Hur blev den kommunala infrastrukturenen offentlig angelägenhet i Sverige? Gator, vatten och sanitet i ett historiskt perspektiv
The first contribution of the book lies in the historical comparison of infrastructural systems that normally are dealt with separately. The synthesis has been achieved mainly by an extensive literature review of research from a wide range of various fields and by using prime sources to some extent. Earlier results have been reinterpreted and research areas that communicate rarely have been brought together. The comparative and long-term perspective allows the discovery of similarities and differences in the development of arrangements around streets, water and sanitation (WS). By using the analytical lens of publicness, the book challenges the common belief that these three areas have always been public concerns or obligations. An assumption based on the fact that presently they indeed are public infrastructural systems. The second contribution is the connection of the historical development of these three sectors with research in medical, social, cultural, economic, technical, and political history highlighting the most important contextual factors in society at large that has profoundly affected streets, water and sanitation. The book shows how their respective evolution into public infrastructural systems has been strongly influenced by these factors. Finally, the book shows how the evolution in municipal streets, WS has left a historical legacy still affecting the way these infrasystems are managed today.