Stockholm is the fastest-growing capital in Europe, and as the population increases so does demand for housing and public infrastructure. There’s much to be done to make sure this growth is positive. From building more homes to imbuing neglected neighbourhoods with a sense of community, steps must be taken to accommodate for the expansion.

Building for better social integration is one of the key future challenges that the city is focusing on. It’s been a priority for Stockholm-based urban planning consultant, Mia Lundström, for several years now - and something she is working to improve throughout the city.

Stockholm is booming. Kjell Nordström, a famous Swedish economist, recently predicted the city will almost triple in population by 2045, to 4,5 million people.

In terms of both housing and population growth, Stockholm is now the fastest-growing capital in Europe, at least according to the city's chamber of commerce and key politicians. The explosive growth (est. 11% population growth 2015-2020) means surrounding areas and municipalities are becoming key in the city's outward expansion.

The Swedish housing website called Qasa started as a service for long-term subleasing of rooms and apartments. Now it’s taking making a move on the market for first-hand leases, by initiating collaborations with two real estate companies. The idea is to match users looking for leases with new apartments, Di Digital writes.

“Considering that the queue – at least in Stockholm – is so long that it can take many years for an applicant to find a first-hand lease through the municipal queue system, there is need for an alternative,” says Qasa co-founder Mattia Tosti.

On September 7, for the first time, the Swedish capital will host a large conference dedicated to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Stockholm.

The event is a part of Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference, which is the first and the largest network of crypto conferences in Europe. The organizer is Smile-Expo that holds similar events in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia, and Ukraine.

The symposium, a critical part of the German G20 Presidency’s drive to leverage emerging digital and financial technology to advance green finance, will see many new ventures launched with the Stockholm Green Finance Initiative being one of the trailblazers. A bold new venture to encourage green digital finance initiatives has been launched at the G20 Green Invest symposium currently taking place in Berlin -Stockholm Green Digital Finance.

Meeting the UN’s ambitious Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline requires trillions of dollars of private investment. Sustainable economies require solutions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, fight climate change and reduce pollution. These present potential investment opportunities to investors. Yet, actual capital redeployment to deliver solutions to these urgent challenges remains limited.

Nordic financial services giant Nordea is investing further in financial technology (fintech) collaboration by moving a number of staff into the Stockholm Fintech Hub to get closer to Sweden’s startup scene.

The bank wants its people to be close to fintech activity in the Swedish capital. “We want to be where the interaction is happening,” said Ewan MacLeod, chief digital officer at Nordea. “[We recognise] we don’t have all the good ideas and sometimes the good ideas come from outside. This is one way to ensure we are exposed to that and that we are open and participating.”

Swedish property management company Stockrose is using IoT the Azure cloud to offer its clients 'buildings as a service."

Swedish property management company Stockrose is using the internet of things (IoT) in the cloud to provide real-time data on water, heating and electricity consumption for tenants and their landlords.

The Nordics are finally represented in the top 20 of the Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Ranking published by Startup Genome. In the 2017 version of the report, Stockholm was ranked the 14th best city for startups in the world.

Among the other top contenders it ranked 17th in the performance category, 20th in funding, 18th in talent, and 12th in ‘startup experience’. What Stockholm really excels at is market reach, where it places 8th among the top 20 cities. A small domestic market means Swedish startups have an international mindset from the outset.

When Jacob de Geer’s ex-wife went to a trade fair seven years ago, she had a problem. More than half the potential customers for her glasses wanted to pay with credit and debit cards but as a small entrepreneur she could not afford to accept them. Most customers did not carry cash so went away empty-handed.

In response, Mr de Geer founded iZettle, a Swedish company that is not just one of the fastest-growing in the Nordics but in the top 25 of the FT 1000. iZettle provides card readers that can be plugged into smartphones or tablets to help small merchants with payments.

European carrier and cloud-neutral colocation provider Interxion has revealed that its upcoming data center in Stockholm will become one of the first to harness the benefits of Stockholm Data Parks.

The Stockholm Data Parks initiative was officially launched in January, supported by the government of the city and several local utility companies. It aims to offer power, connectivity and cooling services to potential data center builders, with four parcels of land earmarked for development.