Ready for Crisis? : Food Production in Uppsala during the Second World War

Abstract: Recently, various crises have occurred that have reminded Swedish authorities of the preparations needed to manage such phenomena. The recent crises are the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the man-made climate crisis. The aim of this study is to show how urban agriculture can be used to mitigate negative impacts from future crises. This thesis examines different methods used during the Second World War in Uppsala when its citizens turned to urban agriculture to sustain themselves, by studying the local newspaper, archival material, and photographs. While Sweden was neutral during the war, it still suffered the effects of the conflict, such as rations on food and decreased imports on fertilizers, which brought on the need for creating allotment gardens and land lots. This in turn changed the appearance of the cityscape of Uppsala. This thesis will trace the changes made in the urban environment through a lens of crisis studies. Thus, learning from history, a new solution to climate change and future crises are proposed.