They have before identified around a hundred abandoned buildings.
Now the municipality of Boden takes hold of the abandoned houses.
– The houses are already here, why not use them? When we also have a housing shortage, says Gustav Hamlund, community planning strategist Boden municipality.
How can abandoned houses play a role in societal transformation? Having previously identified around a hundred abandoned buildings, Boden municipality is now taking help from architects, community educators and construction educators with the hope of new life and new functions for empty houses in sparsely populated areas.
– The houses are already here, why not use them? When we also have a housing shortage, says Gustav Hamlund, community planning strategist Boden municipality.
In Norrbotten and Västerbotten, a major societal transformation is currently underway with major industrial investments. The need for new labor for the region is great, but the supply of housing is poor. In Gunnarsbyn, 4 miles from the central town of Boden, there are a number of houses that are deserted. Houses that the municipality now wants to revive, but in new ways and new forms of living.
– It’s about broadening the range of housing options out here. From villas, to tenements, perhaps collective housing, says Gustav Hamlund, community planning strategist Boden Municipality.
Part of the government’s investment
The project is part of the government initiative Visioner i Norr 2.0. To help him, Boden has a team of everything from architects to business developers, to see with new eyes different possibilities in buildings that are empty.
– We are looking at how more people can live in villages and rural areas in new ways. Other ways to finance renovations and other ideas that can create housing for people who may not be able to buy a whole house themselves, says Anna Sundman, architect and innovation leader.
– We are very interested in different cooperative forms of ownership, and cooperative movements to operate and manage properties, she continues.