The studio will focus on settlements and cities in the Russian/Norwegian borderland. The Arctic is changing, not only in terms of climate and environment, but also in terms of demography and urbanism. These changes have lead to intense debates and extensive research. Through the research project Future North (www.futurenorth.no) along with a series of studios, the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape has investigated the urban landscapes and the development in a variety of Arctic cities, demonstrating that there is not one standard model for Arctic Urbanism.

The studio stresses the fact that contemporary changes in Arctic cities are not necessarily connected to resource exploration and exploitation, but also to a general societal change. Most recent attempts to develop specific approaches to Urban Design see it determined by landscape and climate. The studio challenges conceptions of Arctic communities as non-urban, and concepts of urbanity in the Arctic as largely imported from other regions.

A main issue for the Arctic communities is the development of social, economic and environmental sustainability. This studio will explore the specific urban landscape of East Finnmark in northern Norway and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. These communities have undergone a rapid development, possibly facing even more dramatic changes in years ahead. This studio focuses on a wide range of issues, however, not to separate them, but rather to capture the complexity of the real and site-specific, treating them as complementary and entangled. What kind of urban design strategies, projects and landscape interventions will benefit the city in order for it to become a more livable, sustainable and enjoyable artic city?

The studios will develop sets of strong, but complementary logics of urban design that focus on a wide range of issues: social, cultural, infrastructural, ecological, etc. It is the complementarity of these approaches that first and foremost promises sustainability in the future thinking of cities in the Arctic.

A mapping of potentials and resources but also of the challenges and needs in these urban communities, including practices and desires of the local inhabitants, will form the basis for programming the design exercise in selected locations. Specific issues to be addressed may include: the development of new port facilities, the phasing out of mining, the location and design of new residences, strategies for long-term sustainable urban development with a focus on inclusive (universally designed) urban social space, the development of tourism infrastructure, as well as the facilitation and redevelopment of new social, commercial and retail services.