Skien - Porsgrunn, Norway

Un-Sprawl The twin cities

200.000 inhabitants through a infrastructure urban model

Edoardo Marchetti, Pietro Giannini, nicola marmugi, Roberto Castellani, Giacomo Garziano, Inés Martinez de Albornoz

UN-SPRAWL THE TWIN CITIES

200,000 inhabitants is a strategy bringing the process of food production and consumption in contact with a major multi-modal transfer point between the new light rail and the existing public transportation network. The project will provide a new way to access the urban perimeter leaving the private car aside and is developed as a response to some of the impacts of urban growth. The strategy needed to satisfy a number of particular urban criteria:

Accessibility (upgrade the infrastructure)
Urban orientation (signs the horizon)
Urban density (complete the urban matrix)
Urban agriculture (re-invent development zones). All points desire to be located adjacent to a major transportation nexus with a large amount of vacant land. The geographic positions of Skien-Porsgrunn town complex creates the need to redevelop a new regional high-speed railway in order to overcome the present track too long and too much convoluted in the internal valleys. The new linear development could contain the growth of the region for the next years and could become a model for a both sustainable, dense and economical development of the region.

NORWAY SOUTHWEST RAIL SYSTEM

The urban densification is a cornerstone to meet the ambitious program of light rail between Skien, Menstad, Porsgrunn and Heroya because at the present rate of inhabitants for square kilometer is not a surprise that the train in the area is used only by a 5% of population even if the track is placed directly in the middle of residential and productive areas. The light rail is then an occasion for further development of Grenland area and the entire path has to be conceived not only as a transportation system but as a place for life, with services and attractions, making it the main artery of more complex organism like a town is. Along the track we developed a plan divided into different steps to build new residences, offices, industries, shops, health/education/leisure services, and a new concept of integrated agriculture into modern greenhouses, all of them sized perfectly for an additional 100.000 inhabitants placed on the area according to the history of the four focus points and according to present necessities. The description of the competition for a new use of rail in the conurbation Sien/Porsgrunn offers in few lines the starting point to widen our picture over the regional railway system. It’s stated that only the 8% of Norwegians use train for personal transport with peaks of 25% in Oslo and lows of 5% in Skien/Porsgrunn area. Beside he specific analysis of the two town system we have to understand also why the percentage of train users is so low and looking at the map it’s quite understandable: Skien area lies at the edges of a wandering railtrack that links all the major towns and villages of the complex coast; the journey to reach Skien by train is not properly linear and it’s detached from the main line linking Oslo with Kristiansand.

HIGH SPEED CONNECTION . In order to improve train use in Skien we propose to connect the conurbation to a wider system of High-Speed track linking together Oslo, Asker, Drammen, Skien/Porsgrunn, Arendal and Kristiansand each town over 40.000 of population and connecting in one unique High-Speed line over 1.2 million of potential users. The long distance, the present erraic roads and the convoluted rail are the reason for a low usage of public transports and for a constant isolation of villages and towns. The 8% of usage (probably lower here since it’s a national average comprehensive also of Oslo) would surely improve with a direct and fast line reaching a realistic 15% of population increasing cultural and economical relationships in the entire coastal area. The high speed line would also connect smaller villages nowadays disconnected from the train transportation providing local trains touching each station on the track organized to leave priority to fast trains. The path idea follows natural plains and valleys in order to minimize the costs of construction over a track with minimum bend radius of 3 km in order to keep a constant speed around 200km/h all over the line. In the present condition, beside fares and costs, the car is slightly faster than the train making the last one not a valid alternative. The high speed line instead cuts the travelling times in half and general CO2 emission by 90% per passenger.

