Moss kommune. Partnerships to reuse urban areas in Moss USEACT CASE STUDY. USEAct Thematic Network I Urban sustainable environmental actions

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1 USEAct Thematic Network I Urban sustainable environmental actions USEAct CASE STUDIES Catalogue Partnerships to reuse urban areas in Moss USEACT CASE STUDY USEAct theme 2 Interventions to reuse urban areas: management, partnerships, funding, functions USEACT Subthemes Moss kommune 2.1 Designing, managing and funding successful Public Private Partnership and proactive community participation 2.2 Improving public administration ability on controlling and managing "high quality" and "sustainable" reuse interventions Summary abstract Moss is currently revising the strategic city plan focusing on densification and transformation in the city center. Located by the Oslofjord, development of the urban seafront is essential. The Moss river with a beautiful waterfall also flows through the city-center. The big papermill closed down in 2012 leaving a vast area of open spaces and large empty industrial buildings along the river and harbor area. The new private owners are keen to develop, but the area is large and it s going to take time and money. How will Moss cooperate with the private owners to ensure the quality of the interventions, and their long term effects on Moss city center? How will they deal with the parts of the old industrial area which can t be totally renewed for several years? Can they be used to the advantage of the local community? There are also plans for a new railway station in the harbor area. How will Moss cooperate with private developers and the Norwegian Railways to make the most out of this development and the qualities of the area?

2 Setting and Key questions/challenges Moss has about inhabitants and is the regional centre for about people. It is the most densly populated municipality I Østfold, and has had a stable growth in the population the last decade. Moss is a center for communication and trade because of its close proximity to Oslo, the harbor, railroads, the E6 motorway and the international airport at Rygge. Moss has a proud history as an industrial centre, but over the last decades industry has been on the decline with 4000 jobs in industry being lost over the last 4 years only, and Moss and the surrounding areas move toward mostly providing affordable housing for people working in Oslo. The closing down of the paper mill was a large blow to the town s traditional identity and the local job market. But it also provides m2 of possible development near the city center. Høgh-eiendom the company that now owns this area sees it as prime location for high end apartment buildings, but local business associations and unions believes it is a shame to waste all the industrial infrastructure, and wants Moss municipality to focus their planning on encouraging new industry and businesses in this area creating new local jobs and attracting inhabitants with higher levels of education and income. Another aspect is that this is a huge area, and developing it all is a long term process. What can be done with the undeveloped area in the meantime? Some of the buildings are of historical value, or important to the cultural identity of Moss. Finding the right balance between conservation and us and between permanent and temporary use is important, and the Cultural heritage authorities are important stakeholders. At the same time a new railway station is being planned on the other side of the town centre, and the railways development company wants to combine this with new commercial facilities. This scares the owners of the buildings and the shops in the current citycenter. They are already suffering from the competition with the decentralized shopping centers, and worry that the developments on both sides of them will spread the city center out to much and kill it for good. The general population of the area, living, working, shopping and participating in activities in the city center are also important stakeholders.

3 Procedures and actions Moss municipality has chosen to run two parallel processes in order to see the Peterson area in connection with the general development of the town center. The municipality is making a new general plan for the town center, including this area, with a special focus on infrastructure and good connections between the different parts of the town. The specific area zoning plan(less detailed than a normal zoning/regulation) is made as a cooperation between the owner and the municipality. These different processes is coordinated with each other and will draw on each other s resources to collect information and analyzes, ant to involve different stakeholders. The municipality has also started a city lab in the middle of the pedestrian high street, where inhabitants are invited in to discuss the town s development, and look at different proposals and models for how the town looks and can look in the future. Lessons learned and utility It is too early to make any final conclusions in this case, but running two processes like this at once is very challenging when the outcome of each of them depends so much on the other. The viewpoint and perspectives of private investors, public planners, politicians and the general public are also very different, and it is important to be realistic from the start about the timeframe and outcomes of the development project, whether you expect a formidable quick profit or radical changes to the structure of the local society.

4 Bibliographic and further sources a) Bibliographic sources /web-sites Moss municipality: Høegh eiendom: Film about the opening of city-lab b) Contacts/interviews Name/Surname: Terje Pettersen Role in the USEAct Project: USLG menmber Name/Surname: Vibeke Arnesen Role in the USEAct Project: ULSG member

5 1. The ULSG in Østfold on a site visit on the Peterson -area in June 2013.

6 2. View of part of the old factory with the river in front and the Oslo-fjord harbour in the background.

7 3. Inside one of the old factory buildings. This building is temporarily in use for conferences, dramagroups and as training facilities for the newly established stunt-academy.