Stad (Swedish: 'town; city'; plural städer) is a Swedish term that historically was used for urban centers of various sizes. Since 1971, stad has no administrative or legal significance in Sweden.
The status of towns in Sweden was formerly granted by a royal charter, comparable to the United Kingdom's status of borough or burgh before the 1970s or city status today. Unless given such town privileges, a municipality could not call itself stad. To receive the privileges, there were several requirements a municipality needed to fulfill, like being of a certain size, and to have certain facilities.[clarification needed] The criteria varied over time as they were at the discretion of the Riksdag or the monarch, but they could include a permanent town council hall and a prison.
In the majority of cases, before a town received its charter, it would have previously been given the status of köping or "merchant town". Exceptions to this would be when a town was founded under Royal supervision, in which case it would often bear the name of the monarch, such as Kristianstad or Karlskrona (named after kings Christian IV of Denmark and Karl XI of Sweden).
In the Late Middle Ages, c. 1450, Sweden (excluding Finland) had 41 chartered towns. By 1680 there were 83. The only town founded and chartered during the 18th century was Östersund (1786). In 1863 the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden. Of the around 2,500 municipalities that were created, 88 were chartered towns. The main difference between these and other municipalities was that a stad had its own jurisdiction, i.e. independent town courts. There were also laws on urban planning and building (Byggnadstadgan 1874), fire prevention (Brandstadgan 1874), public order (Ordningsstadgan 1868) and public health (Hälsovårdsstadgan 1874) which were compulsory applicable to towns. Prior to 1900, the two minor towns of Borgholm and Haparanda lost their courts, but retained the title of stad.
Of the new towns chartered between 1901 and 1951 (44, making the total number of towns 133), not a single one was given its own jurisdiction, but remained under what was called landsrätt ("rural jurisdiction").
20th century reformsedit
In the middle of the 20th century many administrative reforms were carried out that continued to diminish the difference between rural and urban areas. Police forces and district courts, as well as taxation, were centralized under state agencies, making the administration uniform all over Sweden.
The amalgamations of municipalities reduced the number of local government units from a maximum of 2,532 in 1930 to less than 300 today. Consequently, by 1970 most municipalities contained both rural and urban areas. Since the urban and rural municipalities also with time got the same duties towards citizens, it became unnecessary to differentiate between towns and other municipalities, as all had the same powers. Since 1 January 1971, all municipalities are designated as kommun, regardless of their former status.
A few municipalities which used to be towns still style themselves as stad, e.g. Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. There are also municipalities with considerable rural areas that market themselves with the term.
This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.
January 01, 1970
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See also List of cities in Sweden Stad Swedish town city plural stader is a Swedish term that historically was used for urban centers of various sizes Since 1971 stad has no administrative or legal significance in Sweden Contents 1 History 1 1 20th century reforms 2 Modern use 3 Urban population 4 See also 5 References 6 SourcesHistory editThe status of towns in Sweden was formerly granted by a royal charter comparable to the United Kingdom s status of borough or burgh before the 1970s or city status today Unless given such town privileges a municipality could not call itself stad To receive the privileges there were several requirements a municipality needed to fulfill like being of a certain size and to have certain facilities clarification needed The criteria varied over time as they were at the discretion of the Riksdag or the monarch but they could include a permanent town council hall and a prison In the majority of cases before a town received its charter it would have previously been given the status of koping or merchant town Exceptions to this would be when a town was founded under Royal supervision in which case it would often bear the name of the monarch such as Kristianstad or Karlskrona named after kings Christian IV of Denmark and Karl XI of Sweden In the Late Middle Ages c 1450 Sweden excluding Finland had 41 chartered towns By 1680 there were 83 The only town founded and chartered during the 18th century was Ostersund 1786 In 1863 the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden Of the around 2 500 municipalities that were created 88 were chartered towns The main difference between these and other municipalities was that a stad had its own jurisdiction i e independent town courts There were also laws on urban planning and building Byggnadstadgan 1874 fire prevention Brandstadgan 1874 public order Ordningsstadgan 1868 and public health Halsovardsstadgan 1874 which were compulsory applicable to towns Prior to 1900 the two minor towns of Borgholm and Haparanda lost their courts but retained the title of stad Of the new towns chartered between 1901 and 1951 44 making the total number of towns 133 not a single one was given its own jurisdiction but remained under what was called landsratt rural jurisdiction 20th century reforms edit In the middle of the 20th century many administrative reforms were carried out that continued to diminish the difference between rural and urban areas Police forces and district courts as well as taxation were centralized under state agencies making the administration uniform all over Sweden The amalgamations of municipalities reduced the number of local government units from a maximum of 2 532 in 1930 to less than 300 today Consequently by 1970 most municipalities contained both rural and urban areas Since the urban and rural municipalities also with time got the same duties towards citizens it became unnecessary to differentiate between towns and other municipalities as all had the same powers Since 1 January 1971 all municipalities are designated as kommun regardless of their former status Modern use editMost of the urban areas of Sweden which once were chartered towns are today still usually referred to as stad The majority of them are also house the seat of their respective municipalities though the term is no longer an administrative term In some municipalities there can be more than one former town e g Eskilstuna and Torshalla in Eskilstuna Municipality Kungalv and Marstrand in Kungalv Municipality or Jonkoping Huskvarna and Granna which all three now are part of Jonkoping Municipality The town of Visby is the seat of Gotland Municipality but is no political entity of its own Some former towns have also grown together forming one urban area A few municipalities which used to be towns still style themselves as stad e g Stockholm Gothenburg and Malmo There are also municipalities with considerable rural areas that market themselves with the term Statistics Sweden defines the term stad as a locality with more than 10 000 inhabitants citation needed of which there are currently when 118 Urban population editLargest urban areas in 1850 1 Stockholm 93 000 inhabitants Gothenburg 26 000 Norrkoping 17 000 Karlskrona 14 000 Malmo 13 000 Largest urban areas in 1900 2 Stockholm 300 624 Gothenburg 130 609 Malmo 60 857 Norrkoping 41 008 Gavle 29 522 Helsingborg 24 670 Karlskrona 23 955 Jonkoping 23 143 Uppsala 22 855 Orebro 22 013 Lund 16 621 Boras 15 837 Halmstad 15 362 See also editMunicipalities of Sweden Urban areas in SwedenReferences edit Statistics from Statistics Sweden website Fakta om statistiken Statistik fran SCB Archived from the original on 29 August 2006 Retrieved 3 June 2006 accessed June 2006 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article SwedenSources edit nbsp This article contains content from theOwl Editionof Nordisk familjebok a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926 now in the public domain Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stad Sweden amp oldid 1192950843, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
