AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.04.2002, Qupperneq 12

Meginstoðir sviðsins eru hin lögboðnu embætti skipu-
lagsfulltrúa og byggingarfulltrúa. Fulltrúarnir tveir starfa
samkvæmt skipulags- og byggingarlögum og stýra
faglegri starfsemi hvor í sínum málaflokki. Sviðinu stýrir
sviðstjóri og er hlutverk hans meðal annars að vinna að
stefnumótun í skipulags- og byggingarmálum ásamt
yfirvöldum. Á skrifstofu sviðstjóra eru reknir þrír megin
málaflokkar: Fjármál og rekstur, stjórnsýsla og lögfræði
og nýsköpun og þróun. Stofnun síðastnefnda mála-
flokksins endurspeglar áherslur í skipulagsmálum
borgarinnar en hlutverk hans er m.a. að vinna með full-
trúunum tveimur að því að móta góðar verklagsreglur í
málaflokkunum og að efla samráð um skipulags- og
byggingarmál. Með því er átt við samvinnu við bæði
íbúa og pólitískt kjörna fulltrúa til að tryggja að kynn-
ingar- og upplýsingastreymi sé stöðugt á milli skipu-
lags- og byggingaryfirvalda og þessara aðila.
Nýtt embætti borgararkitekts ber einnig vott um vilja
yfirvalda til að stuðla að faglegum vinnubrögðum í mót-
un borgarinnar. Borgararkitekt sinnir fagurfræðilegu út-
liti höfuðborgarinnar og liðsinnir hönnuðum og öðrum
hvað varðar hönnun á vegum borgarinnar.
Öllum framantöldum embættum stýra embættismenn
sem reynslu og þekkingu hafa á viðkomandi mála-
flokkum en auk þeirra starfa á skipulags- og byggingar-
sviði um 40 starfsmenn sem hafa með höndum það
hlutverk að vera tengiliður borgara og hönnuða við
skipulags- og byggingaryfirvöld bæði hvað varðar
skipulag, endurskoðun skipulags, nýbyggingar, endur-
byggingar og eftirlit. Allur þessi hópur leggur sig fram
um fagleg vinnubrögð og góða þjónustu og væntir góðs
samstarfs við borgara, hönnuði og skipulagshöfunda
um ókomna tíð. ■
A NEW PLANNING AND BUILDING
DEPARTMENT
On January 1,2002, the new Department of Planning
and Building was established within the municipal
structure of Reykjavík. With this change, the City
Planning Agency and the Building Officer’s Bureau are
now consolidated into one department.
The purpose of this reform is to strengthen the role of
planning and building development within the municipal
government. Part of this reform is the streamlining of
the planning and building process to benefit architects,
builders, planners and the general public. In addition,
the new position of City Architect has been founded as
part of this new department.
The establishment of the new department reflects the
increased interest in the built environment. Planning
focuses on what vision the public and elected officials
have for the future use of land and the quality of the
built environment. The history of planning is relatively
short in lceland, as urbanization didn’t take place in the
country until the 20th century. However, in the past few
decades, the Reykjavík area has grown at a rapid rate.
As in other parts of the Western World, interest among
the public and elected officials in lceland regarding
planning and building issues has increased as urbani-
sation and land use crises become apparent. Planning
is a democratic tool for elected officials to shape the
future of our built environment while preserving public
interest. Therefore, pianners need to work closely with
both the elected officials and the public. To make this
process efficient, everyone involved needs to be
informed and willing to take part in shaping the future.
The role of government officials is to make sure that the
process is fair and equitable.
The main elements in this new department are the
posts of Planning Officer and Building Officer, who act
according to Planning and Building Regulations. An
Overseeing Director, responsible for deriving policy
decisions in cooperation with the city government,
manages the entire department.
Within the Director’s Office, three main divisions are
in charge of the following subject matters: Finance and
Office Management, Legal Procedures and Govern-
mental Relations, and Research and Development,
which reflects the importance of planning and building
issues within city government. Its future role is to work
with Planning and Building Officers to develop a fair
and efficient planning and building process.
The new office of The Reykjavík City Architect
reflects the city government’s intentions to assure qual-
ity work and professionalism in the city’s design and
aesthetic appearance.
Moreover, the new department has a staff of approx-
imately 40 employees that are experienced and edu-
cated in the field of planning and building affairs. The
Reykjavík Planning and Building Department is ready
to take on the challenge of assuring quality work in the
shaping of Reykjavík’s future. ■
Salvör Jónsdóttir, Director of the Planning and Building
Department.
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