I get hold of the detailed development plan for the new Arena City, now planned to be built just a few hundred meters from the Poseidon sculpture -the emblem of the City itself.

Now I can see how the construction of two new monumental arenas is linked to an expansion of the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre. And how this, in turn, is tied to what is referred to as the “Event Axis”—a string of event buildings stretching from Ullevi to Scandinavium, to the Exhibition Centre, Liseberg, Universeum, and to the Museum of World Culture at Korsvägen. The axis also includes restaurants, hotels, and a cinema.

This alters my understanding of the Place. It dawns on me, the Place can in fact not be understood merely as a solitary landmark in the City. But rather as a kind of cornerstone of an ongoing construction of the City’s self-image.

The Place was born a hundred years ago, as the entrance to a vast world exhibition. As indicated in this photo, how the exhibition appeared as an exception of, and a glitch within the urban web. A temporary zone that drew more than four million people in four months.

The exhibition grounds have been removed a hundred years ago. But the very concept seems to linger, as a conceptual shadow hovering over the Event Axis and the Arena City. In parts even located in very same urban area.

A reuse of the same principle: a city within the City. And of a basic format: a space were a visitor can move on foot from one institution to the next, while also having his hotels, resturants and cinema within walking distance. And all of this is again intended as a vehicle: the City can introduce a curated image of itself —and of products produced here.

So yes, the shadow of the Jubilee Exhibition 1923 could feel very much alive.

But still—can this really be the case? Would a “City of Genius” hold on to one single formula for economical success … for over a hundred years? If so—who benefits from that? And how does this spill over into the conditions for a local ev eryday, or a local culture?

City of Gothenburg, New Arena and Urban Development in the Event Area, Göteborgs Stad, accessed 2025.
www.goteborg.se/ny-arena-och-stadsutveckling