Annika Björklund

I Lantmäteriet och Karls XI:s reduktion bidrar geografer, historiker och en konstvetare med perspektiv på utvecklingen av Sveriges lantmäteri och statsförvaltning i slutet av 1600-talet. Här ryms detaljerade studier av storskalig geometrisk och småskalig geografisk kartläggning samt analyser av breda politiska förändringar under en formativ fas i statsförvaltningens historia. Tillsammans synliggör forskarna hur lantmäteriet, som hade startats 1628, under det sena 1600-talet kom att bli ett modernt och effektivt instrument för hantering av ägoregleringar och skattereduktion. I ett politiskt landskap, präglat av Karl XI, skiftade maktbalansen mellan frälset, kronan och skattebönderna. Reduktionskarteringarna stärkte kronans intressen och minskade högadelns inflytande. *** This anthology comprises 14 chapters that expand our understanding of a formative phase in the development of Sweden’s land surveying and state administration in the late 17th century. The contributions range from detailed studies of large-scale geometric and smallscale geographic maps to analyses of broader political transformations. Following Gustav II Adolf’s distribution of estates and declining tax revenues, survey activity declined around 1650 but was vigorously resumed under Karl XI, when the Reduction demanded extensive mapping of noble and Crown estates, soldiers’ crofts, forests and commons. In a political landscape marked by absolutism and shifting balances of power between the nobility, the crown and freeholders, mapping strengthened the state’s interests and reduced the old nobility’s influence. Taken together, the volume shows how an initially vague defined project evolved into a modern, legally effective instrument that laid the groundwork for later land enclosure, land reforms and a more efficient state administration.

For a long time, agriculture was an integral part of urban life, and it complemented the urban specialisation in commerce, trade and industry. And yet, only a little has been known about the extent and importance of these agricultural activities. In this study, human geographer Annika Björklund presents a wide-ranging analysis of the significance of urban agriculture in Swedish towns. Historical Urban Agriculture is based on extensive archival research and provides both an overview of urban agriculture, and an in-depth study of one town, Uppsala. The analysis demonstrates how town lands were developed and it shows how urban agriculture was practiced over a long period of time. The study shows that urban grain production was substantial in many towns, and sometimes led to high levels of self-sufficiency. The study gives new perspectives on urban food provision, and identifies factors that might create or counteract urban agriculture. In addition, the analysis in this book provides an historical context to the present-day discussions about local urban food production. Annika Björklund, born in Värmland in 1969, has a Licentiate of Philosophy in Human Geography and a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from Stockholm University. This book is her Doctoral Thesis in Human Geography.