriatric care, etc. The cost of properties in municipal budgets is rising at the same time as there is a backlog of maintenance and the utilisation of premises is low. A number of measures aimed at making the management of premises in the public sector more efficient and effective are described. The problems are not only technical and economic in nature but also, above all,organisational and political: how to create the dynamics of and incentives for economising on property resources, and how to choose between the cost of welfare production and the quality of premises?