Commission for a Socially Sustainable Malmö — A City-Commissioned Health-Equity Programme With Durable Institutional Uptake but Unproven Health Effect

In 2010 Malmö's City Executive Board set up the Commission for a Socially Sustainable Malmö, chaired by Professor Emeritus Sven-Olof Isacsson, with fourteen independent commissioners from social science, health economics and urban studies. It was inspired by the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. The city's own page notes that people in some parts of Malmö live almost seven years longer than people in others.
The commission reported in March 2013 with two overarching recommendations — a social-investment perspective to reduce inequities in living conditions, and more democratic city processes through 'knowledge alliances' — plus 24 goals and 72 actions. Its three priority areas were growing-up conditions for children and young people, democracy and influence, and social and economic conditions. In March 2014 the City Executive Board decided how to continue, drawing on the City Office's assessment and comments from about 70 consultation bodies; follow-up reports were published for 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Evidence is mixed and the sources are candid about it. A 2024 article in Socialmedicinsk tidskrift (Östergren & Balkfors) reports that an external evaluation in 2019 and a follow-up conference in 2023 indicated that the overarching recommendations, especially the first, had gained a durable foothold in the city organisation, and several concrete proposals had been implemented, although the Commission's own role was partly unclear. Health inequality showed a better trend than the national average over the follow-up period, but the authors state that the Commission's contribution cannot be reliably shown because many other factors are involved.
Lesson for other cities: a commission can change how a municipality frames and organises equity work, but should build in measurable baselines and attribution designs from the start if health outcomes are to be claimed.

Read the full analysis: https://malmo.se/Welcome-to-Malmo/Sustainable-Malmo/Commission-for-a-Socially-Sustainable-Malmo.html