Aug 2026: Introduction to InfraNorth Special Issue published in Polar Geography
The quarterly peer-reviewed journal Polar Geography has published the introduction to the forthcoming special issue “Transport infrastructure and population in the Arctic.” The introduction has been written by InfraNorth senior researcher Timothy Heleniak and principal investigator Peter Schweitzer.
Published online in August 2026, the introduction presents the special issue emerging from the InfraNorth project. At its core is the question: What is the role of transport infrastructures in sustaining northern communities? The issue focuses on roads, railways, airports and seaports, which enable the movement of people, goods and resources into, across and out of the Arctic.
While such infrastructures are typically planned and built by outside actors and interests, the project centres on permanent Arctic residents, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who can be profoundly affected by transport infrastructure in direct and indirect ways. The special issue brings together research examining these local impacts and the relationships between transport infrastructure and Arctic communities.
The four articles in the special issue are:
- Elena Davydova & Olga Povoroznyuk (2025). “Temporality of Arctic Transport Infrastructure: Bridging Seasonal Supply in Egvekinot, Chukotka”
- Katrin Schmid & Ria-Maria Adams (2025). “No Room in the North: Housing Scarcity as Infrastructure’s Failed Relations in the Arctic”
- Susan Vanek (2026). “2200 Meters: Infrastructure, the Future, and the Politics of Belonging in Greenland and the Arctic”
- Alexandra Meyer (2026). “Hyperconnected Remoteness: The Svalbard Airport and Community Transitions in Longyearbyen”
Together, the contributions examine different ways in which transport and related infrastructures shape Arctic communities across the Russian, North American and European Arctic. The four articles address, respectively, housing infrastructure and scarcity, the role of an airport in community transitions, seasonal transport connectivity and provisioning, and the politics surrounding airport expansion and belonging in Greenland.
This article introduces a special issue guest edited by Timothy Heleniak. It is available open access in Polar Geography.
