Internasjonalt toppmøte: Local Government Climate Changes
Her finner du ordfører Rita Ottervik sine presentasjoner i København 2. -4. juni 2009. Innlegget er på engelsk.
Local governments want to be a part of the solution of climate problems. This is the message in the call that 700 representatives from municipalities and regions from more than 60 countries decided at Local Government Climate Change Leadership Summit in Copenhagen in june.
Mayor Rita Ottervik :
1. Trondheim: Working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Ladies and gentlemen.
Trondheim is participating in a joint project between the Norwegian government and 13 cities, with the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Trondheim has worked to reduce greenhouse gas emission for several years already, primarily through the integrated planning of land use and transportation
Radical measures in combination with a firm political will form the basis of achieving these goals. Cooperation between central government and local municipality is likewise important. The municipalities are where people live and where challenges should be met, and problems have to be solved. Central government, on the other hand, has the means in terms of financial strength and legislative tools, that will be needed to imply the necessary framework for success.
2. Trondheim
Norway is a small country in northern Europe. There are vast mountainous areas and numerous fjords, and the nature is spectacular. The distance between north and south is more than 2.500 km, with a population of only 4.8 million people. Trondheim is an old historic city, founded in 997 ac, and located in the middle of Norway. Trondheim is the third largest city in Norway, exceeding 180.000 inhabitants.
3. Knowledge capital and regional centre
The Norwegian university of technology and science has 20 000 students and 3 500 employees. It is one of the most important institutions in the city and largely because of this; Trondheim is the knowledge capital of Norway. There is a lot of ongoing research and development in Trondheim, as for instance peak competence in the field of solar energy. SINTEF – is one of the largest independent research institutions in Europe, and their head office with 1.500 employees is located in Trondheim. As a part of the “Cities of the future” project, The Municipality of Trondheim is cooperating with SINTEF and NTNU on developing a new climate neutral district of the city with approximately 1.200 households.
Trondheim is the regional centre with more than 65% of the regional population. Trondheim is the centre for trade and commerce in mid-Norway and the regional hub for transport and logistics.
4. Rapid growth – integrated land use and transportation policies
Trondheim has over the last five years experienced a rapid growth, with more than 2% annual increase of the population. This is 70 % above the national average and more than any comparable city region. City growth is of course primarily positive, and clearly expresses that both Trondheim and the surrounding region is prospering. On the other hand, it also presents us with new challenges that have to be solved; among them environmental and climate challenges - both in a local and a global context.
In the last decades, we have developed integrated policies for land-use and transportation, in order to be able to reduce urban sprawl and thereby the emission of greenhouse gases.
5. Ila: A ”brown” industrial area
This picture is from Ila 75 years ago. Ila is situated just outside the city centre, and was, as you can see, a “brown” industrial area. During the seventies and eighties most of the businesses in the area was relocated or went out of business, and the area was deserted.
6. Transformation
Today the area has been transformed for residential and recreational purposes.
A major road project made it possible to reopen an old creek, which now is the natural core element of a beautiful public park. The residential area is developed with high density, but quality surroundings, recreational areas, and an urban structure make this a great new part of the city.
7. City growth as transformation project within city structures
The Important principles are that over the last decade, 80% of the city growth has occurred as transformation project within existing city structures. We require high density for all new projects.
The right business at the right location is an important principle. 60 % of new offices are established within an area with good public transport accessibility, thereby facilitating a real opportunity to choose public transportation for as many work related trips as possible.
And at last the transformation reopens of a green field. This new green area connects a fantastic path along the shore with the forest around the city.
This is one of our best examples how to change a brown industrial area to a residential urban and green area.
8. ”The city incentive program”
“The city incentive program for improved public transportation and reduced use of private cars in the city regions” started in 2004. Originally it involved the five largest cities, and the financial frame was 10 mill €. This has increased to 40 mill € in 2009, including 13 cities.
One year ago a broad majority of the city council voted to implement an integrated program for development of an environmentally sustainable transport system over the next 15 years - total value of almost 800 mill €.
As you might see from this picture we also have the world’s only bicycle lift.
10. New bus lanes in 2008
We now have 23 km with bus lanes in Trondheim, thereby becoming the first Norwegian city with continuous bus lanes through the city centre. Public opinion was massively negative in the beginning. But today almost 70 % claim to be satisfied, and public approval increases steadily.
The bus lanes have given the expected and wanted effect - car traffic has been significantly reduced.
This is the situation before implementation of the bus lanes - buses caught in the same queue as the cars.
This is the situation after opening the bus lanes. Cars still caught in the queue, while buses rush past them.
The bus lanes improve public transportation by giving right of way to the buses, improving the overall travel time. On the other hand, the situation for private automobiles is worse. Thereby the double incentive to choose public transportation. It is also important that this is equal for everybody. A cheap, simple and highly efficient step.
14. Parking regulations
Over several years, we have developed strict parking regulations with maximum limits in central areas.
Where do you think this picture is taken? - does it show a parking for a shopping mall? NO – it’s from one of our university campuses in Trondheim.
One special challenge is that many of the various governmental offices have a totally different and almost boundless parking policy. We also face the same challenge with private ground parking policy, especially connected to shopping malls.
As part of "Cities of the future"- project we have proposed to elaborate on the possibility of establishing legislative restrictions for parking on private ground. We also want to challenge the government on their parking policy on their own ground.
4 years ago we decided to move 1.000 employees to offices located in the city centre with practically no parking possibilities. The number of work related car trips was reduced from 51% to 16% instantly, resulting in an annual reduction of 150.000 work related car trips.
These pictures show the situation outside our offices before and after the relocation. On top of this, surveys show that almost 90% of our employees are more satisfied now, also in relation to their work travel.
When a large bank did the same two years later, the result was almost exactly the same.
We strongly recommend governmental organizations to do the same
We share the same goals as our government. We believe that it will be impossible to meet the expected reductions in greenhouse gas emission if cities like Trondheim don’t succeed.
As pointed in the beginning, municipalities are where people live, where the real challenges are met and where the problems must be solved. On the other hand, without the financial and legislative possibilities of central authorities, it will not be possible to reach the goals.
The government must coordinate the different sectors of their activities in a better way. Today the environmental policy is too fragmented.
