Real estate professionals have long focused on the physical asset itself, but when new construction slows and competition for workers and businesses intensifies, the value outside the building’s walls becomes critical. In her new book Platsen vi delar, place development expert Helena Nordström argues that property owners, municipalities, and the business sector must collaborate to strengthen a location, which in turn boosts the value of individual assets.
More property owners have recently begun looking at the overall area’s appeal rather than just their own holdings. According to Nordström, founder of Placebrander and a leading expert on place attraction, this represents a significant shift for the industry.
“We don’t just sell office space, retail areas, or homes,” Nordström says. “In practice, we also sell the place around us: the safety, the community, the supply, the parks, and the feeling of wanting to be there. If the attraction power of the whole area increases, there is a long-term potential to benefit the own business.”
Her book, which compiles over 20 years of experience developing and positioning neighborhoods, destinations, and regions, presents a concrete framework for how multiple actors can develop a place together. A central concept is what she calls the value between the houses — the shared elements that no single property owner owns or is responsible for alone, yet which determine how attractive a whole area becomes.
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From conversation to cooperation
While collaboration is often discussed, Nordström explains that municipalities, owners, and other actors need to move beyond conversation and shared vision to actual cooperation. She highlights three key areas for this evolution.
- Measuring new metrics: Beyond vacancy rates, rents, and property values, the industry needs to better track safety, place identity, participation, and people’s willingness to recommend a location.
- The need to choose: The strongest places do not try to appeal to everyone; they maintain a clear position and long-term direction.
- Case studies: The book studies how this plays out in practice, looking at Molobyen in Norway, GoCo Health Innovation City, and Åre, showing how attraction power can be built in very different ways.
Helena founded Placebrander in 2013 and has studied place attraction since the early 2000s. She and the firm have worked on projects in Kista, Mjärdevi, Åre, the High Coast, Trelleborg, and Dalarna. She published the first Swedish handbook on place marketing in 2018.
While the examples in the book show varied approaches to building local appeal, the underlying logic remains consistent. As the market tightens, the invisible infrastructure of a place becomes the tangible asset that drives long-term returns.
