TWO DIFFERENT STRUCTURES MEET ON THE GOTEBORG DONATION LAND 1866-CA. 1920: GIS AND HISTORICAL MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS EXPLORE THE TRANSFORMATIONS

G. Enherning

Chalmers University of Technology, Architecture, Gцteborg, Sweden

unicorn@chalmers.se

Two different structures meet on the Göteborg donation land 1866–c. 1920: GIS and historical morphological analysis explore the transformations

This paper aims to clearify the main causes for the transformations of the town pattern and the variations of inertness for the elements of the urban network by using GIS combined with historical morphological analysis.

The Swedish city of Göteborg was founded 1621. Outside the inner town was an area belonging to the town and examined with historical map-overlays through almost 300 years, the so-called donation land.

Immediately after the town foundation so-called landerier* on the donation land began to be leased out. In the beginning they consisted only of agricultural areas but gradually buildings were built and the plots increasingly cultivated. Later they became lavish with manor houses, parks and all kinds of buildings. The donation land, covered with the landerier, had in the 1860s developed a stable pattern.

The industrial revolution in the 1800s affected the development of the town and led to liquidation of the landeri institution. The pressing demand for expansion on the donation land outside the fully built inner town produced the first town plan in 1866 for part of this area. Further plans soon followed. Around 1920 the donation land was almost totally planned and all the landerier had gradually gone back into the town’s possession.

Two completely different structures met on the donation land – the landerier and the new town plans. When the plans were put into practice they influenced and claimed the landeri areas with their established structure. But the landerier also affected the expansion.

A number of examples, some also from other towns, and even outside Sweden, show the meeting between these structures. The interaction between these reciprocal developments is examined not only by using morphological theories, but also by using GIS, which gives good opportunity to utilize the complex body of information and illustrate the geographical and building related processes.

A universal morphological system, in which the city is regarded as a network, has been used. This system, consisting of elements, arranged in a chosen structure according to the available means and possibilities, has been applied to the empirical examples.

Historical map-overlays is of great help to understand the city of today and becomes in combination with morphological theories an excellent tool to deepen the analysis of transformations of urban patterns over time and thereby contribute to cartography development.

The originality is the use of GIS for illustrating the historic changes, and the innovation is combining it with morphological theories.

* Landeri, plural landerier: a leasehold agricultural property on the donation land of the town, often with a manor house built on the plot.