Watch Your Step:Everyday Urban Mobility in the Arctic

A popular assumption in Rovaniemi, a Finnish city with 60,000 inhabitants located near the Arctic Circle, is that a car is a necessity to be able to live and work in the city. Yet people walk and cycle in the city in all seasons, despite the harsh Arctic weather conditions, cold temperatures, snow blizzards, and icy streets. The so-called studded shoes, called ‘nastakengät’ in Finnish, have recently become more popular among commuters due to the extension of slippery, longer icy seasons for walking in spring and fall; even though the stud shoes have become popular for commuting and jogging, they are cumbersome, noisy, and harmful to surfaces inside buildings. In this chapter, Tennberg discusses everyday Arctic practices related to walking in the slippery, icy urban conditions of Rovaniemi, Finland based on interviews, participant observations, photos, and an analysis of city documents on mobility; and she examines the studded shoes as a practical adaptation to an ever-changing urban environment and focuses on the bodily, material, sensory, emotional, and technical relations thereofA popular assumption in Rovaniemi, a Finnish city with 60,000 inhabitants located near the Arctic Circle, is that a car is a necessity to be able to live and work in the city. Yet people walk and cycle in the city in all seasons, despite the harsh Arctic weather conditions, cold temperatures, snow blizzards, and icy streets. The so-called studded shoes, called ‘nastakengät’ in Finnish, have recently become more popular among commuters due to the extension of slippery, longer icy seasons for walking in spring and fall; even though the stud shoes have become popular for commuting and jogging, they are cumbersome, noisy, and harmful to surfaces inside buildings. In this chapter, Tennberg discusses everyday Arctic practices related to walking in the slippery, icy urban conditions of Rovaniemi, Finland based on interviews, participant observations, photos, and an analysis of city documents on mobility; and she examines the studded shoes as a practical adaptation to an ever-changing urban environment and focuses on the bodily, material, sensory, emotional, and technical relations thereof