Cityscapes 6 essays.

The Nordic region has no metropolis, only major cities that are also centers of state power. Throughout history, these have been Stockholm and Copenhagen, later Oslo and Helsinki. From this point of view, the Nordic region is provincial. The orientations of these major cities differ, opening the region in different directions, making them part of other regions, or linking them, as in the case of present-day Reykjavik, with more global orientations. The rise and life of the major cities as well as the shift from the countryside to the urban environment are of course of central significance. So is the interchange of power and knowledge between the two. With its roots in the nineteenth century, the Nordic novel often features the transition of the protagonist from the countryside to the capital, and the urban experience becomes a central theme in modern prose as well as poetry. As we move on to the countryside, the cultural element of the cityscape becomes intertwined with the natural element of the landscape in villages and the farms. Architecture is an all-prevailing element in the cityscape.

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