Six cross-disciplinary teams with, among others, architects and artists have worked together with several municipalities to come up with ideas for new living environments. The municipalities involved are Boden, Gällivare, Kiruna, Luleå, Skellefteå, and Umeå.
Among other things, they propose creating a square made of ice and snow in Luleå. Another proposal is to open up the historic industrial area in Örviken to the people of Skellefteå. This would require cleaning up the contaminated soil – which they want to do using so-called phytoremediation, which utilizes plants' ability to store or break down pollutants. This method has a lesser impact on the environment than the one currently advocated, where large quantities of material need to be transported away.
Once the plant-based remediation has cleaned up the soil, the area is intended to become an industrial park with walkways and promenades in different wooden constructions, and the old sawmill office is proposed to be transformed into an exhibition space.
The project Visioner i Norr is driven by Arkdes and has been initiated by the Council for Sustainable Cities.
