Bergen commune

Tarje I. Wanvik

Municipal Innovation Operator

Urban land use management is central to society’s contribution to a more sustainable world, and our role as an administrative authority is crucial. Very little can continue in the same way as before. Bergen Planning and Building Authority now initiates a climate norm - a tool simplifying climate criteria for urban development projects- so that developers can structure their ambitions and be held accountable for them during the process.

"Bergen Planning and Building Authority now initiates a climate norm - a tool simplifying climate criteria for urban development projects- so that developers can structure their ambitions and be held accountable for them during the process"

The city of Bergen - and many other cities in the world - have great ambitions on our own behalf: cities must stop global warming, we must contribute to reducing urban sprawl, we must stop the loss of valuable natural and landscape diversity, and we must make energy consumption, resource use and recycling of building material more efficient - in short, we must contribute to building a city where we all live closer: closer together - closer to our workplace and in closer contact with the nature around us. And we must travel together – by public transport, by bike or on foot.

The changes we are facing are so extensive that we, as Planning and Building Authority must challenge ourselves in every single decision we make, in every single piece of advice we give, and in every single meeting we have with stakeholders, proponents, authorities, or other parties concerned with urban development.

Everyone agrees that our emissions must decrease - but so far, we have been far too sloppy with the documentation of whether the measures we carry out have the desired effect. If we look around us today, there is little to indicate that we are particularly successful. 

The number of cars through the toll roads around our city is higher than ever. Emissions are indeed falling somewhat, but we are far from on track to zero emissions in 2030. Nature is losing ground every minute, and as societies, we spend much more time and resources on fossil-fueled solutions than sustainable ones.

There are many questions we must ask ourselves: Will the urban project we initiate reduce private car use? Will the project we accept add equal or more biodiversity than it destroys? Will the project release less greenhouse gases than the alternative? Will the project generate more energy than it consumes? As of today, we talk about this all the time, but we need to be assured that the measures we chisel out together in regulatory plans and in construction matters support the goals we have set for ourselves as an urban community.

We try to facilitate both externally and internally so that the work with sustainable land use management and urban development becomes more efficient and with greater impact:

Internally, we are in the process of putting into words how we understand our role as an administrative authority and translating this into practice. We shall be a driving force for sustainable urban development; we will be a professional adviser for sustainable urban development; and we will coordinate stakeholders and other relevant authorities in our joint effort for sustainable urban development.

More externally, we have now initiated a simplification and a target group-adapted version of climate criteria for urban development projects so that developers can structure their ambitions and make them concrete during the process. We plan to hold developers responsible for their own climate ambitions in the planning and building process so that failure to follow through on their own goals will be grounds for refusal. Above all, these climate norms must be a motivation - to improve and to find creative and sustainable solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.