Reykjavík, in the years prior to the economic crash of 2008, was a sorry mess of planning disasters. It is really painful to see such mistakes repeated in our wonderful post-crash times in a hellishly stupid proposal, about to be realised, in the town of Selfoss, South Iceland. This is a rather large shopping centre which some merry merchants are going to build to the west of Ölfusá, at the junction of Biskupstungnabraut and Suðurlandsvegur.

Why do I think this is a planning mistake? Because, for its inhabitants, it makes Selfoss a worse town than it could be. Planning theory nowadays advocates a dense urban fabric, such that people can access shops and service establishments without necessarily having to use a car. In a recent and very good  Masters thesis  by Hrafnhildur Brynjólfsdóttir at the University of Reykjavík, planning issues in Selfoss are thoroughly scrutinized. Many interesting things came out of her analysis.

I do care. For some two years I lived in Selfoss.