The busiest such spot is easily Stationen, a themed bar, cafe and formal brasserie that opened a few months ago in the former station building. On the other side of the tracks — literally — live music and outdoor terraces draw crowds to an old brick building known as Godsmagasinet, which is now home to a string of popular venues. It was there, on the sunny patio of Brostroms Kafé, that I chatted with Lovisa Wilhelmsson, a medical student who has lived in Uppsala for the past 13 years.

“Uppsala was traditionally very divided by the east and west side of the river, and it was really dead here,” she said, referring to the area around the station. But now, almost all her favorite restaurants and bars are nearby. “It’s not just for people who are going somewhere else. People go just to go.”

Ms. Wilhelmsson added that Uppsala’s shopping options have vastly improved recently. Last year, the Swedish brands J.Lindeberg and Tiger of Sweden opened boutiques in town. And in March, Radhuset, the 18th-century former town hall that overlooks Uppsala’s main square, reopened as an elegant department store with an upscale restaurant and bar and three floors of shops stocked with fashionable Swedish and international labels like Acne, Whyred, Dagmar and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Even the Fyris River, once a marker of the town-and-gown divide, is now a place that draws everyone together. One of Uppsala’s greatest recent accomplishments, Ms. Andersson said, was the refurbishment of the river area — extending sidewalks along both sides of the river and installing artworks that double as benches.

“One of the things that Uppsala has worked very hard on over the last few years is the urban milieu,” she said, citing the pleasant river surroundings as a place where people now go to stroll, to eat lunch or simply to hang out and enjoy the environment.

During a lunch of gravlax and potatoes at Magnussons Krog, a popular all-day riverfront restaurant and night-life spot that opened two years ago, I watched young fathers pushing strollers along the sparkling river, students racing down bicycle paths with backpacks in their baskets, and veiled women walking hand in hand with children beneath a leafy canopy.