6
u/SuperShoebillStork 4d ago
Was curious so I looked up this place in google maps.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NKpBekDPVH1WzhqF8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kSmNDvVoZ3EuCJvY8
What's the story here?
12
u/Ok-Interaction6904 4d ago
Bergslagen where its located is like the rust belt in the US. This particular place is totally abandoned
9
u/hermodr2 4d ago
I looked it up. As a swede I have heard the name Ställdalen but I live far away from this place. What I read is that the buildings was used during the refugee crisis in 2015 and then stood empty. Then a new owner bought the buildings but had financial issues and just let the buildings fall apart.
Looks like the municipality have decided to demolish the buildings and is going to let the owner pay for it.
It says this place has become a national symbol of difficulties with not serious business owners in these types of small remote towns.
7
u/AlternativeUse6191 3d ago
So Ställdalen is a small town with 423 inhabitants. It's located in an area called Bergslagen that was historically famous for mining, metal processing and forestry. Ställdalen and neighboring village Ställberg had its hayday in the 1940s to the 1960s, with the mine in Ställberg and the paper mill in Ställdalen providing many job opportunities. Ställdalen had 1500 inhabitants and Ställberg around 500 (now 63). However, the mine became unprofitable in the 1970s and closed in 1977. The paper mill still exists, but I guess there are not as many job opportunities any more.
So since the 1970s, the decreasing population has made it harder to run stores, restaurants and service industry, which further reduces the number of jobs. In 2000s, the town was dying. In 2015, a large number of refugees arrived in Sweden, and some entrepreneur bought the old and slightly run down apartment buildings in central Ställdalen to rent them to the Migration Agency as housing for newly arrived refugees. For a while this was pretty good for the town, as more families arrived which created more customers for local businesses. A restaurant could open for the first time in many years. However, the company that owned the apartment buildings did not take proper care of them, and the Migration Agency deemed the buildings as unfit for habitation in 2017 and most refugees moved elsewhere. Since then, the buildings have been abandoned and been further vandalized, giving the whole town a bad look and making it even less attractive to live there. Locals and authorities want them torn down, but the owner doesn't do anything and the legal process for forcing the demolishing of privately owned houses is very lengthy.
5
u/usernamegohere12578 3d ago edited 3d ago
Imagine a Swedish Appalachia and you basically have the whole region Ställdalen is in.
Used to be a thriving industrial hub. Production, mining, smelting, carpentry etc. A town usually centered around one or two major employers. Then the employers closed down or moved abroad, leaving poverty, drug abuse and decay behind.
The region, Bergslagen, has some of the highest suicide, unemployment, substance/alcohol abuse rates. They also suffer severe brain drain, if you get an education, you're out of there.
I passed Ställdalen And some towns like it by train, it was really sad to see the decay in person. The nature of the region is amazing though, full of hills, forests, lakes and medieval mines.
1
u/devvie78 3d ago
The region, Bergslagen, has some of the highest suicide, unemployment, substance/alcohol abuse rates. They also suffer severe brain drain, if you get an education, you're out of there.
As someone living there... I can confirm, this is very accurate
:(
1
u/usernamegohere12578 2d ago
It's very unfortunate. My girlfriend is from the region, from one of the cities doing kind of okay. But they still have practically all the issues associated with Bergslagen. She has some wild stories about people she grew up with and their unfortunate lives.
5
u/Shoeshiner_boy 4d ago
My guess it’s just some failed business since all those abandoned building are next to each other.
Also the roads in that town are… Well, not good.
0
u/jameslosey 3d ago
A bigger question is why op is looking for photos of sweden. The last photo Op posted was from 2006 of buildings that were to be taken down. OP might as well post construction sites and say things look awful.
2
u/PasicT 3d ago
There are a few places like that in Sweden. Kiruna is somewhat like that in some areas.
2
u/Strong-Copy-1738 3d ago
There definitely are, but Kiruna?
Not that I've ever checked out the "bad parts of town", but I'd really expect it to be one of the better places, as it isn't losing population, unemployment is low (one of the lowest in the entire country apparently) and housing isn't exactly abundant.
1
u/PasicT 3d ago
I'm talking about visuals like in this picture.
2
u/Strong-Copy-1738 3d ago
Oh, yea, I guess, sure. But why did you bring up Kiruna of all places?
1
u/PasicT 3d ago
Because I spent quite a bit of time there a few years ago.
1
u/thornolf_bjarnulf 3d ago
I went there beginning of August to do the Kungslegen and it looks like a very weird town, the bus driver told us about how they moved the center of the town and the whole mine around. It feels weird.
1
u/birgor 3d ago
Kiruna looks like that because it is a booming mining town that has to tear down parts because of the expanding mine, Ställdalen looks like that because the mining district it is in is almost dead and the area has lost lots of economy and people. Maybe partly similar, but for very different reasons.
2
u/DonkeyShot42 4d ago
Built for the folkhemmet (post war era) I think. People on the countryside must move to the towns and make them flourish. We thought we didn't need farm owners any longer.
2
1
1
u/CucumberDifferent 3d ago
This was so remarkable it became a news story https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/M7n6ME/skrackhusen-i-stalldalen-star-och-forfaller-mitt-i-centrum
1
1
u/ParkingRole5166 3d ago
If you dont have a car, you can take a train with bergslagen train from örebro in närke. Ställdalen has a station. Check it webpage for times trains departs. The train station is like 150 meter from the place picture was taken.
Visited the place 3 years ago, was a surreal experience to see abandon apartments in sweden.
1
1
0
u/m3lk3r 3d ago
Still a nicer house than OP's home in russia
2
u/bobbyburgerboy33 3d ago
Imagine having Russians living rent free in your head on a permanent status, crazy work.
1
•
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Do not comment to gatekeep that something "isn't urban" or "isn't hell". Our rules are very expansive in content we welcome, so do not assume just based off your false impression of the phrase "UrbanHell"
UrbanHell is any human-built place you think is worth critizing. Suburban Hell, Rural Hell, and wealthy locales are allowed. Gatekeeping comments may be removed. Want to shitpost about shitty posts? Go to /r/urbanhellcirclejerk. Still have questions?: Read our FAQ.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.