Nordic Welfare Cities: Negotiating Urban Citizenship Since 1850

This book examines Nordic cities from 1850 and their transformation from traditional, oligarchic towns to modern, inclusive welfare cities.

In the contemporary world, the role of cities as hotbeds for progressive change has become increasingly topical. Historical studies on how Nordic cities addressed social and environmental questions a hundred years ago and how they eventually created new and inclusive policies for the future is a useful contribution to the current debate. The concept of the welfare city is addressed and elaborated upon to analyse the attempts by urban authorities to solve the problems following industrialization and urbanization. From the late nineteenth century, municipal public services promoted the integration of new groups in the urban community including workers, immigrants, women and children. The contributions in this book analyse various examples of welfare and public services that include infrastructure and transport systems, health care, housing conditions, outdoor life and entertainment. The chapters highlight the arguments and considerations promoting welfare policies, while also addressing differences between the Nordic countries. The evolution of the Nordic welfare city was a process of several overlapping phases or dimensions.

This volume will be of value to students and scholars alike interested in urban history, social and cultural history and European history.

Magnus Linnarsson is associate professor of History at Stockholm University. His main research interest includes political history, focusing on institutional change, state formation and political conflicts. His latest book Problemet med vinster (2017) analyses political conflicts about the organization of public services from the beginning of the 17th century until the 1990s. He currently leads a research project about welfare cities in the Nordic countries, c. 1870-1920

Mats Hallenberg is professor of history at Stockholm university. His main research interest includes the political history of Sweden and Scandinavia from the early modern period up until the twentieth century. Published works address local administration in Sweden and Finland, the impact of tax farming, royal propaganda and military organization as well as municipal conflicts over the organization of welfare services.