On the Call for Candidates that was sent out to our members last March we have received 54 excellent applications and expressions of interest from 33 countries. From these applications 16 candidates were selected and presented to the city of Bodø for their review. These 16 candidates reflected a well balanced representation of ISOCARP. For ISOCARP it is important to select a diverse team (gender, age, origin, experience) that reflects the membership and expertise of ISOCARP. In close communication with the city of Bodø we are confident that we have selected an excellent UPAT workshop. We have selected six ISOCARP members and three members from associations that participate in the Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF). In Bodø the UPAT team will be complemented with another two young planning professionals from Norway.
- Elizabeth Reynolds, Team Leader/ISOCARP, Australia/UK
- Sofia Morgado, UPAT Rapporteur/ISOCARP, Portugal
- Faye Beaman, Senior Planner/IWA, UK
- Paul Lecroart, Senior Planner/ISOCARP, France
- Juan Alayo, Senior Planner/HPF, Spain
- Arunava Sarkar, Young Planner/ISOCARP, India/UAE
- Mercedes Beaudoin, Young Planning Professional/ISOCARP, USA/Denmark
- Frode Træen, Young Planning Professional/ICTP-EU, Norway
- Martin Dubbeling, ISOCARP Vice President UPATs, Netherlands
The city of Bodø is the administration centre in the County of Nordland and is the largest city in the county with 50 000 citizens. Bodø is experiencing a rapid growth in the population and is now transforming into a larger modern Norwegian city. In 2014, the city council adopted the overall strategic plan – Bodø 2030, as an attractive capital in the North. This strategy contains six different focus areas where one focus area is sustainable city development.
Within in the focus area of sustainable city development, the city of Bodø has stated their climatic goal: Bodø as an innovative low emission city, that plays an active role in both reduction of climate gas emission and in adaption to a future climate. Both innovation and development of new technology will be at central element in this work.
The city of Bodø has developed two different scenarios for the future airport in Bodø. The first alternative is a new parallel runway 80 meter from today’s runway. The other option is building a new airport one kilometre to the east of today’s airport. By building a new airport in the area that now is in use as an military air force base provides Bodø around 360 hectares for city development. An area big enough to house 25 000 citizens and to provide the city spaces for new business areas.
By moving the airport and building a complete new city in near relation with the historic city centre, Bodø also gets the opportunity to build a smart city for the future. The ISOCARP UPAT Team will assist the city of Bodø in the visioning and implementation process for the urban development of Bodø. The ‘New Airport – Next City – Smart Bodø’ UPAT will start on May 28 and will conclude with a public presentation with the team’s findings and recommendations on Friday 02 June.