People at the center as the new Norrbotten emerges

How do we create places where people can live, reside and feel good for generations? A place that is socially, economically and ecologically sustainable? That is one of the questions as Norrbotten grows.
– Beauty is the only way to create a truly sustainable city. Beauty makes us love where we live, and what we love we take care of, said Kieran Long, ArkDes, at the conference "Life between houses" in Boden.

Designed living environment is a fairly new policy area, and it is not entirely obvious what it is about. The concept comes from a bill that is about changing the perspective on social construction. Architecture, design and culture should take on a completely different weight when we in Sweden develop and design places and cities. People and their living conditions are put at the center.

At Folkets hus in Boden, 25 cultural actors, civil servants and politicians gathered on May 120 to listen to lectures and discuss these issues. Kieran Long, superintendent of the National Center for Architecture and Design (ArkDes), was one of the lecturers and participated remotely.

– Skogskyrkogården is an incredibly important piece of architecture, one of the most important places we have in Sweden. There was a way to create poetry and meaning from the very rapid technological changes that came then, the growing modern city. We are facing an equally great technological challenge now that will affect every part of society. It is important to approach this and understand it, he said.

Panel discussion on how we create a Norrbotten where culture, sustainability and social development go hand in hand. From left: Marianne Söderberg, moderator, Thomas Vedestig, chairman of the regional development committee, Nelli Flores Nilsson, county architect, Anja Örn, artist and Amanda Lind, cultural policy spokesperson for the Green Party. Photo: Sara Stylbäck Vesa.

In a panel discussion, county architect Nelli Flores Nilsson raised a warning finger when she compared it to another era of strong development.

– A process that takes 20-30 years should take 10 years. There is a risk that you lose quality and end up in the same situation as with the million program. You lost the question of what was aesthetically pleasing.

The result was residential areas that today are hardly mentioned as attractive living environments. Now that several cities in the north are set to grow, the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning has been given a special assignment to support the most affected municipalities in Norrbotten and Västerbotten.

National Architect Helena Bjarnegård, Boverket, participated remotely. “People should want to move to a place and live and live their lives. That requires attractive living environments,” she said at the conference. Photo: Hanna Franzén.

The assignment runs until 2030 and has been initiated with Visions in the North. Eleven teams are sketching out the living environments of the future together with the municipalities of Kiruna, Gällivare, Boden, Luleå, Skellefteå and Umeå. The teams include architects, artists and designers.

– It aims to bring new ideas and thoughts to the table, based on concrete cases so that the municipalities can benefit from some of the ideas. Now we must join hands, understand each other's areas, between the state, the region, the municipalities, across different areas of knowledge. The great challenges of the future cannot just be about technology and engineering. We humans should live and feel good for generations, that is an incredibly important and central issue, said national architect Helena Bjarnegård from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning.

Thomas Sandell, architect from Sandellsandberg architects, showed sketches for the H2GS steel mill outside Boden, among other things.

– They have ordered that it will be an industrial monument of the future, not just build boxes around the machines in the cheapest way. It will be a facility that you can be a little proud of. The towers will have a clear shape so that they are easily recognizable. Falu red as a supporting color. We have an idea of ​​a wave movement, to build on the nature around and the forts. The surplus heat provides excellent conditions for fish farming or a hot bath house outside all year round. There are a lot of fun things you can come up with.

Thomas Sandell showed the agency's visions to H2GS, including the intended shape of the 140-meter-high towers. "There are incredible opportunities to build, it's happening in the north now," he said.
Image: Sandellsandberg Architects

Amanda Lind was Minister of Culture 2019-2021 and is now the cultural policy spokesperson for the Green Party. She took up her role as minister shortly after the policy for a designed living environment was adopted by the Riksdag, but was involved in the work of trying to realize what she describes as a gathering of forces for sustainable social construction.

– These are quite radical positions. That sustainability and quality are not subordinated to short-term economic considerations. That the public sector acts as a role model. That cultural and historical values ​​are preserved and developed. That the environments should be accessible to everyone. It is about the beauty perspective, to value it seriously so that it can govern, not just be the topping you add at the end, said Amanda Lind, who was on site in Boden.

– Designed living environments have an enormously exciting future as policy areas and Norrbotten and Västerbotten can be role models. For me, it is very positive to see the collective regional approach that you are taking now, otherwise it will not work, said Lind.

The discussions brought together politicians, civil servants and cultural actors from all of Norrbotten's municipalities.
Photo: Sara Stylbäck Vesa.

In the afternoon, the organizers from Region Norrbotten, Hanna Isaksson and Ricky Sandberg, arranged a workshop. It dealt with different scenarios in which Norrbotten ten years from now has succeeded in creating attractive, sustainable living environments. How did we get here? What measures, initiatives and networks were required? The discussions around the tables, with participants from all municipalities in Norrbotten, became lively and were printed on large sheets of paper.

– Change, improvement, renewal, I hope to be able to say in three years when someone asks what the conference led to. That we can look back and see that we have been a leader in this, said Peppe Bergström Hesselbom, cultural director at Region Norrbotten, when he summed up the day.