arctic village

ARCTIC VILLAGETHE WORLD’S YEAR ROUND WINTER PLAYGROUND

ARCTIC VILLAGETHE WORLD’S YEAR ROUND WINTER PLAYGROUND

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

SITE MAP

CONCEPTLAND + RESOURCE ANALYSISSOCIOCULTURAL PROFILESOCIOECONOMIC PROFILE SUSTAINABILITY OVER

ADMINISTRATION + PLANNING

REFERENCES

GROUP # 48

JAMIE ELLIS

MITCH HOWES

AMANDA SCHWINDT

INTRODUCTION

With an economy desperately dependant on primary industry, frigid climate, and one of the lowest populations in the world, Greenland is a very unlikely location for a holiday today. With the introduction of the Arctic Village as an expansion of the City of Ittoqqortoormit there will be more opportunities for people to inhabit, utilize, and recreate in Greenland.

The long term vision of the Arctic Village is to provide an affordable place for winter athletes to live, train, and compete year-round. Proposed amenities are visually represented on the next page. Current precendents for an athletes village include those built for the 2012 Vancouver Olympics. Though not to the same scale, the expansion of Ittoqqortoormit will bring jobs, tourism, and opportunityi to the citizens of Greenland.

This report will outline the concept for the Arctic Village, along with an analysis of it’s sustainability, feasibility, and impact on the current state of Greenland.

ARCTIC VILLAGETHE WORLD’S YEAR ROUND WINTER PLAYGROUND

ICE SLIDE

SKIING

ICECLIMBING

HELICOPTER TOURS

ICE HOTEL

HUNTING DOGSLEDDING

HOT SPRINGS

ICEFISHING

ELITEATHLETETRAINING

SNOW-MOBILING

REGIONAL SITE MAPLOCAL SITE CONCEPT MAP

REGIONAL SITE MAP NATIONAL SITE CONTEXT

LiftsChalet + Training Compound

Snowmobile Shuttle Path to Athletic Zone

Ittoqqortoormiit, Sermersooq, Greenland.

LAND + RESOURCE ANALYSIS

Resource Evaluation

-The Arctic fresh water reserves are at risk due to global warming. -Most of the impacts are not caused by Greenlanders themselves but by visitors, so by attracting more visitors they would be able to promote their natural environment and encourage people to be more environmentally conscious. -The fauna of Greenland are hunted in a sustainable manner and they use of 100% of all the materials from the animals, but trophy hunting for polar bears is completely illegal (Nanu travel).

Seasonality

Market:Seasonality as reported on the Greenland Tourism website:

Actual:There are not many statistics for actual tourist numbers for Greenland, but the majority of visitors come in the summer months but by developing the Arctic Village we could encourage year round travel and the locals can teach people how to prepare for the cold and the proper precautions to take.

PRECIPITATION CHART TEMPERATURE CHART

Potential Negative Social Impacts :

- Local culture may become hostile towards the tourists and lose integrity. - To mitigate this it is necessary to promote community stability and create an image based on the regions culture, diversity, and values.(Nanu travel).

SOCIO CULTURAL PROFILE

Potential Arctic Village User Confl ict :

-The old weather may seem dangerous and uncomfortable to potential tourists, but we are continuing to focus on the elite/adventure focused tourists who will not be deterred by this weather.

-Many products need to be imported which will cost a lot of money, so tourists should not expect standardization and should be open to new experiences and embrace the local culture.

-The fl ights right now come from Reykjavik, Iceland, and more frequent fl ights will need to be added to accommodate tourist’s travel times and tourists should not expect daily fl ights.

Arctic Village Employment

-The Arctic Village will train and employ local peoples and will do so without depredating them or exploiting their culture.

-The majority of the population in Greenland is 25-54 so this is the ideal age for the labour force

-The training will focus on the bottom-up approach for community development; it will take into account the opinions and knowledge of the local community, will put community development and well-being fi rst, and focus on sustainable employment

SOCIO ECONOMIC PROFILE

Potential Negative Economic Impacts :

There might be a job shift from primary industry (fi shing, hunting) to tertiary services (without the middle industrial / secondary industry is interesting) which could cause a loss of cultural and regional values. To mitigate this it is important to continue to support the local workers and provide them with comparable wages to that of the tertiary sector, which will help provide secondary employment for people during the off-seasons for hunting and fi shing for example.

Imports and Exports :

SUSTAINABILITY

Potential Negative Environmental Impacts :

Global warming continues to leave its mark on Greenland and if the Arctic Village is not developed sustainably these impacts may begin to grow and expedite. To mitigate it is necessary to limit the amount of infrastructure including roads, to limit the number of flights, and continue to promotesmall scale ventures such as dog sled tours and kayaking.

Flora + Fauna:

-Rich marine wildlife year round due to permanent open water at the mouth of the Scoresby Sund (Nanu Travel). This also benefits birds and other animals as they are attracted to the fresh water wildlife and the area has a larger variety of wildlife than most Arctic regions (Nanu Travel).-Species of birds present include: Sanderlings, Barnacle, Pink-Footed Geese, Long-Tailed Ducks, Snowy Owls, are some examples of the types of birds that are present in Ittoqqoertoormiit (Nanu Travel).-The Scoresby Sund is also home to seals, narwhals, and walrus’ (Nanu Travel).-The whole area is also home to polar bears, foxes, ermine, wolves, lemmings, arctic hairs, and small herds of musk-oxen (Nanu Travel).-The vegetation is varied due to the altitude and the bio climate zones; there are over a hundred species of flowering plants (Nanu Travel).-The inner lands are home to much more lush vegetation and the desolate outer coastal region is home to sparse flora (Nanu Travel).

