Moderniseringen av Uddevalla Centrum 1939-1979

Abstract

Uddevalla is a city in Bohuslän, Sweden which, like many other Swedish cities, underwent extensive demolitions throughout the 1950s and right up until the 1970s. However, there is however no documentation of how this came to occur in the city’s centre. Bohuslän’s Museum was interested in a obtaining a record of it and thus this essay came into being. The aim of this essay is partially to explore what the modernisation of the most central parts of Uddevalla looked like, to find out during which decade the majority of the demolition respective building work took place and to see if there exists any discernible pattern in this. In addition, research who the architects behind the modernisation were and whether there existed any local driving forces who endorsed the development of Uddevalla? This essay consists of a summary of Sweden and Uddevalla’s economic and political history from a building development perspective and is based on material from a range of literature. In addition to this, the modernisation of Uddevalla’s centre is developed and presented through both text and maps in order to illustrate how buildings have been demolished and re built throughout the decades. This is built upon material from the archives of Uddevalla’s planning office. The findings of this essay show that Uddevalla’s development essentially followed that of the rest of the country. It does however prove that certain driving forces, such as the Uddevalla shipyard, in all likelihood influenced the city’s development, expansion and growth and encouraged the modernisation of the city centre, as much of the demolition and building work clearly follow the pattern mirrored the more successful years of the shipyard.