There are many people moving out on Rasmusgatan in the Seved district in southern Sofielund in central Malmö.

According to the police, the area is considered to be particularly vulnerable due to socio-economic factors and crime.

There are still social challenges, such as a high proportion of students who do not pass upper secondary school at the local school.

But it has also gotten better, there are many indications of it and crime prevention work has been praised internationally.

Turned after gathering strength

The turning point came after a gathering of forces from several actors in society - where the property owners' work was pointed out as a key factor.

-You created good locks on the doors and created good indoor environments, says Hjalmar Falck, operations manager for Bid Sofielund, which is the property owners' non-profit association.

In addition to renovating - and quickly removing graffiti and debris - they also removed about ten property owners who were considered to have contributed to the slum that has long been noticed, including by SVT, where residents alerted that they slept in basements among dirt and cockroaches.

One of the properties was also occupied for a while - and among residents it was called "Apoteket" because both alcohol and drugs were sold there.

Drug trafficking has decreased

Police officers and journalists who came to the area then were always confronted, but after the real estate companies' measures in combination with the police setting up surveillance cameras, open drug sales have fallen sharply.

It also has the new recruitment for crime, according to police Freddy Nilsson who worked in the area for a decade.

Everyone involved says that the success factor is the cooperation between different actors - who have a common goal.

"Changed lifestyle"

Residents SVT also talks to describe the area as much safer.

Assistant nurse Maria says that it is like a "retirement life" now.

Her neighbor Omar Chehade, who was shot several times, says it has become calmer and cleaner.

Something he welcomes because he claims he has left his past - he has previously been convicted of a felony and was released last year after serving a sentence for drug offenses.

He says that he is now investing wholeheartedly in music.

-I have changed my lifestyle now.

I do not know who I was then to be honest.

There is a big difference between where I was and where I am today, he says.