Urbanization has for a long period of time been the dominant movement of migration in industrialized countries and still is to this day. Because of this many rural areas are faced with depopulation and the closure of local amenities. When a rural school in the northern parts of Swedish Gotland was threatened with closure a project was launched where people could come and try out living at Gotland, as a way to attract people to move to the rural areas of Gotland.  This study aims to investigate if such initiatives are a successful way to increase migration to rural areas, by examining the characteristics of the projects participants, what their motives were for moving and staying at Gotland and how they experienced the availability of local amenities. The results show that participants who moved with children had a slight tendency to be higher educated, younger and from bigger cities than those who moved without children. Participants with children tended to move because they wanted a rural, safer and calmer lifestyle for them and their children whereas people without children mainly moved because of job opportunities, mostly in creative professions. The majority of people claimed they stayed because of the kindness and openness of the locals and that they felt at home in Gotland. Most also claimed that having attained the lifestyle change they had been searching for and the proximity to nature were reasons for why they chose to stay. How people experienced the availability of amenities varied greatly amongst the participants and no clear pattern could be seen.

This study seeks to illuminate the reasons to and consequences of the decision to choose Holmön as place for settlement for people in the age 25-40. The Island of Holmön, outside of Umeå in northern Sweden, has for decades experienced a depopulation. But in the last years several people in the age 25-40 – a phase of life often characterized by labour market establishment and starting a family – have moved to Holmön. What are their relationship to the island and what are the implications of the move for their life situation? Previous research of rural migration and counterurbanization find that lifecycle aspects, amenities on the countryside and lifestyle are important for the movers. Their connection to the place and having a bigger city in the vicinity also influence their choice. Semistructured interviews of eight people carried out by the author were analyzed with the help of thematic method. The results show that most important to them, in choosing to live on Holmön, is the quality of life given by the beautiful nature and idyllic environment, and somewhat by the feeling of adventure. Housing, employment, connection and social network, service and infrastructure are all factors of significance to their choice. The positive community feeling was attractive and meaningful to them aswell. Furthermore, their biggest concern, and what moreover possibly could force them to move away again, is the lack of childcare and schools on Holmön. The study suggests this migration to be regarded as amenity migration within the region of Umeå since the proximity to Umeå has such importance to the movers.

Sprawl seems an inevitable phenomenon because of the rapid expansion in urban area. It has some negative consequences, such as long transport distance to work, high car dependence and inadequate facilities. Recently, it pointed as causing a lot of urban problems and the situation has been worsening. This thesis asks the question: could there be a conscious way to prevent this issue? To deal with it, this thesis firstly conducts an intensive study about theories of compact city and satellite city. In the second part, in order to investigate how those theories are reflected and implemented in real examples, this thesis analyzes two cases and discusses about how urban sprawl happened in London and Shanghai as well as to what extent theories were served in these two cities. The investigation produces some results related to the process of urbanization, common actions which authorities would take towards it, and some highlights in the pre-experience. So when facing with urban sprawl, the measure might be dealt with it in a more conscious way.