PROGRAM . As the development of cities tends toward a recursive nature, the position of program and its relation to infrastructure is an initial starting point to: How the conurbation accommodate this rapid growth in population? The methodology leads to the production of scenarios infills development within the existing city boundary and just sometimes spreads the cities into its landscape. These development scenarios are related to existing cities from a regional landscape perspective. Our proposal tends to hybridize natural and cultural systems into new growth trajectories. In terms of reducing a city’s ecological footprint as well as physically reconnecting people with the working landscape, the potential of interweaving hi-tech agricultural and industrial zones with a residential suburbia could become an increasingly relevant 21st century form of urbanism. The 600 hundred circles ensure that nobody lives more than five minute walk from public transport. . HOUSING We have pulled back from the river edge and propose developing linearly along two major north-south aligned infrastructures which are parallel. As housing’s most fundamental parameters include access to natural light and views together with isolation from northerly winds and passive insulation from southern facades. . LEISURE Leisure encompasses a large variety of programmatic elements and is therefore conceived via its scale. Leisure program was dispersed evenly throughout the city and in some cases, it uses to bridge between other areas of program . EDUCATION Elementary schools are distributed adjacent to housing to minimize travel distances for young children. High schools are fewer in number and positioned separately from housing. Universities were the largest in scale and comprise nodes into themselves. . HEALTCARE It has a small but vital presence in the city. Hospital and medical care distributed through the city to ensure that no point in the city is more than a five minute of distance. . OFFICE They are positioned close to the housing, clustered into a series of small destination areas directly connected with the light rail system and the high speed station. . SHOP They are placed across the housing areas in the lower or narrow sites because they are less depended on view and day light. . FOREST We imagine the forest not just surrounding the urban area, but even thought, linking and traversing the cities as a web of nature, high biodiversity and ecological continue. . AGRICULTURE The development model will be no longer linked to perpetual horizontal expansion. Cultivated terrain around and between cities can once more become a crucial resorce for our urban economies to give it a new strong economic value and use. . PARKING The parking areas are the buffer zones into the nodes where programmatic function / destinations and movement may be articulated. . INDUSTRY Combining the idea of a productive urban environment, it is possible to imagine a variety of new landscape that might emerge. . ENERGY Every structure is a small plant of energy so the entire area becomes an eco-park, a mix of park and energy production. . VEGETATION TREATMENT

Green Roofs: according to reduce heat loss, energy consumption, storm-water run off, water purification and natural habitat and public space creation.
Green houses: to get food production and public space creation which inhabitants use as a meeting place. There is a water collection system as the heat provoked in here can melt the snow on the roofs and be used for irrigation.
Forest: set as a web to create an ecological connector and as a clear city limit to avoid sprawling effects.
Urban wetlands to collect storm-water and subject it to phytotreatment; we use aquatic vegetation as well to naturalize some river edge’s trams and some of the floating platforms according to increase the biodiversity and the urban environment quality.
Tree nursery in public spaces: timber production and increase the city environment
Vegetation Acoustic Screens according to reduce the road and railroad noise.
Eco-agricultural patch surrounding the city, as the food production doesn’t have to be imported from far away sites.
Linear trees planted to give continuity, as in the new waterfront, the floating platforms or at the entrances to the city.

FOCUSES . SKIEN . The historical center of Skien is an important part of this project in order to exploit its position and already planned and realized attractions. Old churches, historical houses, fountain water games give a strong identity to the town and together with the status of municipality it represents the place for roots and the first step to build a well thought new concept of infrastructure. Skien is the north pole for our light rail system and urban redevelopment and to preserve its image of historical center together with the light rail has been conceived an horizontal system of redevelopment to avoid a strong impact on its skyline and on its landscape. To provide a correct timeline for the urban improvement we divided the project into different steps in Skien: Step 1: the present rail track infrastructure will have to be improved in order to accommodate the new light rail system making new stations and platform all along the Skien area together with the correct solution of intersection already solved in many point with tunnels and overpasses. Step 2: in the immediate area next to the platforms new urban volumes are planned. Their disposition would see an elongated shape in order to keep everything horizontal and preserve the actual aspect of the town adding new urban features: a great part of volumes will be occupied by commercial spaces and shops to boost the touristic aspect of Skien linked with a prosecution an innovation of the promenade on the river; an important improvement will also be given to the health care facilities linked to the current Telemark Regional Hospital and to education through buildings interconnected to the light rail. Step 3: the completion will be made of a number of W-E green pathways connecting the rail track and the road to the promenade and the buildings placed on the river shoreline and a hanging park unifying the cliff and connecting the old zone with the brand new on the N-S direction.

MENSTAD . The village of Menstad placed halfway between Skien and Porsgrunn lies at the edge of a cliff over the river and the present railway runs side by side with the cliff marking the strong cut between the inner residential houses and the shore of the river. In order to unify the area and make the river enjoyable we thought of a new system linking the top of the cliff with the top a some brand new towers rising from the waterline and enveloping the new light rail system. With this double function the area will be fully lived and connected living like a unique organism in which the light rail is the backbone and the main vein for transportation of people. As usual the project is divided into different steps: Step 1: Services first. The new Menstad will require the creation of many different platforms of light rail in order to link present people to the poles of the track and to be prepared to accept the future strong increase of inhabitants in this area. Step 2: the construction of towers will be the main aspect of this part of project: spaces for residential units will take most of the volume while shops, commercial spaces and small high-tech industries will give employment to local population. This activity goes together with the re-shaping of the riverside with the creation of moving platforms linking the two sides of the river with an underwater cable system. Step 3: Menstad will be the center of a new model of urban agriculture with the creation of green roofs and greenhouses to product food for the local population. This is an important and qualifying aspect of the entire project because currently almost the total needs of food to Norway are imported causing widespread pollution from cargo flights and long distance ships.

