Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"This, I suppose, might be Britain in 10 or 20 years time. You might live in a place like this."
Christopher Chataway reports from Vällingby, one of Sweden's newest towns, to find out what life is like in modern day Sweden.
Just four years ago, there were just 25 people living in Vällingby, now there are 25,000. It has its own pedestrian shopping precinct, where automation has been embraced to the fullest - every shop has its own vending machine for out-of-hours purchases. The town has been planned in such a way as to keep traffic and pedestrians out of each others way, while fast electric trains enable easy access to Sweden's capital city Stockholm. Meticulous planning extends to the living areas - tower blocks overlook playgrounds, ensuring parents can keep an eye on their children, and each block has communal child care and dining facilities.
Could Vällingby act as a blueprint for a future Britain? If so, what do the people who live in the town actually think about it? Are they satisfied with their lot?
Clip taken from Panorama, originally broadcast on Panorama, 2 July, 1956.
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"This, I suppose, might be Britain in 10 or 20 years time. You might live in a place like this."
Christopher Chataway reports from Vällingby, one of Sweden's newest towns, to find out what life is like in modern day Sweden.
Just four years ago, there were just 25 people living in Vällingby, now there are 25,000. It has its own pedestrian shopping precinct, where automation has been embraced to the fullest - every shop has its own vending machine for out-of-hours purchases. The town has been planned in such a way as to keep traffic and pedestrians out of each others way, while fast electric trains enable easy access to Sweden's capital city Stockholm. Meticulous planning extends to the living areas - tower blocks overlook playgrounds, ensuring parents can keep an eye on their children, and each block has communal child care and dining facilities.
Could Vällingby act as a blueprint for a future Britain? If so, what do the people who live in the town actually think about it? Are they satisfied with their lot?
Clip taken from Panorama, originally broadcast on Panorama, 2 July, 1956.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
