STUDY AREAS: VoksenĂĽsen & St. Hanshaugen
Reimagining Oslo, Norway through the lens of Richard Register’s Ecocities PJ Bell, Michael Meyer, & Elliot Turnbull 2 April 2016 Plan 587a
Oslo, Norway is a city of 650,000 situated at the northernmost edge of the Oslofjord, the stunning natural gateway to the North Sea. The Norwegian capital is a key economic and governmental centre for the region and has a long tradition of maritime industry and trade. Oslo is highly ranked in terms of quality of life; as a result, it has become one of the most expensive and fastest growing cities in Europe.
While the built form in Oslo has many sustainable features, green space in the city tends to be strictly controlled. Parks often feature non-diverse and non-native plantings which require heavy maintenance and do not provide suitable habitat for local wildlife. Recently, Oslo has followed an urban ecology programme to reduce waste and energy consumption while promoting sustainable infrastructure.
As a result, the city has lower per capita greenhouse gas emissions than other Norwegian and Scandinavian cities. That said, it remains a very suburban city with a relatively low density of 1,400 people/km2. Outside of the core, the built form is characterised by low density development and single family homes. This is a city ripe for an Ecocity renewal.