If you live near a forest, why would you build a skyscraper with cement? Especially if you are focused on helping to create a circular economy, and you know that wood can capture and hold the carbon that is warming our world while cement adds carbon to our air.

Skellefteå, a Swedish city situated near the Arctic Circle which is expected to grow from 72,000 to 80,000 inhabitants by 2030, is working to wean the local construction industry off environmentally-harmful materials by encouraging much greater use of wood. The city has relied on its nearby forestland to construct buildings from as early as the 18th century. From a timber bridge stretching across the local river, to a three-storey parking garage in the city centre, everything in Skelleftea feels like it’s made from the trees that surround it. In most cases, it really is, says EuroNews.