Akureyri’s Heartfelt Traffic Lights: A Beacon of Kindness
Akureyri does a lot of things differently, but perhaps nothing catches visitors off guard quite like the traffic lights. Instead of the usual red circle telling you to stop, you get a glowing heart. It sounds like a small thing, but people consistently stop to photograph them, and for good reason — there’s a real story behind the design.
The initiative grew out of a campaign for kindness, originally aimed at encouraging the people of Akureyri to look out for one another. That message took on extra weight during the difficult months after Iceland’s financial crisis in 2008. The project was spearheaded by radio host Margrét Blöndal, who pulled in support from city workers and the beloved annual family festival ‘Ein með öllu,’ held every August. The city took to the idea immediately.
As Akureyri’s economy slowly found its footing again — helped along by a growing wave of tourists — locals began thinking about how to build on what made the city feel like itself. More hearts followed, and bigger ones too. The most striking sits at the downtown crossroads, where it frames Akureyri Church from a low angle in a way that feels almost like a deliberate photograph.
In winter, when the sky sits low and grey and snow covers everything, the hearts glow all the more vividly. They’re built tall enough to stay visible through heavy storms, which in Akureyri is not a minor engineering consideration. There’s something quietly affecting about seeing one pulse red above a dark, snowy street — a small reminder that the city hasn’t forgotten what the whole thing was about.
