STAVANGER

Stavanger is the third largest urban zone and metropolitan area in Norway. Today the oil business is a key industry in the Stavanger region and the city is widely referred to as the Oil Capital of Norway. Stavanger East is currently undergoing an extensive urban transformation: nearly 600daa old industrial sites are gradually turning its status from being the city backyard to becoming a valuable resource supporting the urban growth and extension of the City of Stavanger. The east part of Stavanger which was one of the selected projects in the Ministry of Environment initiative generated a series of projects done in a collaborative partnership between the property owners which was manifested early in 2000 as a non-profit company called Urban Sjøfront.

The company has generated a progressive collaborative partnership between private and public sector, producing constructive and result oriented processes for how to realize the structural transformation of a run down district. Such development takes time and experiences frequently changes physically, judicially and mentally through new challenges and developed guidelines. These tendencies are similar processes found in other cities both nationally and internationally. Complex issues related to such urban transformations requires exchange of knowledge and experiences as a foundation for further strategies to be developed, processes and projects organized and methods to be used.