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Internationally, the effect of social composition in urban neighbourhoods on individuals’ life opportunities has been given increased attention both by researchers and policymakers. Socially mixed neighbourhoods have been seen by policymakers as a measure to create better prerequisites for social upward movement and increased social integration. The international debate on neighbourhood effects has mainly focused on the impact of concentrated poverty, but there is a growing body of literature that has also addressed the question of social mix policies. However, in the Swedish context the research on social mix policies and neighbourhood effects are still quiet limited. Hence, there is a call for research on the effects of the Swedish social mix policy.

The purpose of the present thesis was to analyse the policy aim and the implementation of such policy, and to analyse the effects of socially and physically mixed environments. Can socially and physically mixed environments create better opportunities for youth and young adults? To analyse the effects of the neighbourhood environment on individuals’ socioeconomic careers, advanced multilevel analysis methods has been used. These methods offer advantages for analysing neighbourhood effects, which the ordinary regression model can’t provide, as it can separate effects belonging to different contexts.

The internationally research on social mix policy has shown mixed results. For this reason there has been widespread debate among researchers on the effects of socially mixed environments. This thesis shows that although the effects are limited, the neighbourhood environments have a significant effect on individuals’ future prospects. Individuals who have spent their childhood in socially and physically mixed environments, in general, perform better in school, have a greater probability of enrol in higher education, a lower probability of being unemployed and better income development than individuals who have been brought up in resource-poor areas. The study also shows that the neighbourhood environments as well as mixed neighbourhoods have differential effects for different groups.