And while it may be a microcosm, Vulkan’s development has hardly happened in a vacuum, as both Oslo and Norway at large have long been at the forefront of sustainability efforts, designing and developing with our planet’s future at the fore.
Walking around Oslo’s compact city centre, one of the most pleasantly jarring things you notice is the lack of vehicle traffic. Streetcars rumble by, as do city buses and taxicabs and plenty of cyclists pedalling their way over the streets. Passenger vehicles appear to be refreshingly limited. The absence of traffic makes the city feel calm and spacious; even in the middle of the bustling metropolis, Oslo’s atmosphere feels more open than a typical city.
In this sense, it’s easy to see Vulkan as the fingerprint of a wider ethos and a grander aim. If a neighbourhood can be built to be fully sustainable, why can’t an entire city? If an entire city, why not a whole country? If a whole country, what about our society? Zooming out from Vulkan, it seems that Norway is asking the same kinds of questions.
After all, this is a nation that has set an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
As my day in Oslo neared its end, I figured I had to enjoy one of the city’s iconic activities. After all, in a city whose viral 2024 ad campaign encourages tourists to “life-see” rather than “sightsee”, I had to do as the locals do. And so, after a 10-minute cab ride (in an exhaust-free electric taxi, of course), I found myself in the Bjørvika neighborhood, which, like Vulkan, is one of Oslo’s new developments focused on multifunctionality, density and creative use of existing space.
Oslo’s floating saunas offer a bracing Nordic ritual in the heart of the city
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