The Growing Pains of the Pipe-Bound City

Abstract

This article concerns the extension of water supply and sewerage in the Swedish industrial city Norrköping in the late 19th century. These technological sanitary systems were originally built for the city itself, but as the city grew the question of expanding them to the suburbs became crucial. It was the suburbs that asked for these urban services, but the city was often unwilling to help. From an ideological point of view, the border of the city's planned area became a dividing line between the public and private domains of the city. The middle-class southern suburb was connected to the water and sewer systems fairly easily, which was due to its attractive topography and inhabitants. The working-class northern suburb, on the other hand, was seen as a dirty area that was to be held at arm's length.