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An Institutional Approach to the Göta kanal

A Nineteenth-Century Infrastructure Mega-Project

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Björn Hasselgren

    1. Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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  • Expands the knowledge of Swedish infrastructure to an English-language audience
  • Takes an institutional and co-evolutionary approach to easier categorize and discuss different phases of the project
  • Provides an interdisciplinary approach to current transport infrastructure mega projects

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. The Development of Transport Infrastructure Systems

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 1-10

  3. Göta kanal and the “Canal Age”: The Literature

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 11-24

  4. Göta kanal: The Major Swedish Canal—And an Example of the Canal Era—A Brief Introduction

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 25-31

  5. Different Perspectives on Göta kanal

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 33-63

  6. Göta kanal and the Iron Industry in the Adjoining Regions—An Example of Interrelations and Interdependencies

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 65-95

  7. Conclusions and Analysis

    • Björn Hasselgren
    Pages 97-105

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 107-108
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Keywords

About this book

This book is based on an institutional evolutionary theoretical view to the Göta kanal. Canals were the major transport infrastructure system besides roads and maritime transport until railroads were introduced. The canal studied is the Swedish Göta kanal project during the preparation and construction phase from 1800–1832. Thus, the Göta kanal, and the canal-era, is seen from a technological, an economic and a political perspective. Comparisons are made with two contemporary major canal-projects; the Erie Canal in the USA (1817–1825) and the Caledonian Canal in Britain (1804–1822). It is argued that the Göta kanal project, as Sweden's Mega Project of its time, represented an important development step in Sweden as regards learning and innovation and became a starting point for Swedish transport infrastructure projects in the time to come, primarily the railways.

Reviews

“The neglected history of canals in Sweden is illuminated in this original and important book. Dr Björn Hasselgren has written a new and path-breaking transport history of Sweden. This book is important not only for readers interested in Swedish transport history. Through the institutional analysis, the role of the entrepreneurs, and the role of finance, this important work gives new and important knowledge regarding the evolution of transport systems.” (Jan Ottosson, Professor, Uppsala University, Sweden)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Björn Hasselgren

About the author

Björn Hasselgren is a guest researcher in the Economic History Department of Uppsala University, Sweden and has a Ph.D. in planning and decision analysis from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. He has extensive experience from senior positions in the transport infrastructure sector and the Sveriges Riksbank. His last book, Transport Infrastructure in Time, Scope and Scale: An Economic History and Evolutionary Perspective, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: An Institutional Approach to the Göta kanal

  • Book Subtitle: A Nineteenth-Century Infrastructure Mega-Project

  • Authors: Björn Hasselgren

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44416-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-44415-9Published: 24 November 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-44418-0Due: 25 December 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-44416-6Published: 23 November 2023

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 108

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 6 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Economic History, Civil Engineering, History of Technology, Science and Technology Studies, European History

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