Malmo, a city in transition.

Malmo is the third largest city in Sweden.  It is located in the south-western coast of Sweden directly across from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Once an industrial city, Malmo has completely reinvented itself especially with development within the last ten years.  Beginning in the late 1970's, the industries began shutting down in Malmo because they were no longer profitable.  Approaching next century, Malmo needed to decide what the future of the city was going to be.  They needed to develop some sense of identity of the city so that it would not just seem like a suburb of Copenhagen.  The city politicians decided that it was important that Malmo be seen as a place of knowledge and a city ready for the future.  They headed the city towards information technologies, understanding that their failing industries were a symbol of the past. 

When Malmö University was opened in 1998, it reinvented the city. The University brought in a large number of young people and students from Sweden as well as from other countries.  The huge change in the demographic composition of the city changed its character.

On July 2, 2000, the Ø̈resundsbron, the bridge that connects Malmo and Copenhagen, opened.  It marked a huge shift in the role of Malmo and Sweden by connecting it physically to the western European continent.  Before the bridge was built, the only way to get from one city to the other was by ferry which could take up to two hours, or not even be able to make it through when it's cold enough.  The bridge, which has a level for cars as well as one for trains, now takes 25 minutes to cross in any weather. 

Now Copenhagen and Malmo can be considered one metropolitan area as many people can now easily commute between the two.  However, Malmo still always seems like its trying to catch up to Copenhagen as a growing urban zone.  Many new iconic modern buildings are being constructed in Malmo such as the Stadsbibliotek (City Library) designed by Danish architect, Henning Larsen.  

Surrounded by picturesque pastoral farms, Malmo is constantly expanding its borders.  It feels like they actually have more land just outside the main city than they know what to do with yet. Many of Malmo's new housing developments are meant for higher income people who want to live close to but outside of the city.

Like many cities, Malmo is trying to learn from its failures with the unappealing and crime-inducing urban housing developed after WWII for the influx of immigrants and refugees that would continue to come to the country through today.  

Malmo is a diverse city that is growing into a major metropolitan area.  It is learning from its neighbors and developing responsibly while trying to make its mark on the global scene.

This is what I've learned so far in a few days about the city where I'm living.  I still plan to talk to the planning department and learn more.



An interesting fact: Malmo and the south-western coast of Sweden once belonged to Denmark.  In the late 17th century, Sweden took these territories back and gave the people 20 years to become Swedes again... meaning assimilating into Swedish culture and adopting Swedish language. This is not an issue now as the people of Malmo think of themselves very much as Swedes, but it's interesting to think what it would be like if there were still a cultural clash...