The Inuit: A View From the Top of the World

"Much of what we write about here on PlaceShakers has to do with dense urbanism and clustered rural development, as an alternative to auto-centric suburban development patterns that have dominated North America for the last 70 years. What we don’t talk about as much is that a big part of our raison d’etre is these compact patterns save our farmlands, rangelands, and wilderness from being gobbled up as quickly, and that walkable places reduce vehicle miles traveled and help with our global commons problem of climate change."

"For the rest of July, I intend to turn a focused eye on rural settlement patterns, environmental issues, and preservation, thanks to the Heart of the Arctic expedition I’m embarking on with my family this week. We’ll be heading up to Baffin Island, stopping in communities in Nunavut and Nunavik in Canada, and along the western coast of Greenland, crossing the Arctic circle. While I will share with you insights and photographs from each port as the journey unfolds, today I’m enamored with the region and getting up to speed on its history."

Borys offers up brief insights into the urban form and history of the Circumpolar Region.