The Østfold conference 2011 – how to become more attractive?

Place development, place qualities and attractiveness stood in the center during the first part of the Østfold Conference 2011. How will we have it in Østfold in the future? With that question mayor Ole Haabeth and conference chairman Siv H. Jacobsen kicked off the conference (Siv H. Jacobsen is also deputy member of the Steering Committee of Trans-in-form). It started with a series of inspirational lectures from national and international names in urbanity and local development.

First up was the researcher Erling Dock Holm, whose post "Østfold - the country's most dynamic region in 2030?" gave the answer himself: “Yes, there is a realistic but challenging goal.”
- Østfold is a haven for so many. But it depends on tolerance, technology, talent, great locations, urban quality and recreation opportunities for dynamism, he said.
Dock Holm spoke in favor of the towns of Østfold that they must find their role rather than compete, and listed the following criteria in order to succeed in realizing the dream of becoming the country's most dynamic region:

Dense urban development of high quality
Build better (than the others)
Building high buildings
Localize more into the cities (and less to the fields outside)
Globalize education
Collaborate closely with industry

At the top or bottom?
ResearcherKnut Vareide from Telemark Research Institute looked at the attractiveness of places, and believed that Østfold was an attractive place to live, but struggled to attract visitors and companies. Also in terms of innovation, Østfold came after his evaluation in the middle of the tree. Vareide, however, felt that Østfold's attractiveness as a place of residence more than offsets the lack of visits and business establishments, and declared on the basis of this Østfold that the country's second most attractive region.
- Østfold is sentenced to growth, he said.

Densification
Michael Fuller-Gee, internationally renowned city planner, knows Østfold well through the interreg IVB project Trans-in-form. He began by throwing out the claim that good urban development can counteract loneliness and possible suicide as a result.
- Urban development is about making places more human-friendly. You need good friends, but you also need a place to meet them, "said Fuller-Gee, who called for the densification of urban centers, and that it should ideally be a maximum of five minutes to walk to everything.
- The car has been given priority. Now we have to spend time on other things than sitting in a car or a bus. Create a place with heart rate, find one with urban attractiveness, and cupboard social meeting places. It also means that you have to build more downtown apartments. More and more households consist of only one person, and they do not want to live in detached houses. Actually it should have been forbidden to build houses in the coming years, "he said jokingly to the nearly 400 in the saddle.

Also Floire Nathanael Daub from the company FutureProof maintained that attractive city centers, linked to well-developed infrastructure are the solution for the future.