In Skärholmen you’ll find just about everything you could wish for: countryside, culture, comfortable living, cosmopolitan environment, a big shopping centre and first-class public services.
We offer services, cultural amenities and educational establishments for both the Stockholm region as a whole, and for the south-western districts of the city. The residential areas vary in character: there are privately owned houses and flats as well as rentals.
Kungens Kurva is a strong commercial brand, and is something of a regional centre. With its supermarkets, and the world’s largest IKEA, Kungens Kurva – Skärholmen is the largest commercial centre in Sweden.
The area is visited by about 30 million people each year.
Skärholmens Centrum is one of the Stockholm region’s biggest shopping centres. It was refurbished in 2008, and is one of the Nordic countries’ largest and most modern shopping centres, with about 200 shops in all.
Skärholmen is made up of four different districts: Bredäng, Sätra, Skärholmen and Vårberg, all of which border Lake Mälaren. Hälsans Stig – the Health trail – runs 9 km along the water between Skärholmen and Bredäng. If you’re lucky you may see a goshawk or even a white-tailed eagle flying across the water. You’ll also come across two excellent bathing spots –Mälarhöjdsbadet and Sätra Strandbad.
The cultivated land around the field is browsed by sheep and is home to such flora as maiden pink and milkwort. Further south, the river Sätraån flows from Sätra towards Lake Mälaren through one of Stockholm’s few remaining natural gullies. Continuing south, you’ll find yourself in Skärholmsdalen, a lovely stretch of countryside running alongside Skärholmsbäcken, where you can see animals such the smooth newt, a lizard-like amphibian whose skin becomes beautifully coloured during the breeding period in spring. Sätraskogen is used as a study object by Skärholmen nature school, and the area is also popular with scouts, orienteering enthusiasts and riding clubs.
Before – the 17th century to the present day
The oldest signs of human occupation date back to the Iron Age. In the 17th century, innkeepers provided food and shelter for travellers on the shores of the lake. One of the inns, The Rostock, still stands to this day. The Rostock Inn features in a song by Bellman, who is one of Sweden’s best known and most popular poets and songwriters.
In the 18th century, many wealthy Stockholmers had large summer residences built here, beautifully located on the shores of the lake. A few houses have survived to this day: Skärholmens Gård, Jakobsbergs Gård and Lyran. They are now owned by the City of Stockholm and are managed by different organisations.
Until the early sixties, Skärholmen was mostly an area of pine forest and hills. But it was soon transformed into a densely populated suburban district, beginning with Bredäng and Sätra and later Skärholmen and Vårberg. Today, Skärholmen is home to 32,000 people from 120 countries all over the world!
Our vision for 2030
You can easily get to Kungens Kurva – Skärholmen by car, bike or public transport. The area is known for its safe, attractive pedestrian and cycle paths. Kungens Kurva – Skärholmen has a strong reputiation of being Northern Europe’s biggest commercial district. Visitors from all over the world come to Kungens Kurva, attracted by its many tourist attractions and its wide variety of top-quality goods and low-price alternatives.
Workplaces, shops and dwellings complements each other in a natural way. Beutiful and clean environment combined with proximity to public services and offices has made it very popular to live here. Activities relating to education, product development and other aspects of commerce have evolved as a natural consequence of the area’s emphasis on trade and commerce.
