Several citites in the Arctic faces major growth opportunities, as hosts for larger green industrial establishments. For Mo i Rana’s part, the establishment of a new large airport will also mean more traffic and more visitors. This is a golden opportunity to reverse the negative population growth, and at the same time help make northern areas a center for green transition (cf. the government’s northern area strategy).

With this also comes a significant increase in both passenger traffic and industrial logistics. Mo i Rana is a traffic hub for people and goods, both locally and regionally. With a strategic location at the meeting point for the European roads E6 and E12, and with a railway and main network port, Mo i Rana is a transport centre. This makes the city important for traffic distribution in the region.

Growth and mobility are of course desirable, but with an increasing volume of mobility also comes pressure on street and road infrastructure, more noise and dangerous traffic situations. Which in turn creates an increased need for better transport solutions. Especially in industrially heavy cities, such as Mo i Rana, there is therefore a need for business, the municipality and government agencies to have a common understanding of challenges and agree on measueres.

So how can one find the right measures that facilitate growth and at the same time prevent potential congestion in the transport system? This is in light of the fact that the transport system of the future must be sustainable, area-efficient and focused on zero-emission solutions, while at the same time ensuring good logistics flow so that business sector harmonize with passenger traffic.