Waste Management

-The glacial land is delicate and highly susceptible to the changes being caused by global warming so it is important to plan according to this environment and be prepared for growth.-The existing sewage systems would need to be evaluated in terms of their effectiveness and the new facilities will either work with or improve upon these systems and look to collect and treat all sewage in one area.-The ground is often permanently frozen and due to the small size of the settlement the amount of waste is often minimal so the new tourism industry should work to continue keep waste levels at a minimum and use products resourcefully.

Sustainability of the Arctic Village Concept :

The Arctic Village will be more sustainable than similar ventures because it will focus on community well-being and preservation of the unique Arctic environment. It will offer alternative employment from the primary industry to tourism; which will allow more of the local community opportunities for year-round employment. The town’s busy season is currently the summer months, but by creating the Arctic Village the site will attract more year-round tourism since the amenities for winter tourism will be better developed. This means that employment in the tourism industry will be sustainable year-round. The control over tourism will remain at the municipal level and will to continue to focus on the principles of responsible growth and openness within the community. There are a number of cruise ships that come through the area, and by creating better facilities it may encourage those cruise ship passengers to come back for a longer stay. The delicate Arctic environment will also be preserved by providing the minimum capacity for better services including formal waste disposal, more permanent hydro, and communication technologies. The buildings being built will be prefabricated buildings which save on construction cost, waste, and energy and these buildings will take into account local designs. The only modes of transportation around the site will remain walking, dog-sled, and snowmobile with the possibility for the introduction of a low impact tram. The number of flights coming into Ittoqqortoomiit is limited and will remain this way to encourage longer trips and will reduce the number of emissions caused by high frequency/short-stay travellers. The Arctic Village will expand upon existing built form to increase density instead of sprawl, and will potentially add more residential and commercial spaces. The final point about sustainability in this venture is that it will highlight the existing natural features and will promote these through low-impact day-trip offerings for visitors.

Carrying Capacity

-The population is small with only 472 people in the village so the main focus will be on improving the small scale tourism industry but not make it mass tourism destination. The area is not densely populated so there is room to build the tourism facilities without occupying all of the available land.-The Arctic Village will be able to hold larger amounts of visitors for big events but the infrastructure being built should not be too large to be sustainable during the off season.

ADMINISTRATION + PLANNING

Water Recreation ZoneTown Parks, Light Recreation (Residential) Transportation Zone (No Recreation)Athletic Training Zone

LEGEND:

Zoning Maps:

Tourism Marketing:

- Greenland tourism is managed and controlled by the national run tourist board called Visit Greenland, they are also I government run agency whose main goal is to develop and increase tourism (Greenland Tourism. 2013).

-Greenland is marketed as an adventure and exclusive destination.

- Greenland slogan’s is – “be a pioneer “ (Greenland Tourism. 2013).

- The slogan of the Arctic Village will be- “the world’s year round winter playground.”

Permits

- National government permission is required to access or live in the National park just to the north of the study site, and organized trips (ie: dog sledding) usually have permanent permits already

- Because each person needs a permit to recreate in the Naitonal Park, there will be a station in town for processing such permits to eliminate administrative friction and increase user ease.

Applications:

-Due do most Planning control (environmental regulation is an exception) falling under local municipal jurisdiction, there would be little Planning resistance for this development.

- The project’s biggest feat in this category would be convincing current residents of its benefi ts through public engagement sessions.

Town Parks, Light Recreation (Residential) Transportation Zone (No Recreation)

REFERENCES

ARCTIC VILLAGETHE WORLD’S YEAR ROUND WINTER PLAYGROUND

Introduction: All photos from:http://canadianphotographyonline.wordpress.com

Land Resources + Analysis:All statistical facts from:Central Intelligence Agency. (2013). The World Factbook: Greenland unless cited otherwise.Nanu Travel (2013). Nanu Travel: Arctic Guiding & Logistics. Retrieved from: http://www.nanutravel.dk Greenland Tourism (2013). East Greenland: Practical Information.

Photo: http://www.hipsterwave.com

Site Map: Sattelite base map retrieved from Google Maps Sattelite Imagery (TetraMetrics Map Data 2013).

Sustainability:Nanu Travel (2013). Nanu Travel: Arctic Guiding & Logistics. Retrieved from: http://www.nanutravel.dk Greenland Tourism (2013). East Greenland: Practical Information.

Photo:http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

Socioeconomic + Sociocultural Profi le:All statistical facts from:Central Intelligence Agency. (2013). The World Factbook: Greenland unless cited otherwise

Photo: . http://canadianphotographyonline.wordpress.com

References photo: http://www.all-wallpapers.net/wallpaper/person-skiing-sport/

Retrieved from: http://www.nanutravel.dk Greenland Tourism (2013). East Greenland: Practical Information.

Photo:http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

Socioeconomic + Sociocultural Profi le:All statistical facts from:Central Intelligence Agency. (2013). The World Factbook: Greenland unless cited otherwise

Photo: . http://canadianphotographyonline.wordpress.com

References photo: http://www.all-wallpapers.net/wallpaper/person-skiing-sport/

ARCTIC VILLAGETHE WORLD’S YEAR ROUND WINTER PLAYGROUND