Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Blaðsíða 25

Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Blaðsíða 25
cities where affordable housing and workspaces are available. “I know a lot of artists and musi- cians who have either left the country or moved out of downtown due to a lack of affordable apartments and stu- dio spaces. We used to have this beau- tiful village feel, which has changed drastically and now instead it's almost like a ghost town. In order for creativ- ity to thrive it needs to exist in a com- munity and through a dialogue with other artists, which is what existed in 101.” She points out that in recent years several prominent studios for musi- cians have been torn down to make ways for hotels, including Kolgeitin in Grandi and the old Kling og Bang on Hverfisgata. She feels that if authori- ties want to help, they could ensure that affordable studio spaces be avail- able. “Old Reykjavík is ruined and the new Reykjavík hasn’t risen yet. These are really weird times. I think a lot about how the city is and I don’t find it an easy place to be these days and I’ve decided to go to LA.” Despite Kristín’s criticism, Hjálmar Sveinsson from Samfylkingin, who heads the city’s planning committee, claims that the city does a lot to help creative industries thrive. “I don’t want to sound too boorish, but I think a lot has been done in that regard. For instance when the private market gave up on building Harpa, then Reykjavík and the state took over and finished the project. This is now an important venue for concerts and per- formances, such as Iceland Airwaves. The Marshall House also offers amaz- ing opportunities for creativity and we want to make sure that artists have ac- cess to studios and studio apartments and we especially look to Grandi as a spot for those.” The mess we’re in Recent years have witnessed an in- crease in the power of privately owned real estate companies and rental firms to buy up properties and rent them out to individuals. Jón Trausti Reynisson is the Editor in Chief of the newspaper Stundin, which has written extensively about the development. “The Airbnb development is natural and it can help people pay for expen- sive apartments, but it seems that the sharing economy is a temporary phase, which leads to increased prices and to companies taking control of the mar- ket,” says Jón. “Today, if you own prop- erty downtown or in the Vesturbærinn neighbourhood, you can make more money renting it out than by going to work, while at the same time it is get- ting increasingly difficult for young people to enter the market.” The investment firm GAMMA and the rental company Heimavellir are the biggest actors in the market and together they own upwards of 3,000 apartments in Iceland—most of which are in the capital area. (GAMMA could not be reached for comments). “Young people benefit from living downtown and being able to live a car- free and sustainable lifestyle,” says Jón. “These companies present themselves as a solution to the problem, saying that they are fixing the rental market, but in reality the purpose is to make money and I don’t think they help the issue. The concentration of property ownership is something we need to beware of, because when we need to pay more and more to others for hous- ing, inequality increases,” says Jón. “When young people pay companies like GAMMA rent, they are paying their shareholders dividends. Young people need to be able to rent and authorities in Reykjavík should have reacted to the situation sooner.“ Benóný has witnessed this devel- opment taking place in 101 firsthand, claiming that “there are men in suits walking around offering people deals they can’t refuse.” Fixing the city It is apparent that the people the Grapevine spoke with feel that much of the blame for the current situation can be laid on the shoulders of the Reyk- javík municipal government. Reykja- vík mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson claims that concerns expressed in this article are issues the municipality takes seri- ously. “It is a worry that the population of downtown is decreasing,” he says. “We need to make sure that the city centre remains a flourishing residential area, even though there is an uptick in tour- ists. A part of that is our plan for build- ing more apartments in the area.” Dagur claims that when it comes to renting apartments there needs to be a clear line between people who tem- porarily rent out apartments they live in (which you are allowed to do for 90 days per year), and those who move apartments out of the rental market and turn them into short term accom- modations for tourists. “I think we need to make a clear distinction be- tween the two as the latter is bad for the city,” he says. Higher powers at play Gísli Marteinn Baldursson is a former Reykjavík municipal politician, who currently works for national broad- caster RÚV. He has for years been one of the loudest commentators on urban planning in Reykjavík and has fought for better public transportation and a higher density city. He feels that too often the needs of locals of downtown have been overlooked: “I think the wishes of residents who live centrally have been ignored too of- ten. Especially when you consider they want what almost everybody wants, including the tourists—nobody wants big tourist busses downtown and no- body wants a city centre filled with ho- tels.” But despite being critical of the mu- nicipal government, Gísli doesn’t want to direct all the responsibility for the problems that have arisen onto that particular entity, but rather claims that the blame rests on the higher au- thority of the national government. “The increase in tourism was a sur- prise to all of us and I don’t think any authority has done better than the Reykjavík municipal government. The most popular tourist destination is Laugavegur; Harpa is the most photo- graphed spot in the country according to Flickr; yet the national government keeps pumping money into the coun- tryside and has no interest in Reykjavík as a tourist destination,” he says. “But the city doesn’t complain, and even though it receives no direct income from tourism, it is flourishing. People often forget that just a decade ago, city council fought fiercely over who was to blame for Laugavegur being ter- rible, why there was all this empty re- tail space, etc. Now the street life there is great, with shops of all shapes and sizes—even though some of them sell puffins …” Fuck your puffin Geoffrey Þór Karl Huntington Wil- liams is a prominent figure in the 101 culture scene. He runs three of Reyk- javík’s most popular bars, along with the Punk Museum and the old school arcade Freddi. He has witnessed up close the rapid changes the city has un- dergone. “There are a lot more people down- town than there used to be and I think a lot of the people who were most against increased tourism a couple of years ago are now getting worried about the number dropping,” says Geoffrey. “As a bar manager I don’t want to lose the tourists, but we must also 100% keep up the local scene.” He believes that Reykjavík is in the middle of a difficult transition period; he agrees with Kristin that the old city no longer exists, but the new one has yet to arrive. What this new Reykjavík will be, he says, is up to us. And we all need to ask ourselves, what do we want? He doesn’t believe that tourists are in- terested in tacky souvenirs and puffin dolls, and that when you travel you want to experience real, local culture. “A ton of puffin shops just means a ton of stupid, unimaginative people. What are we gonna do? Sell puffin asses to make money?” Geoffrey de- mands. “If we keep doing that then we are 100% killing the area. What is im- portant for us is to think about the de- velopment and find a way for us all to benefit. I think there are plenty of op- portunities to do better and we can do it together. Let’s not get lost in the neg- ativity. Let’s be fresh and positive, live well, full on, and fuck your puffin! 25The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 15 — 2017 “Let’s not get lost in the negativity. Let’s be fresh, positive, live well, full on, and fuck your puffin!” “It was never cheap living downtown, but you always managed. But now, real estate companies and wealthy individuals have started misusing the AirBnB format by buying entire apartment complexes.” Grímur Jón Sigurðsson Portraits by Art Bicnick
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