Nordstan

Nordstan
Location Gothenburg, Sweden
Coordinates 57°42′30″N 11°58′9″E / 57.70833°N 11.96917°E / 57.70833; 11.96917
Owner

AMF Pension
Nordstans Samfällighetsförening
Vasakronan
Hufvudstaden
Eklandia
F O Peterson

Söner Byggnads
No. of stores and services 179
Total retail floor area 70,000 m2 (750,000 sq ft)
No. of floors 4
Parking 2,700
Public transit access Gothenburg Central Station
Nils Ericson Terminal
Website nordstan.se

Nordstan is a shopping centre in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is the largest shopping centre in Gothenburg with approximately 180 shops and 150 offices. The shopping centre's total area is about 320,000 m2 (3,400,000 sq ft) divided into nine interconnected buildings, where retail and restaurant floor space makes up around 70,000 m2 (750,000 sq ft). The covered streets and squares comprise 8,000 m2 (86,000 sq ft). The companies housed in Nordstan employ approximately six thousand people and the total annual turnover was SEK 4.1 billion in 2013.[1] The main passageways in the centre are public spaces and therefore are open for use after shops have closed.[2] The character of the centre changes after closing time of the shops. The presence of adults is drastically reduced and the premises become a hangout for youth.[2]

History

The construction of Nordstan began in 1967, over a part of the city previously neglected. Most of the current Nordstan was finished by 1972. At its time, the construction of the shopping centre was Sweden's largest ever city renovation project. In the last few years Nordstan has gone through a major renovation to make it more attractive.

In the wake of the 2014 European migrant crisis Nordstan became a hangout for Moroccan, Afghani and Syrian street children after the shops close at night. These gangs threatened shop keepers, traded drugs and fought with other gangs in the centre.[3] These gangs and their abuse of fireworks led to the unprecedented measure of closing the shopping centre to the public on New Year's Eve 31 December 2016.[3] In April 2017 it was visited by the prime minister Stefan Löfven who stated that it would remain open to the public as a safe area and not abandoned to criminal gangs in the evenings.[4] In May 2017 Nordstan received permission to continuously film all the indoor street areas due to the high number of requests from police to receive footage from crime incidents, an increase from previous filming which was done outside business hours.[5] A 2018 investigation by the municipality found that of the youth hanging in the centre, all the girls were born in Sweden and the majority of the boys born abroad with Syria, Afghanistan and Kurdistan as the most common origins.[6] Many of the unaccompanied minors hanging in the shopping centre have had several asylum applications rejected.[7]

In September 2018, security guards and social workers had observed heroin had started to be dealed in the shopping centre.[8]

Location and transportation

Nordstan is located in Gothenburg's city centre, connected to the Gothenburg Central Station and the Nils Ericson Terminal by an underground pedestrian tunnel, and to the Lilla Bommen marina and the Gothenburg Opera house by sheltered walkways. The shopping centre also offers parking space to 2,700 cars. Just outside Nordstan are three different tram stops on three sides of the shopping center, making it easy to reach Nordstan by public transportation. A majority of the visitors use public transportation. If almost all of the visitors had used cars (as it is for many shopping centres outside city centres), around 8,000 parking places would be needed and this would need more parking space area than shop area.

Panorama of Nordstan's interior

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Välkommen till Nordstan affärscentrum i Göteborg" (PDF) (in Swedish). Nordstan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 KARTLÄGGNING AV UNGDOMAR SOM FÄLTGRUPPEN CITY MÖTER I SITT UPPSÖKANDE ARBETE I NORDSTAN (PDF). Gothenburg: Gothenburg Municipality / Social Resursförvaltning. 2018. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Brottsplats Nordstan – så ser vardagen ut". Expressen. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "Här besöker statsministern Nordstan". Göteborgsposten. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Nyheter, SVT. "Övervakning motiveras med brott och terrorhot". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  6. ↑ KARTLÄGGNING AV UNGDOMAR SOM FÄLTGRUPPEN CITY MÖTER I SITT UPPSÖKANDE ARBETE I NORDSTAN (PDF). Gothenburg: Gothenburg Municipality / Social Resursförvaltning. 2018. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ny kartläggning av ungdomar i Nordstan". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  8. ↑ "Marginellt resultat av kameraövervakningen i Brunnsparken". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-09-25.
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