When Fokus ranked 2014's best places to live in Sweden, the big city regions won. As a matter of fact, the top ten list features nothing but the big cities and their surrounding municipalities. And topping it all is Stockholm. ”It’s an honor and a pleasure that Stockholm city places first in this ranking,” says Sten Nordin, mayor of Stockholm. (Anyone who's followed Leif Rosqvist's Walkabout tours of Stockholm will appreciate why this is so.. Leif's first Walkabout in Stockholm took him through Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town) ..in the heart of Stockholm. He also ventured to Söder - Stockholm's southern district and into ..the old navy shipyards at Djurgården and surrounding islands

”The quality of life for the people in Stockholm is something dear to my heart, and something we’ve worked for with determination during a long time.” Uppsala and Göteborg are interesting because they’ve climed the ranking in a big way: from 24th place to 4th for Uppsala, and Göteborg was the 107th best last year but is now the 6th best place. Big cities are making a comeback, according to Fokus, as urbanization is stronger than it has been in a long time. According to Boverket (a central management authority), three cities — Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö — make up 70 percent of the country’s population growth, and it is their size that make them attractive.
If you’re young or have a family, however, it is good to consider making your home in a smaller city. The smaller town of Lund wins this category, and Stockholm ends up on a 30th place. What about the worst place in Sweden to live? That’s Bräcke. Last year’s loser, Grums, has climbed all the way up to a 232nd place.

The top ten: (Last year's ranking in parenthesis)
Stockholm 1 (7)
Solna 2 (1)
Lund 3 (4)
Uppsala 4 (24)
Mölndal 5 (43)
Göteborg 6 (107)
Nacka 7 (2)
Huddinge 9 (155)
Lidingö 9 (3)
Järfälla 10 (103)

Malmö ended up on 25th place (207).