NÄR BILEN TOG ÖVER STADEN En fallstudie över Oscarsleden och dess påverkan på stads- och kulturmiljön

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon “the automotive city” and its impact and consequences on the built environment on the southern shore of Göta älv in central Gothenburg. The city highway Oscarsleden is the examined object. This study also intends to give a brief picture of how the city of Gothenburg has changed as a result of the car. My goal with this study is to exhibit how motorism and the car caused a great transformation of the physical environment in Gothenburg during the 1960s, and especially in the surroundings of Oscarsleden. This study is based mainly on collection of existing knowledge and my primary methods in collecting the needed research material is archive studies and qualitative literature studies. In the archives historical maps, old photos, city plans and municipal documents provides the basis of the research. The literature contributes to a historical background of the car and motorism in Gothenburg. Oscarsleden was planned as a result of several things: the fast increasing number of cars during the 1950s, the traffic safety aspect, and last but not least the growth of industries and residences in the western part of the city which led to the necessity of a working infrastructure. The opinions of the construction was for the most part negative. Several buildings with high cultural and historic values were demolished in the building process and the citizens were deprived their freedom of reaching the water as the highway came to split the city from the river in a drastic way. Today Oscarsleden is frequently discussed in the newspaper and on online forums due to its negative consequences on the environment and the cityscape. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that Oscarsleden had a great impact on the physical environment. But at the same time the erection of the highway was in many ways totally crucial for Gothenburg’s further development. The future of the highway in still uncertain, but until further notice it will stay unchanged.