Eco Oslo: Reimagining Oslo, Norway through the lens of Richard Register’s Ecocities

Reimagining Oslo, Norway through the lens of Richard Register’s Ecocities

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.

STUDY AREAS: Voksenåsen & St. Hanshaugen

PJ Bell, Michael Meyer, & Elliot Turnbull

2 April 2016Plan 587a

“This four-headed monster of the twentieth-century Apocalypse—cars, sprawl, freeways, and oil—is what we are building and in what we are committing the next generation to live.”

In order to address the crisis state of Earth’s natural systems, cities need to be radically reshaped. The EcoCities principle advocates cities being completely reorganized and rebuilt, from their concrete and steel foundations up, upon ecological principles. This process involves re-establishing natural areas while densifying core areas.

The anatomy of an EcoCity is characterized by a set of concentric rings in which the center is an extremely dense, multi-level, walkable city. These will be built to the human scale to enable walking and biking as the sole modes of transportation. Density drops off as we move outwards from this core to quickly become untouched, natural land which is of limits to humans.

The process of creating the EcoCity is characterized by dismantling sprawl. As suburban areas and all their roads are de-constructed, density is transferred to core areas. Wherever historical natural features used to exist, such as streams and ridgelines, these are restored to their natural state.

ecocities: the theory

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Ecocity Zoning Map 1 Natural & HistorICAL CONTEXT

Olso is situated in the Boreal Forest Biome. Prior to human settlement, much of the area where Oslo is today would have been covered in lush coniferous forest, including species such as spruce, larch, and pine. These native species should be the focus of all reforestation efforts when returning suburban land to wilderness.

The Akerselva is an important river running from Maridalsvannet Lake north of Olso to the Oslofjord. Akerselva was crucial for early settlement, offering transportation, food, and fresh water. Urban portions of this river have been channelled underground and will be daylit as part of the ecocity design.

Olso has long been an important maritime port. In the 18th century, the city was a regional economic power with booming shipbuilding and trade industries. A significant section of the port will be intensified as part of the ecocity design, while the remaining coastline will be returned to its natural, pre-disturbed state.

The forests that surround Oslo support a variety of species, such as moose, deer, wolves, squirrels, many bird species, and even the European beaver. As wildlife corridors are created and wilderness is returned to the city, these creatures will thrive.

Civilization in Oslo began in the Viking Age. By the year 1000, Old Oslo was already an established village east of the Akerselva river. After much of this medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624, the city was reborn west of the river as “Christiania.” Eventually, these settlements combined and were renamed “Oslo” in 1924.

The St. Clement’s Church site was the centrepiece of Old Oslo and held numerous different chuches going back prior to 1000 A.D. These were likely “stave churches,” a type of wooden medieval construction. The layered and ornate wooden design of these churches will inform the ecocity design context.

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INDUSTRIAL

SUBURBAN SPRAWL

Exisitng industrial area, including railyard. These industrial uses will be preserved and clustered.

These areas contain low-density single detached homes. Where sufficient density exists, these will be clustered into ecovillages or neighbourhood centres. Otherwise, these areas will be restored to agriculture and wilderness.

PORTAs a major economic driver, the port will be maintained. The shoreline within the urban centres will be densified.

EXISTING URBAN COREAreas that are already dense with a suitable mixture of uses and building types will be intensified. Significant density will be added by retrofitting and enhancing the existing built form in addition to constructing new structures with significantly greater heights.

LEGEND

400m — 5 min walk800m — 10 min walk1,200m — 15 min walk

Low Density High Density

CITY CENTRE

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE

ECOVILLAGE

Dense, urban, & layeredSkydome, 10+ storeysAerial parks & walkwaysVegetation omnipresent

5-6 story structuresTaller buildings step back in rows of terraces

Traditional compact villageUp to 3 storeysRetrofited detached homes

Ecocity Zoning Map 2 Walkable Centres: Urban ANALYSIS

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FOREST COVERThis satelite imagery shows existing tree cover in Oslo. Ecocity design principles suggest preserving vegetation and desifying strategic areas. Therefore, development should take place primarily in the white areas.

