Malmö Municipality (), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
counties of Sweden
The counties of Sweden () are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Sweden. There are twenty-one counties; however, the number of counties has varied over time, due to territorial changes and to divisions or mergers of existing counti ...
(and conterminous with the historical province (''landskap'') of Scania). The central city is Malmö. The municipality is part of Metropolitan Malmö and constitutes its own constituency in parliamentary elections in Sweden.
When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863, the Old City of Malmö was made one of the country's 88
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
municipalities and the first city council was elected. The municipal territory has been augmented through mergers in 1911, 1915, 1931, 1935, 1952, 1967 and finally in 1971.
The landscape of the municipality is one of Sweden's most urbanized. For a long time, the municipality was one of Sweden's most important industrial municipalities, but this era is over. Major sectors are instead trade and business services, but above all the public sector.
After the formation of the municipality in 1971, the population was declining, but the trend reversed in the early 2000s and has continued to rise since then. The municipality is a stronghold of the Social Democrats, who have been in power since 1994. For the 2018-2022 term, they govern in coalition with the Liberals.
Administrative history
The municipal area corresponds to the parishes of Bunkeflo, Fosie, Glostorp, Husie, Hyllie, Lockarp, Oxie, Södra Sallerurp, Tygelsjö, Västra Klagstorp and Västra Skrävlinge. In these parishes, rural municipalities with corresponding names were formed during the 1862 municipal reform. The area also included the city of Malmö, which formed a city municipality in 1863.
Limhamn's municipal community was established on June 7, 1901 and was dissolved in 1906 when Limhamn's borough was formed from Hyllie county municipality and part of Fosie county municipality. The borough became part of the City of Malmö in 1915. Sofielund municipal community was established on February 21, 1896 in Västra Skrävlinge county municipality which in 1911 became part of the City of Malmö. Fosie municipal community was established on May 30, 1919 and was dissolved in 1931 when Fosie county municipality became part of the City of Malmö. In 1935 Husie county municipality was incorporated into the City of Malmö.
The municipal area is one of Sweden's most urbanized landscapes. There is not much left of the original wet meadows south of the town. These have been shaped by being used as grazing land for centuries. The coast has changed significantly since the beginning of the 20th century with the filling of the limestone quarry in Klagshamn. Today it is a peninsula with rich
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
and fauna. The beach between the white overburden of the waste mountain Lernacken and the landfill Spillepengen in the north is entirely urban, with the exception of smaller areas used for recreation, swimming and boating, and hiking areas. At Oxie there is a more undulating landscape where sorted sediments form hills which are partly covered with cultivated clay and fertile moraine.
Nature conservation
In 2022 there were three nature reserves in Malmö municipality - Bunkeflo strandängar, Foteviksområdet and Limhamns kalkbrott (Limhamn limestone quarry).
The municipality's first nature reserve, Bunkeflo Strandängar, was established in 2006 and is a reserve managed by the municipality. This includes 300 different plants including some unique and rare species such as '' Iris spuria'' (blue flag), '' Odontites litoralis'' and '' Artemisia maritima'' (sea wormwood). The next reserve, Limhamns kalkbrott, was established in 2010 and is also managed by Malmö municipality. Access to the area, which is home to 2000 different species, requires a guide.
The Fotevik area was created in 2011 and is also classified as a Natura 2000 site. The area is the most important Swedish site for the very rare subspecies of Dunlin, ''Calidris alpina schinzii''. In addition, the rare amphibians European green toad and Natterjack toad are found. The rare moth Morris's wainscot (''Chortodes morrisii'') can be found in areas with reeds.
Administrative subdivision
From 2016, the municipality is divided into 19 districts:
Localities
As of 2015, there were six urban areas ( or locality) and six smaller settlements () in the municipality.
The localities are listed in the table according to the size of the population in 2018. Note that a small part of Malmö ( Arlöv) is situated in Burlöv Municipality.
Governance and politics
The municipality of Malmö has traditionally been governed by the Social Democrats since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1919, with the exception of two terms in 1985-1988 (the 1985 municipal elections broke a 66-year Social Democratic hold on power) and 1991-1994 when bourgeois coalitions ruled.
The municipal legislative body of the municipality is the 61-member municipal assembly ('' kommunfullmäktige''), elected by proportional representation for a four-year term. The assembly appoints the municipality's main governing bodies, the 11-member executive committee (''kommunstyrelsen'') and the 8 governing
commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...
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, Poland (1990)
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