2001-June 6-8 MILU - Iiinstitute.nl

Report of working group A: Changing harbour related functions into city
related functions, together with group B: Building above railway stations.
The Bjørvika case
Report by Anke Loska
On the background of the
presentation of the planning
project in the Bjørvika area in
Oslo and related projects of
revitalization of the waterfront
in Amsterdam, Göteborg,
Lisbon, Barcelona, Melbourne
and other cities, the group
discussed points of evaluations
and intervention criteria related
to the MILU-strategy.
Due to the comparison of the
Bjørvika case and the other
presented cases it became
clear that we dealt with different
needs for reclaiming and
revitalizing the waterfront.
A main reason for the otherthen-Oslo
cases was the urge
for more space for dwellings. Even though there is also a need for more housing in
Oslo, the project of the Bjørvika area is not driven specifically by the lack of space
elsewhere in the city. It’s a common urban redevelopment project 2 .
The reclaiming of the waterfront is of great significance for any city in order to find or
re-define its identity. Especially when a reclaimed waterfront is connected to the city
centre. Such a crucial project is a priority for both, the planning authorities and the
politicians.
During the discussion several key aspects around the planning process were
elaborated:
• The need of flexible plans: Put influence of policy in perspective (economically
and technically). That means have no fear of time; you need to treat time in a
flexible way.
• Who owns the land, has the financial benefit?: The city has to plan public
functions and -spaces first and sell land in accordance with these plans. In this
way the city will profit from the value increases triggered by here own quality
ambitions regarding public spaces and it ensures that the developments live up to
these ambitions. In the case of Göteborg it was the State who owned the land.
2
There will be some protests around the word ”common” since the Oslo opera is located here. But in terms of
providing new land, the area seeks to provide more public space by using the old harbour areas.
12.