This paper discusses the growing regional socio-economic disparity in Sweden and investigates two regions’ power relationship with the economically and politically dominant Stockholm region: one region with a negative economic trajectory and the other with a positive economic development over 25 years. The conceptual framework is based on the topography/topology nexus, using the key concepts of ‘reach out’ and ‘fold in’ in different resources. To enrich this framework, we incorporate two concepts in regional planning: ‘borrowed size’ and ‘agglomeration shadow’. The findings suggest that ‘reach out’ and ‘fold in’ explain why ‘borrowed size’ and ‘agglomeration shadow’ take place, or do not.