Iceland review - 2004, Page 73

REYKJAVÍK – PURE ENERGY / 71
DEVELOPING THE FUTURE
The Planning and Building Department
It’s their job to live in the future. The employees at the
Reykjavík Planning and Building Department spend
their days imagining how the city should grow, while
maintaining the delicate balance between the need
for space, and the need for housing.
“By building more densely, we have more open area
left over,” say the people at the Planning and Building
Department.
The word to describe this stratagey is “densification”,
the process of clustering people and industry into
areas that make travel to and fro less necessary, and
leave large green spaces for recreation.
One example of this type of sustainable development
is at Úlfarsfell, a stretch of farmland located in north-
east Reykjavík. The development will house roughly
20,000 residents, most of whom will be clustered
along a main thoroughfare running through the mid-
dle of the development space. Also along this thor-
oughfare will be the majority of shops and offices.
But outward development is only one strategy. Part of
a General Plan for Reykjavík is also to revitalise the
city centre, known as inward development.
This inward development strategy continues the
notion of sustainable development by easing the
stress on natural areas, decreasing pollution and
increasing the quality of life for city residents.
“It’s a matter of locating people closer to work. That
way, people can leave their car behind,” say the peo-
ple at the Planning and Building Department.
For more information on the Planning and Building
Department of Reykjavik log on to www.skipbygg.is
MID-ATLANTIC MEETING POINT
The Iceland Convention and Incentive Bureau
Being only two or three hours away by air from Europe, and five to six hours
from the US east coast, Iceland is a great “mid-Atlantic meeting point”. It is a
new and refreshing conference destination.
As the world’s conference and incentive industry grows, so does the problem of
finding a suitable venue in a stimulating setting. Iceland strikes a balance
between unique nature and excellent conference facilities. It offers a range of
conference services of high international standard, with business-class hotels, a
good selection of venues for meetings, friendly personnel and excellent com-
munications facilities.
Reykjavík City’s conference and accommodation facilities, restaurants and cul-
tural life continue to grow and flourish at an astonishing rate. Virtually every-
thing a conference delegate might need is situated within a ten-minute radius
of the major hotels. To the surprise of many, however, it is possible to reach the
wide-open spaces of Iceland’s countryside in less than an hour’s drive from the
city centre.
Rósbjörg Jónsdóttir, project manager at the Iceland Convention and Incentive
Bureau, says that Reykjavík is an ideal place to hold a conference because of the
comprehensiveness of its services and its centrality. Then there are the endless
possibilities provided by the Icelandic landscape, which is custom-built for imag-
inative incentive trips. The options are as infinite as the landscape is diverse. The
Iceland Convention and Incentive Bureau will help you organise corporate meet-
ings, conferences and incentive trips, and provide you with any information you
might need on tour operators, hotels, facilities and flights. This small, non-prof-
it organisation provides a realistic, personal and friendly service, free of charge.
www.icelandconvention.com, e-mail: icib@centrum.is
A future development site:
Slippsvædid, a derelict shipyard
located next to the old harbour.
Before and after:
the area of Úlfarsfell.
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