The aim of this thesis is to describe how policies for dealing with residential segregation are interpreted and implemented in a municipality by civil servants. Interpretation is the starting phase of the implementation process, which is why this thesis seeks to describe how a policy problem is represented, interpreted and implemented.

Three theoretical approaches have been combined. The first is Bacchi's concepts of what is the problem represented to be in a policy. The second concept is sensemaking, to examine how the policies are interpreted. The third concept is Lipsky's Street-level bureaucracy ideas about freedom to act in the implementation process. This is a single case study, conducted with a qualitative content analysis.

The results show that the needs in policies reflect on what the problem is represented to be. It also shows that civil servants think the policies are understandable and make sense. Finally, most civil servants do not have the freedom to act and implement on their own without the local politician's approval.