A good place to live

Developing a place into ‘a good place to live’ for people of all ages is a prioritized issue in many municipalities in Sweden, as well as around the world. But what do we really mean by ‘a good place to live’? How do the residents themselves comprehend and perceive ‘a good place to live’? And how do municipalities view their place and what they offer to their residents? This thesis explores how ‘a good place to live’ can be understood, conceptualized and studied, and the roles co-creation and the residents themselves play in this context. Taking the resident as a starting point and using the service-based logic as a theoretical foundation, this thesis connects the stream of research within place marketing focusing on co-creation and the users’ role with the stream of research dealing with success measurements and place satisfaction. Lisa Källström is a lecturer and researcher in Business Administration, mainly within the field of marketing and place management. Her research interests lie within value co-creation in the place context, stakeholder involvement in the work of government and participatory place branding.