Oslo Central Station, High-rise building strategy | Oslo’s most important project is not allowed to say anything about. Why?

Urban development should not be done hastily, but at Oslo S, time has stood still since its opening in 1985. While the surrounding district has been upgraded, modernized and renewed, Norway’s most visited property and most important traffic hub has remained virtually unchanged for almost 40 years.

An upgrade is now absolutely necessary because the station area is no longer designed for the sharp increase in the number of travelers. And if we do nothing, the situation will only get worse, since the number of people who pass Oslo S per day is expected to double in the next 25 years.

The station can hardly stand it, nor the city of Oslo.

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Safer, more beautiful, better

We want to upgrade the station itself, the entrances and surrounding areas such as Christian Fredriks plass. We aim to create more beautiful, safer and more usable urban spaces both inside and out.

The plans are ambitious and they cost money. We can finance a great deal of this without burdening the taxpayers – if we follow the municipality’s own adopted high-rise building plan and build a high-rise building in the area.

There are divided opinions about high-rise buildings. Many fear that high-rise buildings overshadow urban spaces where people stay. However, our high-rise is located so that the shadow will fall on the track area itself, where people only travel to and from the train. Riksantikvaren believes the location close to Østbanehallen is unfortunate. We think quite the opposite, and are very proud of the way our proposal highlights Østbanehallen’s fantastic architecture in an exciting and beautiful way.

What we think about our own plans is still hardly the most important thing. When Norway’s most important traffic hub is to be renewed and become the capital’s new main hall, we must all be given the opportunity to have our say and give input for improvements and changes.

This type of debate is an absolutely crucial democratic exercise when cities are to be developed. The Planning and Building Agency (PBE) in Oslo is trying to stop this practice, and it is paradoxically happening at the same time as the agency claims it wants increased participation from the city’s citizens in planning processes.

Oslo’s perhaps most important urban development project is not allowed to say anything about. Why? Simply because the PBE does not like the proposal. We think that is a democratic short-circuit. If the proposal does not go to consultation, it cannot move forward in a planning process that can lead to a final solution.

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Time for re-evaluation

And to be perfectly clear: Bane Nor Eiendom does not expect the proposal to be adopted in its current form. On the contrary, we believe that most projects improve after public debate. Most people should be given the opportunity to have an opinion on a project of this size right in the center of Oslo. If the conclusion is ultimately no to high-rise buildings, we will naturally be disappointed because the upgrade of Oslo S will be greatly reduced. But then we are at least confident that the refusal is the result of an open democratic process with broad participation.

We can of course choose to join the PBE. This means that a year-long planning process has been wasted and time will still stand still in Oslo S. If Norway is to reach its climate targets, more people will have to travel by train. We cannot avoid that. And in order to achieve that, hubs must be densified and jobs created centrally in the city. This will again require the upgrading of Oslo S.

In addition, it is worth reminding the politicians that when the capital’s high-rise plan was considered, it was important for our elected officials that planned high-rise projects are considered in context. This is of course impossible if the planning authorities hold back some high-rise projects at the same time as others are sent forward in the process.

The city’s future must be decided through a lively debate in the open landscape, not in a planning office.

Read more comments, debate posts and Oslo stories on Avisa Oslo’s debate page Oslodebatten

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