Introduction to special issue – transport infrastructure and population in the Arctic

The special issue emanates from the project InfraNorth (Building Arctic Futures: Transport Infrastructures and Sustainable Northern Communities) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 885646) (InfraNorth, 2026). The key question in the project is: What is the role of transport infrastructures in sustaining northern communities? The focus of the project is on transport infrastructures such as roads, railroads, airports, and seaports, which enable the movement of people, goods and resources into, across, and out of the Arctic. While these infrastructures are typically planned and built by outside actors and interests, the project concentrated on the permanent residents of a given location, indigenous and non-indigenous alike, who can be profoundly impacted by transport infrastructures in direct and indirect ways.