Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is one of a small handful of settlements in Svalbard, and is the main centre, boasting of around 2,400 people, and even more snowmobiles.
It began its history as a mining town, but I won’t be spending any time on that here. You can read about the development of Longyearbyen in my post on the history of Svalbard.
What I want to share are the photos of the town, and my personal impressions.
There is evidence of Longyearbyen’s mining origins everywhere. Interestingly, the huge infrastructures have not been pulled down. They remain to form a contradiction to the jaw-dropping landscapes in the background.
Personally, I find this juxta position fascinating.
Relics and ruins in any context imply death, decay, or destruction. In Longyearbyen they remind us of the extraordinary damage which has been done in the past, and thereby hopefully stand as a reminder to put the future of our planet before the future of commerce from now on. (I live in hope).
Except for the mining relics, Longyearbyen reminded me of an Australian ski centre in summer. After all, it was summer when I was on Longyearbyen. The architecture is designed to keep the cold out and the warmth in; i.e. quite stark and very few windows. There were few trees, and no “gardens” to speak of.
The occasional Svalbard Reindeer nonchalantly munching on the grass beside the main street was a bit of a giveaway that I wasn’t in Australia, though!
And there was also the restriction from venturing outside of the town precinct, which is prohibited unless you are carrying a rifle. This is for protection from polar bears. Of course, having to shoot a polar bear is the last resort, and their protection is paramount. Just not as paramount as self-preservation.
Today Longyearbyen is finding ways to keep the town alive without mining. Tourism is one of the ways, but this is generating its own set of challenges and potential conflicts. Building Longyearbyen as a centre for research and education is also helping, with students coming to the University Centre in Svalbard from all over the world.
I only hope that political forces constantly at work everywhere in the world, don’t destabilise Svalbard.
We stayed in Svalbard for a couple of nights before we boarded the Vikingfjord, and I loved every minute of it.