Linköping

Linköping is a city of 150,000 people in southern Sweden, and part of the province of Östergötland. Since medieval times, it has been a city of learning and its economy is now rooted in three main areas: manufacturing/engineering, high-tech, and the city’s university. On the engineering side, the city is known as Sweden’s aviation capital, thanks to the presence since 1937 of Saab, which produces aircraft and engines. A dominant industrial player in the region, it employs 5,000 people in Linköping in development and production, support solutions and the technical maintenance of aircraft. Along with Saab, a number of other manufacturing companies help to provide Linköping with a varied high-tech base, one that includes particular strengths in IT and clean technology. Motorola has a major development centre for Internet TV units and associated software in Linköping, while Ericsson opened its first Global ICT Support Centre there in September 2014—connecting the company’s 25,000 R&D engineers. Clean technology will meanwhile have a role to play in the Linköping ambition of becoming a carbon neutral city by 2025.

Linköping works closely in a number of development areas with Norrköping, which has about 131,000 inhabitants, and Linköping University has establishments in both cities. Linköping has an airport, with frequent connections to Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and is well connected to the Swedish rail and road network. In terms of leisure facilities, the city is surrounded by parks, woodland and lakes.