When I arrived in the port town of Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast in June, I expected to focus on the city's 400th anniversary, looking for relics of the past and for activities related to the milestone.
That didn't happen.
Anniversaries are inherently retrospectives. But I stepped out of the central railroad station and got a strong whiff of Gothenburg's future: I walked jerry-rigged pathways through a major construction area and headed to my hotel, the new, 451-room Scandic Goteborg Central, strategically positioned in the middle of the action on the city's Gota Alv River and near a transport hub.
The Gothenburg region is leaning well into the future with a plan to spend around $110 billion in public and private funds on projects that rethink transportation, housing, population density and business centers with a view to improving quality of life and economic competitiveness, all while boosting sustainability.
The master plan envisions a 2035 completion date, which, I was assured, is optimistic. Nevertheless, work is underway and very visible.
The so-called Zipper building, nearing completion on Hisingen Island. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
The sightseeing tour
So, where do numerous cranes and lots of holes in the ground leave the visitor who just wants to look at pretty stuff?
For me, the start was the usual bit of tourist bait, the Old Town, which by European standards isn't that old. However, it reinforces the image of Gothenburgers as urban planners. Founders laid out the streets on the grid visitors see today. They also wrapped the riverside town with a moat and walls; they added canals to enhance their new port. Significant -- and picturesque -- portions of the moat and canal system remain; only fragments of the walls survive.
The original Gothenburg is dwarfed now by a city of about 600,000 (in a metro area of roughly twice that). But the bigger city still uses the 17th-century Radhuset (Town Hall) plus a newer annex, located in the Old Town's main square.
Right next to the Old Town, workers are digging a big tunnel for new railway lines, this to be followed by new river-facing housing, commercial units and green space. But the look of the Old Town is not meant to change.
In the same area, the Hisingsbron Bridge, with a dramatic vertical-lift span (rather than drawbridge), debuted in 2021. It has the makings of a Gothenburg symbol, the way the Golden Gate suggests San Francisco.
View of the Hisingsbron Bridge, distinguished by its vertical-lift span. The structure at left is known as the Lipstick building. Photo Credit: Per Sundstrom/City of Gothenburg
Hisingen Island
The bridge connects central Gothenburg with city neighborhoods on Hisingen Island. It has pathways for pedestrians and cyclists, but my guide and I took the free ferry across the river to see a part of town that has already been on a redevelopment track for years.
Hisingen was a huge shipbuilding center, which went into crisis in the 1980s, then collapsed. The once-devastated area is now a center for education, new tech companies and a science park.
New buildings include the round Kuggen (Cog) and another, for good reason, nicknamed the Zipper. As part of its green features, each floor of the Kuggen overhangs the level below, providing shade. Also, the building has a screen that moves around the top level, following the sun.
One thing is unchanged on Hisingen: Volvos have been made there since 1927. Car lovers ogle historical models at the Volvo Museum, but in 2024, the carmaker will open a new space, the World of Volvo, to encompass the museum plus an event site.
Wall art includes works solicited by the Swedish Transportation Administration. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
Street art
Gothenburg is big on outdoor art, with eye-catchers including gussied-up roadways, ground paintings one can walk on and an art trail about 14 miles long for cyclists, created to commemorate the city's anniversary.
In addition, while upgrading rail services to and within the city, the Swedish Transportation Administration is paying artists to prettify sections of the plank paneling that surrounds construction sites. The goal, it said, is to make the panels "an attraction in their own right."
Boosters refer to Gothenburg and its nearby towns as "the world's leading street art destination."
Abundant seating for meals, drinks or working in the main floor's public areas at the Scandic Goteborg Central. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
'Most sustainable'
The city's blockbuster infrastructure plans include sustainability goals, but Gothenburg is already on this. For several years, including 2022, the Global Destination Sustainability Index named the city the world's most sustainable travel destination in a competition that rates 80-plus cities.
Ninety-two percent of Gothenburg's hotels are eco-certified, and 97% of the region's public transport uses fuel from renewable sources. The city's Liseberg amusement park generates electricity from one of its thrill rides.
When speaking of redevelopment, my guide said, "We build the green spaces first." For visitors, this translates into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly city with high accessibility to green spaces -- plus plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants.
And wastebaskets: In my room at the LEED-certified Scandic property, the wastebasket was divided into sections so trash was sorted before it left the room.
And the city's anniversary? The real date was 2021, but the yearlong commemoration was postponed to this year due to Covid.