Nordic Aeroregionalism

In a time of concentrating networks, what has become a key question for state space is the struggle of smaller centres to remain globally connected and provide accessibility for regional economies. Airports were established, especially in many Nordic countries, as part of a core network that defined state space, with national hubs mediating international relations. During the past 25 years, three concurrent processes have taken place – the deregulation of air traffic, the expansion of independent travel and the resurgence of the region. At the same time, global warming hampers the image of the progressiveness of air travel. New regionalism, rescaling of state space and the proliferation of world cities as the engines of economic growth has changed the trajectories of regional airports as parts of global networks and the logic of such networks. This seminar concentrates on the concept of ‘aeroregionalism’ and how it challenges and is conditioned by relational and territorial approaches to space. The argument is that the airport-region nexus helps to rethink the relation between regions and metropolises but also the cultural reproduction or staging of regions that try to allure carbon inducing flows in the eve of a climate crisis.