Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Page 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