Gamlestan is an important industrial and working-class district in Gothenburg with a long history. Gamlestadens Fabriker housed a large spinning factory and many people worked at “kulan”, as the Swedish Ball Bearing Factory (Svenska Kullagerfabriken) was known. The company built many of the blocks of flats in Gamlestan for their employees.

The district has a tarnished reputation but is now becoming trendy. New infrastructure and new blocks of flats are mushrooming. The old industrial buildings are filled with cafés, restaurants, flats, and cultural activities. The facades in Gamlestan may be polished, but nothing can erase its history.

I myself have lived in Gamlestan with my family since many years, in the same building that my grandmother, grandfather and mother lived in.