TRADITIONS AND DYNAMICS

The fact that Uppsala is a city with very old learning and commercial traditions is well known.

Thousands of students come here every year to spend several years in the city of business and science. But Uppsala does not only rest on its traditions.

Uppsala of today, with its about 190 000 inhabitants, is a dynamic industrial and commercial municipality where knowledge, ideas and entrepreneurship are at the centre.

At Uppsala University, founded in 1477, extensive and cutting-edge research is carried out in a number of fields. Important research activities are also carried out at SLU (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) many of which are of great interest for industry and commerce outside the agricultural sector.

Seeded with venture capital, research funding and industry sponsoring the Uppsala climate of business and science is indeed fertile.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Industry in Uppsala has changed sharply from low technology manufacturing to knowledge-intensive business with an international out-look. Industrial growth in Uppsala is especially fast in the areas of information technology (IT) and life science (pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology and equipment, etc.).

Since heathen times, Uppsala has been a centre of commerce, and from around 1920 to 1950, Uppsala had an industrial focus. About 40% of the population worked in manufacturing. However, the 1950s saw cutbacks and closures among many industrial companies. Competition from abroad intensified and for a time, structural reorganisations hit Uppsala harder than many other Swedish towns.

But in 1950, Pharmacia moved from Stockholm to Uppsala. The most important reason for this transfer was the company's collaboration with the Physical Chemistry Institute at Uppsala University. This proved to be a turning point and the foundation of today's industrial structure in Uppsala. Pharmacia grew rapidly, extended its activities, and was soon a fully-integrated international pharmaceutical company.

Following the 1995 merger with the American pharmaceutical company Upjohn, Pharmacia's role in Uppsala became more indirect. Pharmacia Corporation is still active in the town today, primarily in expanding its world-class production facilities. However, parts of the business have been sold off and are now integrated into other companies such as Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Fresenius Kabi and Pharmacia Diagnostics. Biacore, on the other hand, is an independent spin-off.

Furthermore, there is a large number of newer companies in the life science sector also associated with Pharmacia's presence in one way or another. Examples include Gyros Microlabs, Åmic, Professional Genetics Laboratory, Gemini Genomics and Q-Med.

All in all, there are about 140 private companies in the life science sector, many of them stemming from research primarily done at Uppsala University. Melacure Therapeutics, AlphaHelix Development and NeoPharma are typical examples. Others were established in Uppsala because of the rich cluster of academic and industrial competences found here, as in the cases of Pyrosequencing, Personal Chemistry and Conpharm.

The IT sector consists of some 900 companies. Prominent examples include Cycore, IR-Vision, IAR Systems, CC Systems, TradeExtensions, Helax, and Prevas Bioinformatics, the latter two with strong links to the life science sector.

THE REGION

The Lake Malar Valley and greater Stockholm - a thriving area

Uppsala nestles in the Mälare valley that encompasses, among others, the greater Stockholm area. The region boasts about one third of Sweden's entire population and about 50 percent of the country's research and development capabilities.THE CITY

The IT sector consists of some 900 companies. Prominent examples include Cycore, IR-Vision, IAR Systems, CC Systems, TradeExtensions, Helax, and Prevas Bioinformatics, the latter two with strong links to the life science sector.

THE CITY

The city - growing fast
Uppsala is Sweden's fourth-largest municipality and has a central position in a region of strong growth. People have met in Uppsala since time immemorial - to practice their religion, to trade or to exchange knowledge. Uppsala's good communications - Arlanda international airport and the main railway line to the north - still make it an excellent city to meet and settle down. The proximity to the universities and research has given industry in Uppsala an advanced high-tech profile.

THE PEOPLE
Young, multicultural and highly-educated

With its two universities, Uppsala lives up to the tradition of a city of learning. Approximately one third of Uppsala's residents study, which naturally has a great influence on the city. Uppsala offers access to a highly-educated and qualified work force. A full 43% of the full-time employed residents have gone on to further studies, compared to 29% in the rest of Sweden. Uppsala is a multi-faceted meeting place with long traditions. Important decisions have been made here and cultures have met. Contact with the surrounding world has always been lively. The Uppsala region is a meeting place for over 100 different nationalities, and integration and multi-cultural resources have enriched the city in many ways.

THE LIFE STYLE

The lifestyle - a city of inspiration

Despite the fact that Uppsala is a big city by Swedish standards, its residents are always close to the wide-open countryside, forests, lakes and local communities. With the energy of its young people combined with its monuments of the past, the city offers both residents and visitors a rich cultural life and a wealth of historical sites. Uppsala has been a hive of cultural activity since olden times. Here you will find everything from church music to jazz and rock. The town's varied cultural life offers residents and visitors alike many opportunities for a rich array of leisure activities.

It's no distance at all from the city centre to magnificent open-air recreation parks, nature reserves, lakes with pure, fresh water for swimming, meadows with rich flora, and forests with tracks for rambling and skiing. The footpaths, bridges, quays and banks of the river Fyris combine with the surrounding buildings to form a much-cherished environment. All of this, plus a well-educated work force, access to Sweden's central market regions and good transport systems, contributes to conditions that favour a flourishing commercial and business atmos