ABSTRACT
The connections between cities and water systems are universal—every city is dependent on water. This interrelation between city and waterscape can be described as a hybrid urban landscape. However, this universality and hybridity take different forms at different places and different times; it is also dependent on the characteristics of the local water system. This chapter will analyze the hybrid urban landscape of Stockholm in Sweden. The hybridity of Stockholm and its flowing water shows three phases: first, from the thirteenth century onwards, land elevation formed a new and changing waterscape, creating challenges and opportunities for the city located between Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The second phase is placed in early modern times, where especially the relation between the riparians of Lake Mälaren and the growing city of Stockholm is highlighted. This interrelation was characterized by frequent disputes over the water levels of Lake Mälaren. In the third phase, from around 1900, the focus is on the unruly and unpredictable waterscape of Stockholm, insofar as it became problematic to the development of a modern water and sewage system.
