Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talkin" About?
News and views in the Icelandic
discourse
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine Photos: Adobe Stock & Art Bicnick
The biggest story in
Iceland right now is the
“second wave” of the coronavi-
rus in Iceland. No one doubts that
there has been a resurgence of the
virus in this country; the point
of contention is who is to blame:
tourists or locals. On the one hand,
there are folks pointing out that
since opening the borders a bit
more last June, cases have gone
up. On the other hand, there are
folks pointing out that every new
instance of the coronavirus that
we know about has been attributed
to Icelandic residents either skip-
ping re-entry recommendations or
eschewing our health guidelines.
One question that has still gone
unanswered in all the talk about
closing the borders again is: until
when? Until a vaccine is available?
Until the virus disappears from the
face of the earth? No one seems to
have a workable solution, especially
as schools are due to open again
soon. For now, the best bet is to
continue social distancing, wear a
mask, and wash your hands.
One of the most controversial
transportation issues in the greater
Reykjavík area is Borgarlínan (The
city line), a proposed bus rapid
transport system that has been
in the works for many years now
and has changed permutations
several times. The area of conflict
revolves around what effects such
a proposed system would have.
Car culture is very prominent in
Iceland—Statistics Iceland’s data
shows there are about 250,000
cars in this country of just over
360,000 people—and many of these
car owners fear that Borgarlínan
would take away their precious
parking spaces and traffic lanes.
At the same time, there are folks
who correctly point out that if
Icelanders had more transporta-
tion options with better service,
people would probably rely on cars
less. When Borgarlínan will go into
effect still remains to be seen.
Opinions are also divided when it
comes to the idea of combining
the Reykjavík area towns into
one big city. A recent poll showed
that most capital area residents
support merging at least some of
these towns, with the greatest level
of support coming from Reykjavík,
and in favour of merging all of
them together, and merging Selt-
jarnarnes and Reykjavík having the
second highest level of support.
The most opposition to any merg-
ing notions came from residents
of both Seltjarnarnes and Mosfells-
bær. Were a total merge to happen,
there would then be one city in
Iceland comprising more than two
thirds of the total population. For
scale, just imagine if the popula-
tion of the US remained the same,
with one city populated by some
230 million people.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06— 2020First
NEWS
Grapevine artist's rendition of the city line
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Ví"ir Reynisson, corona hunter
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