AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.04.2002, Qupperneq 63

a) fylgjast vel meö þróun í samvinnu viö skipulagsyfir-
völd „nýja hagkerfisins" og öörum þeim breytingum og
tækifærum sem hin alþjóðlega upplýsingabylting getur
haft á okkar borgarsamfélag
b) fylgjast vel meö því besta sem er að gerast í ný-
sköpun og atvinnulífi í sambærilegum borgum
c) meta hvernig menntun og færni atvinnulífið kallar á,
á næstu áratugum
d) fylgja eftir stefnumótun Aflvaka um sóknarfæri
Reykjavíkur á 21. öldinni.
Þessi rannsóknavinna mun án efa veröa traustur
þekkingargrunnur til aö byggja á borgarstefnu til fram-
tíöar, en ísland er eina Norræna ríkið þar sem ekki er til
sérstök stefna um æskilega þróun borgarsamfélagsins
á nýrri öld. Það er mikilvægt aö koma ofangreindri
rannsóknavinnu af staö, því viö þurfum aö koma
Reykjavík sem fyrst á kortið meöal framsækinna borga
í heiminum. ■
PUTTING REYKJAVÍK ON THE MAP:
Thoughts about Urban Research
and Policy Formulation
Compared to other cities, Reykjavík, the capital of
lceland, is remarkable in many ways. Not only is it the
northernmost capital in the world, but Reykjavík’s sur-
rounding area, known as the Capital Area, is also one
of the largest conurbations in Europe, with almost two-
thirds living in the area.
Icelandic society has undergone extremley fast
changes during the last two decades. Rapid develop-
ment of the Capital Area, as well as a sped-up lifestyle
and lack of time, are typical factors of urban life and
demand many forms of research and policy creation on
behalf of the city. As a consequence, demands for
accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the constantly
changing face of urban society has steadily increased
regarding all future planning and policy making.
To Map
Gaining long-term knowledge is a recent phenome-
non in lceland, as through the centuries, people were
more interested in gathering food to survive the next
winter. Ideas and policies concerning development
have, to a large extent, served to maintain the devel-
opment of the status quo existing at the beginning of
the last century. Now, the economic base is completely
different. However, the rapidly-expanding urban areas
of south-west lceland can still often be as hard to find
on the maps of the lcelandic Development Institute as
lceland itself is difficult to find on the maps of the EU.
It is therefore not an understatement to say it is
extremely important to put the Capital Area on the map.
The infrastructure, growth and improvement potential
of urban society has to be defined along with the role of
the Capital Area versus the countryside and foreign
countries. A good map, with few but clearly defined
strokes that can act as a guide to our future - the first
urban policy of lceland. This policy has to be developed
with numerous parties, both within and outside the city
government.
The most important development proj-
ects in Reykjavík
During the last few years, the City of Reykjavík has
engaged in numerous research and development proj-
ects, which will guide future policy making decisions. In
this context, only a few are mentioned which are relat-
ed to desirable urban development and which the town
hall has worked on since it was established at the
beginning of 1999. The City’s Department of
Development is responsible for comprehensive policy
making by the gathering and communicating of infor-
mation, as well as contributing to increased research of
urban society. As is shown in Diagram 1, „Urban
Studies", an attempt is made to connect the following
three aspects: Social Change, Urban Service Systems,
and Organisation and Development, along with other
comprehensive policies. The City’s latest undertakings
in development- and research work are the following:
Urban rcsearch
Cooperation and urban research policies. At the
beginning of 1999, the Department of Development
established a working team from the most important
city departments working on research and develop-
ment issues. A summary has been made of the main
research on behalf of the city during the last three
years, emphasising social and economic issues. This
can now be found on the Reykjavík homepage,
http://www.rvk.is.
Coordination and policy making in this field is now
undertaken jointly by the city of Reykjavík and the
Urban Studies Institute (Borgarfræðasetur). At the end
of this article, a draft of a research plan for the next
years can be found.
The Institute of Urban Studies. The Department of
Development worked on the establishment of the
Institute of Urban Studies, which was formally opened
during the spring of 2001. The Institute of Urban
Studies is intended to be a forum for cooperation
between the City of Reykjavík and the University of
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