WILDLIFE CORRIDORSWildlife corridors such as rivers and greenbelts need to be protected to ensure that animal life can navigate unimpeded. One existing example is the Olso Bee Highway, a network of rooftop gardens that creates a path for pollinators to move through the city. This urban garden network should be expanded throughout the urban core and neighbourhood centres.

0% 100%Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA

AKERSELVA RIVERAs an important north-south aquatic corridor, the Akerselva should be restored to a natural state and allowed to flow from source to outlet.

EXISTING PROTECTED AREASThe Ekebergskråningen is a protected natural area in Oslo. Areas like this should continue to be protected and expanded when urban areas are returned to wilderness.

LEGEND



CITY CENTRE


ECOVILLAGE




Ecocity Zoning Map 3 Walkable Centres: ECO-ANALYSIS

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DOUBLE TDRTransfer of Development Rights is typically used to protect natural or open farmland from development or to save historic buildings. Double TDR requires the removal of “the existing buildings, driveways, walls, culverts, or other such structures at the ‘sending site’ (the location where the rights are purchased) as a condition of the developer being able to build more elsewhere at the ‘receiving site’ (the location where the development rights are exercised and new development is built).

RESTORATION TAX CREDITSDevelopers can receive tax credits for following ecocity principles, including building in appropriate areas (eg. in a transit center), increasing density, incorporating greenery, and removing development from a sending site to “restore a creek, create a greenway, expand a community garden, or consolidate an interrupted railroad right-of-way.”

RIVER BUFFERThe Akerselva river is now buffered, with development occuring far enough away to allow wildlife to pass by undisturbed.

FOREST BUFFERExisting forest cover has been maintained wherever possible, with development occuring in pre-cleared areas.

IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS

“It’s time that waterways, hills, trees, and soils were considered as valuable as historic architec-ture and as worthy of restoration.”

LEGEND



CITY CENTRE


ECOVILLAGE




Ecocity Zoning Map 4 Adjusted Walkable Centres

URBAN COREGENERAL URBANSUBURBANRURAL- 4-7 floors- Manicured greenspace

- 3-4 floors- Row houses

- 1-2 floors- Most common form

- 1 floor- Farms and cabins

CITY CENTREECOVILLAGEWILDERNESS- 45-50 floors- Elevated walkways

- Bicycle overpass- 3 floor appartments- Farms and orchards

- Humans not allowedWILDLIFE CORRIDOR- Bicycle overpass

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE- 5-6 floors

OLD OSLO

ECO OSLO

WILDLIFE CORRIDOR

oslo urban transect

FIGURE GROUND COMPARISON

Before eco renewal, periphery settlements in Oslo are characterized by auto-oriented, low-density development. Single family homes are common. There are no jobs in the suburbs, these merely act as bedroom communities for residents commuting into urban areas for work. Natural features such as streams are buried and ridgelines privatized.

After renewal, suburbs are transformed into ecovillages. These villages are characterized by a much higher density building form. Garages and houses are converted into multiple family dwellings. Most families are involved in food production and do not commute, others commute by bike to farmers' markets to sell produce. Natural features are restored and celebrated.

Old Oslo Eco Oslo

Voksenåsen: Ecovillage

0 50 100 200M

Old Oslo Eco Oslo

Additional Density Re-NaturalizationSingle Detached HomesManicured Vegetation

ecocity features

AgricultureActive Trans-portation

Bridges & Elevator

Mixed-use Terraces

Wind & SolarFlora & Fauna

Voksenåsen: Ecovillage

Old Oslo Eco Oslo

High Density IntensificationMedium Density

ecocity features


Bridges & Elevator

Mixed-use Terraces


St. Hanshaugen: City centre

ecocity features


Bridges & Elevator

Mixed-use Terraces


St. Hanshaugen: City centre

St. Hanshaugen: City centre ecocity features


Bridges & Elevator

Mixed-use Terraces


CONCLuSION

Documents

Eco Oslo: Reimagining Oslo, Norway through the lens of Richard Register’s Ecocities