Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2018, Síða 13

the situation was becoming unbearable.
Hjálmar told reporters that over the
next days and weeks, the city would
speak with the major players in the situ-
ation to try and work out a solution. A
special work group was assembled to try
and tackle this problem.
Presumably, things improved for the
downtown area a bit. The complaints
on social media decreased, and shuttle
buses traveling through downtown had
more or less found a system that worked.
However, in many ways the problems
simply moved elsewhere.
Squeezing a balloon
One of the defining characteristics
of planning challenges is something
called “squeezing a balloon”. It illus-
trates exactly what happens when a
problem hasn’t actually been solved but
has instead responded to internal pres-
sure in one area by moving to another.
That is very much the case where Skog-
arhlíð is concerned.
Björn Axelsson, a planning repre-
sentative for the City of Reykjavík,
told RÚV last month that while there
is no law that put limits on tour bus
services in Skogarhlíð, “there appears
to be driving going on in the area that
is not in harmony with planning inter-
ests when considering placement, size
and volume, and so there may be non-
permitted operations going on here.”
Even health authorities have gotten
involved. Fréttablaðið reported around
the same time that the Health Super-
visory Authority of Reykjavík has
concluded that some of these compa-
nies have no operating license for
using the parking lot as a terminal — a
contention the bus services themselves
categorically deny.
As before, the matter is currently
being reviewed by the city, again.
So what’s the
solution here?
It must be emphasised that between
locals and tour companies, there aren’t
really any deliberately bad actors. No
one believes that bus drivers inten-
tionally set out to block intersec-
tions or sidewalks. But the residents
of Reykjavík have the right to be able
to live in peace. How can harmony be
achieved?
While the good people of Reykjavík’s
planning and environmental depart-
ments are on summer vacation, this
should be something for them to
consider. Should the city buy a lot to
demarcate specifically as a tour bus
terminal? Where should the lot be
located? Is it all a matter of enforcing
existing laws, or do new laws need to be
created?
As with so many other things in
Iceland, we may end up playing this
by ear. Past experience teaches us,
however, that this is not always the best
strategy.
13 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2018
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“It illus-
trates
exactly
what
happens
when a
problem
hasn’t
actu-
ally been
solved but
has instead
responded
to internal
pressure in
one area by
moving to
another.”
Here we see a reputable bus driver in his natural environment.