Viking Magazine - June 2022 - 16

After ARCTICulation
So much is planned for life after Bodø2024. First up is a massive urban
redevelopment project, which makes sense given the city is one of the North's
integral transit hubs and is focused on boosting its population. The Norwegian
government agreed to put US$363.8 million (NOK 3.1 billion) toward the
National Transport Plan, which includes the relocation and rebuilding of Bodø's
airport. Significant time has been spent over the years in maintaining the airport's
current concrete runway, and it was often maligned for cutting off valuable
oceanside land from the rest of the city. For both reasons, officials had long
considered moving it. Once the Norwegian Air Force announced earlier this year
it would vacate Bodø, the airport's change of address got the green light. Slated to
cost US$672 million (NOK 5.7 billion), it will relocate to the tip of the peninsula,
about half a mile from its current home.
The move will clear the way for the creation of a brand-new city district,
which will benefit from more housing, business and industry. It's all part of a
40-year development plan that gets underway in 2025. In addition, Bodø will
aim for the initial neighborhood in the newly formed district to be zero-emission,
and the entire municipality plans to become a Smart City. That means short
distances between homes and workplaces, self-propelled transportation and other
environmentally-friendly updates.
be] much more than a year-long festival;
although of course it is that, too. But it's
first and foremost a social-development
project, with a strong focus on community
involvement, outreach, capacity-building and
internationalization. "
Bodø bested Bosnia's
Banja Luka and Mostar for
the title. Not since Bergen
in 2000 and Stavanger in
2008 has a Norwegian city
been named an ECoC,
and it's the first time a
municipality north of the
Arctic Circle has won.
The city ran on a
The midnight sun shines
on the road between
Henningsvær and
Svolvær on the Lofoten
archipelago at 12:45 a.m.
during midsummer in
Northern Norway.
16
June 2022
two-year campaign that
highlighted its location-
not just the city itself,
but the entire region in
which it belongs. Deemed
ARCTICulation, the
cultural program for
Bodø2024 will focus on
the ways in which people
for thousands of years have
adapted to, survived and
thrived on the resources
available in the Arctic.
Planners aim to show
Europeans and the rest
sonsofnorway.com
of the world that the stereotypical view of
Northern Norway as an inhospitable place
inhabited by a handful of hibernating people
is far from true.
Bodø's bid to become an ECoC also
included a project to boost the use of the Sámi
language throughout the city and Northern
Norway. Planners are looking to start a
dialogue around the indigenous peoples'
culture while creating a better understanding
of it and showing the ways the Sámi are part
of Nordland's way of life. They'll do this in
part by producing Sámi-specific street art,
events, exhibitions and more.
Bodø2024 also intends to be the most
sustainable ECoC to date. " We even have
enrolled our own ecological economics
professor, one of Norway's leading experts
in the field, to help us along the way, "
Dagfinrud says.
Three main themes are to be woven
throughout ARCTICulation. The Art of
Nature will explore art through a regional lens
and include activities that combine creativity
and the outdoors. Fish and Ships will tell
the story of Bodø's past and how, even today,
that history is woven into everyday life. The
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Viking Magazine - June 2022

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