PORSGRUNN . Porsgrunn is the present twin town of Skien and it accomodates many kind of services such as educational campus commercial offices and headquarters of many important industries. The harbor has also a strong life linked to many cultural events and to its continuous and capillary shops center. The land is smoother than previous focus sites and from a bend of the river it gently rises going to Heroya where it forms a cliff making in this way a sort of visual barrier opposed to the heavy industries of the nearby peninsula. The present line at the Porsgrunn station and a bit on the south splits in two: the main line is connected with the regional rail transportation and a secondary line, abandoned enters into a tunnel and reaches Heroya directly. This ground line completely divides the residential and commercial part from the educational campus and the leisure park connected with it. Step1: The goal here has been to use the light rail track to unify the two parts of Porsgrunn and it has been achieved splitting layers of life by usage and function: the line rises slowly In order to ease the passage of roads and bicycle paths. The new station is then the occasion to give a landmark to Porgrunn housing shops and commercial offices in strong need of a commuter point. Step 2: The completion of the focus redevelopment is made by a strong improvement of educational services densifying the present ones and adding new places for medical care in order to give Porsgrunn a new complete service aiding the Telemark Hospital of Skien

HEROYA . The Focus on Heroya is very important to understand a new integrated way of travelling for commuters or passengers coming from the outskirts of Grenland area. Following our intentions to link and improve the present line with a brand new concept of coastal highspeed track we conceived a new train station for high speed trains directly in the industrial park of Heroya minimizing the travelling time for commuters and workers coming from the Telemark county and our intention is to improve the density of industries and office spaces directly in the Heroya peninsula all around the station. This point of the high speed line from Oslo to Kristiansand is the corner stone to the development of a sustainable light rail starting from where the high speed train stops. Using different layers above ground elevation the light rail would start from under the station platforms connecting to the present rail track coming out from the Porsgrunn hill. The train/tram would be a modern and cheap way to use the present track with standard gauge and to reuse the stations and the tunnels of Porsgrunn. The future of heroya park in this vision would be completely renewed maintaining his nature of workplace and production site. The goal is to transform and smooth the heavy industry present nowadays in order mix together the needs of a strong economic base and the needs to respect environment and nature. The target is to add great volume amounts of office workplaces and industrial buildings trying to slowly shift the present plants, that uses, alluminium (a strong energy eater), silicates (whose powder and dust can be very dangerous), into more modern and clean plants, still producing the same products but with newer and more efficient plants. Together with this path the addition of new green industries (today too few) would change the nature and the impact of Heroya peninsula and would aid Norway to follow high-tech industry branch necessary to withstand the international competition of markets. The concept has been thought to be divided into multiple steps in order to be affordable for the economic and population growth. Step 1: The first part to be built is surely the railway station of Heroya connected to the present line near the village of Enger were it would depart a tunnel toward Heroya followed by a viaduct passing over water ant stopping in Heroya peninsula where the station will be placed. Together with this step, necessary to bring new passenger usage to the community, the light rail will be linked to the station on a lower level than the rail viaduct and together with the commutation stop another one will be added in the proximity of Heroya peninsula tip. Step 2: In order to ease the introduction of new green industries and pleasant office places the second step is to provide the zone of a respectful source for energy production: a small amount of amorphous silicon to be inserted on vertical facades of new building will provide a clean source of energy improved by diffuse light caused by snow cover in winter periods, and will also provide a boost in local silicates industry and photovoltaic panel manufacturing plants; timber industry is a primary resource for Telemark region and the use of waste process products can be used to run a small biomass power plant to give support to the urban growth forecasted for the region. Along with energy production there has to be a strong improvement in trees presence in the industrial park of Heroya in order to mitigate the CO2 production directly on site and to smooth the strong and dusty visual impact of the peninsula. Step 3: the completion of the main rail infrastructure in its both declinations, light rail and high speed line, is the starting point for a densification of activities in Heroya industrial park leading to an improvement in volumes of industries, helping the founding of new green productions and converting the most polluting ones into cleaner manufacturing processes, and a strong improvement into office space volumes necessary to help high tech plants and to sustain the spread of a new way to compete on global market. With this intention the volumes for offices will be deployed all around the mixed (lightrail/highspeed) station in order to reach commuters from outskirts and from within the urban area. Step 4: The new urban redevelopment of Heroya would be completed with the construction of the remnant volumes for all the categories (offices, industries, shops, small part of residential) in addition with the complete change of industries roofs in order to accommodate on different layers, green hanging parks and leisure facilities. The light rail together with a connection to High Speed line has then produced a new vision of urban development and refurbishing of the Heroya industrial park leading to a more environmentally friendly way to mix economy, population growth and nature respect. Heroya will then loose its present aspect of a gray spot in a green and blue part of Norway to rejoin environment with green roofs and massive tree plantation, avoiding deindustrialization but improving new forms of economy development.

Europaconcorsi Beta

Un-Sprawl The twin cities