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A Weird Politics of Place: Sergels Torg, Stockholm (Round One)

Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, Box 785, SE-801 29 Gävle, Sweden, mats.franzen{at}ibf.uu.se

After World War II, central Stockholm was completely renewed; a new, modernist 'city' was designed, and a sunken plaza, Sergels torg, was laid out. Used by thousands daily, the square also became a centre for drug trafficking. Sergels torg fell into disrepute, which its periodic use for demonstrations and celebrations could not counteract. With a new local government in Stockholm in 1998, Sergels torg was unexpectedly set at the top of the agenda for a complete renewal in a most uncompromising way. Why this square, and in this way? An answer is sought in several steps, looking first at the square, its complex place history, the proposal's discursive construction and some of the forces behind it. Yet, a full explanation of this exceptional politics of place requires that attention also be given to the national scale.

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