The clothes are about to fail – again. Here are 15 suggestions for improvement.

The new “vestkant city council” has focused its attention on more privileged parts of the city.

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The sound of the children in the orchestra. The smell of sweaty youth in Tøyen Arena. The taste of samosa at a street party. The sense of community in the more open library. The diversity at Tøyen is something completely unique.

15 years ago, Tøyen Torg was a dark and dead place after office hours. There were no sports facilities, and the school was threatened with closure. Few children could afford to attend AKS (the activity school), the rest were sent out to a busy street with deliveries, buses and taxi stands. The clothes were grossly neglected by the politicians and were referred to as “Oslo’s toughest growing up environment”.

But in 2013, a lot happened. The Tøyen people had had enough and started a neighborhood mobilization that has no parallel in recent Norwegian history. At the same time, a year-long political tangle was resolved in spectacular fashion in Oslo City Hall. The Socialist Left Party (SV) negotiated the Tøyen lift with the then bourgeois city council, a comprehensive area package for Tøyen in exchange for the right-wing being allowed to build a new Munch Museum in Bjørvika.

Politicians with short memories

Many things have changed at Tøyen since then. AKS has become free. The street outside the school has become car-free. Tøyen Torg has been refurbished and is buzzing with life both day and night. The multi-purpose hall Tøyen Arena is in place. New and larger Tøyenbad with its own sports hall will open in a few months. Deichmann has got more space, longer opening hours and Biblo for young people. Activity house K1 was opened in a disused office building. Several tens of millions of kroner a year have given Tøyenbygda the opportunity to cultivate the diverse unity it has always had.

In the old Munch Museum, the artistic heritage has been replaced with the cultural expression of the future. The cultural elite has been replaced by children, young people and local volunteers.

But if there is one thing we can learn from Tøyen’s history, it is that nothing can be taken for granted. Local mobilization is a new commodity, politicians have short memories, and the battle for budget funds is fierce.

Now Tøyen Arena has been notified to be demolished. The social housing project in Hagegata 30 has been stopped. The future of Gamle Munch is uncertain. The new “vestkant city council” has focused its attention on more privileged parts of the city.

SV wants Tøyen to be further lifted up, not torn down.

15 suggestions

1. Turn Gamle Munch into a permanent cultural center
2. Preserve Tøyen Arena
3. Complete Hagegata 30 as a social housing beacon and get more affordable housing
4. Renovate Kolstadgata and expand the school yard
5. Reduce the rent in municipal housing
6. Make sure Tøyen has a low-threshold activity house
7. Give young people jobs, leisure activities and places to be
8. Keep the K1 club
9. Renovate the old principal’s residence
10. Keep the local business community and the open meeting places at Tøyen torg
11. Strengthen school finances
12. Support volunteering with premises and operating funds
13. Keep the prices down at the new Tøyenbadet
14. Get more municipal housing and introduce rent-to-own
15. Prioritize cycling, walking and street life over car traffic and dangerous school roads

The city council must think about who they listen to. They must understand Tøyen and understand the consequences if they fail.