Föreställningar om den urbana världen : Identitetsaspekter i svensk stadsbild med exemplet Helsingborg 1903-1955

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the subject of dominant local identities and the construction of urban representations in Sweden 1903-1955, as articulated in the city Helsingborg. The main focus falls on architecture, city planning and visual practices as means of establishing an urban identity. I discuss who the actors in the construction were, how it was constructed and what the reasons were to construct an urban identity. What parts of the city holds its representations of identity and which parts are left out. Who was in power and how the power was practiced.My theoretical point of departure is freely held in the trialectics of Henri Lefebvre. I analyse the city space as both a material product and a mental construction. The city is subsequently conceived, perceived and lived. Through out the period history and modernity stands as two dominant features in the representations of urban identity. Thus it is important to analyse the role of history, collective memory and expectations of the future in the construction of an urban identity.After the introduction of the thesis empirical and theoretical subject, chapter two presents the local government as a network for the main characters in the construction of identity. It also introduces the district left out of the identity, Söder. The chapter presents three empirical space studies, The Great square, Tycho Brahes plats and the concert hall with their surroundings. It also holds a section about the post- world war city, and the questions of the periphery and the impact of speed and time on the identity of the city. Chapter three discusses urban representations as visualisations in art, images, film, public sculpture and postcards. Finally in chapter four I conclude and discuss what a city is and what consequences dominant urban identities has on the city and its dwellers.