Icelandic capital will increase efficiency of public transport and limit city expansion to reach carbon neutral status by 2040
Within the next 25 years Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland, plans to have become carbon neutral, according to an ambitious new city action plan released last week by the Mayor's office.
The 2040 carbon neutral goal is more ambitious than the previous target of a 73 per cent cut in emissions by 2050, and puts it in the same league as neighbouring Nordic cities such as Oslo and Helsinki, which are also working towards carbon neutrality.
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Transport is the main challenge for decarbonising Reykajvik, which already relies on renewables and geothermal power for the vast majority of its electricity and heating needs. Therefore Reykjavik plans to hit the new target by greening the city's transport networks and placing tight restrictions on new developments outside the city centre.
"Our goal is to increase the use of bicycles and buses as primary means of transport and to ensure that people have the chance of commuting to work on foot," Reykjavik's Mayor Dagur B Eggertsson said in the foreword to the report. "These goals are intrinsically linked to urban densification, alongside which the city's inhabitants will be offered a much more efficient public transport system through the use of either light railways or a bus rapid transit system."
According to the plan, 90 per cent of all new residential units will be constructed inside the city's current urban limits, in order to reduce travel and promote urban densification.
Meanwhile by 2030 walking and cycling will account for 30 per cent of all transport traffic, with automobiles accounting for 58 per cent and public transport at 12 per cent.
The city is also aiming to provide electric charging ports for ships docking at the city's Faxaflóahafnir Associated Icelandic Ports, as well as making EV charging stations available throughout the city.
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