Vällingby
Encyclopedia
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
in Västerort in the north-western part of Stockholm Municipality
Stockholm Municipality
Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is the largest of the 290 municipalities of the country in terms of population, but one of the smaller in terms of area, making it the most densely populated...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Vällingby was planned in the early 1950s as a new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
. Following its inauguration in 1954, it soon became world famous as a unique, well-planned city district served by the Stockholm Metro and a symbol of the Swedish middle-way welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
.
History
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
). The people who lived there were known as vaellingar, "those living on the embankment". While it first appears in historical records in 1347 and it is known two farmyards existed here during the reign of King Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
in the 16th century, in the 1922 edition of Nordisk Familjebok
Nordisk familjebok
Nordisk familjebok is a Swedish encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.- History :The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899. The first edition is known as the "Iðunn edition" because of the picture of Iðunn on the cover...
the location was still regarded as insignificant to deserve an article. In 1953 the number of inhabitants barely exceeded 2,000.
In a few years this rural land was transformed into the present modern suburb, inaugurated in 1954 in a ceremony attracting some 75,000 people. Vällingby was the first "ABC City" — an acronym for Arbete - Bostad - Centrum, "Work - Housing - Centre" — a suburb designed to offer its residents everything they needed, in short an independent city. High above the modern structure a rotating V-symbol placed the project on the map, while the shining T-symbol (for tunnelbana, metro) proudly indicated the presence of the newly built Stockholm Metro
Stockholm Metro
The Stockholm Metro is a metro system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are seven lines numbered from 10 to 19, in three groups identified by a color: the Green, Red and Blue lines...
. Shortly after the inauguration of the modern suburb the number of inhabitants had reached 25,000.
The new suburb was the fruit of plans to exploit the rural areas surrounding Stockholm dating back to the early 20th century. As a direct consequence of real-estate speculations around the turn of the century 1900, centralised municipal city planning was widely accepted as a necessary tool to solve the acute housing shortage and the City of Stockholm bought large areas for the purpose. During the decades preceding the construction of Vällingby, a series of small-scale suburbs had been realised: Some more or less exclusive — such as the egnehemområden ("own-your-own-home areas") at Stocksund
Stocksund
Stocksund is an upper-class or upper middle-class suburb in Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden.Located immediately across the Edsviken from Bergshamra, Stocksund is one of four parts of Danderyd Municipality north of Stockholm....
and Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden is a locality situated in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,937 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea.- History :...
built around 1900; or in the style of the Garden City
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
, like in Bromma and Enskede
Enskede
Enskede may refer to*The districts of Gamla Enskede in Enskede-Årsta-Vantör borough, Stockholm*Enskededalen, a district of Stockholm's Skarpnäck borough*Enskede gård in Söderort, Stockholm...
built between the wars; and low blocks of apartments built during the 1940s, like in Traneberg
Traneberg
Traneberg is a residential district in western Stockholm and part of the Bromma borough. For the 1912 Summer Olympics, it hosted some of the football competitions.-Reference:* p. 221. - accessed 8 July 2010....
and Abrahamsberg
Abrahamsberg
Abrahamsberg is a residential district in western Stockholm municipality, Sweden, and part of the Bromma borough.-External links:*...
.
However, many of these suburbs had turned into dormitory suburbs, a problem thought to be avoided in Vällingby by planning for approximately 10,000 work places for the 20-25.000 inhabitants, while the metro was to provide access to the commercial centre to some 80,000 people. Important influences came from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where both Labour and the Tories launched ambitious welfare programmes. The original plan for the area was designed by architect Sven Markelius
Sven Markelius
Sven Gottfrid Markelius was one of the most important modernist Swedish architects. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburb of Vällingby .Born in Stockholm in October 1889, he attended the Royal Institute of...
who placed high-rise buildings near the metro stations with peripheral self-contained houses and green areas around it. While the Social Democrats
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
are widely acknowledged for the realisation of Vällingby, other political parties and, not the least, private entrepreneurs actively took part in the planning process. Additionally, Vällingby became an important piece of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
used to spread an image of harmonic Swedish welfare
Swedish welfare
Social welfare in Sweden is made up of several organizations and systems dealing with welfare. It is mostly funded by taxes, and executed by the public sector on all levels of government as well as private organisations...
all over the world.
However, the ABC City failed to work as intended as most people found work elsewhere. Nevertheless, Vällingby remains one of the most popular suburbs of Stockholm with a cultural significance unsurpassed by later suburbs built as part of the so called Million Programme
Million Programme
The Million Programme is the common name for an ambitious housing programme implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to make sure everyone could have a home at a reasonable price. The aim of the programme was to build a million new dwellings in a...
during the 1960s and 1970s, such as Skärholmen and Tensta
Tensta
Tensta is a district in Spånga-Tensta borough, Stockholm, Sweden. There are about 6,000 apartments in Tensta and a population of 17,083 as of December 31, 2007....
, where less efforts were spent on cultural and social infrastructure. Vällingby appeared in the movie "Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In , or Let Me In, is a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the...
".
Renovation
Ever since the late 1980s, a plan to renovate the main centre of Vällingby has been discussed. Only in the beginning of the year 2001 was the plan finally accepted by the local political powers. The major redevelopment of the centre was finished and inaugurated officially in April 2008.Vällingby is still under construction.
Notable natives
- Olof PalmeOlof PalmeSven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
- Prime Minister of SwedenPrime Minister of SwedenThe Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. - Toomas Hendrik IlvesToomas Hendrik IlvesToomas Hendrik Ilves is the fourth and current President of Estonia. He is a former diplomat and journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament...
- President of EstoniaPresident of EstoniaThe President of the Republic is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia.Estonia is a parliamentary republic, therefore President is mainly a symbolic figure and holds no executive power. The President has to suspend his membership in any political party for his term in office...
2006 to current. - John AusoniusJohn AusoniusJohn Wolfgang Alexander Ausonius , known in the media as Lasermannen is a Swedish convicted murderer, bank robber, and attempted serial killer. From August 1991 to January 1992 he shot eleven people in the Stockholm and Uppsala area, most of whom were immigrants, killing one and seriously injuring...
- the Laser Man killer. - Benny AnderssonBenny AnderssonGöran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
- Composer, pianist and ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
-member. - Darin (singer).
- Kenta (musician)Kenta (musician)Kenneth "Kenta" Gustafsson, , was a Swedish musician.Gustafsson was born in Nacka, Sweden. He grew up in Vällingby, a suburb northwest of Stockholm. Early in his life Kenta had problems with alcohol and drug addictions, which was the subject for the three documentaries by Stefan Jarl known as The...
.
External links
- The Urban Order of the North a 1972 analysis of the city by Leonard Downie, Jr funded by the Alicia Patterson FoundationAlicia Patterson FoundationThe Alicia Patterson Foundation Program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson, who was editor and publisher of Newsday for nearly 23 years before her death in 1963.-AFP Fellowship:...