Today’s planning and development processes in Norwegian cities are characterized by “replanning” of existing urban environments, involving approaches such as reuse, transformation and densification. Municipal plans are used as central tools in working towards sustainable development. Despite extensive regulations, guides and recommendations in planning there are a number of conflicting interests and challenges to overcome.  

The project aims to develop new knowledge about processes of replanning urban contexts and how municipalities’ existing planning tools can be used strategically to achieve place qualities. This is done by investigating how urban morphological and cultural heritage perspectives can contribute to the improvement of planning processes.

Vignir Freyr Helgason has a cand. arch. in architecture (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts: School of Architecture) and an additional Executive Master’s Degree in Architectural Preservation (AHO). His experience stems from both the private and public sectors. Vignir’s architectural portfolio exemplifies a variety of methodologies such as adaptive-reuse, transformation and restoration of historic buildings, as well as planning projects that deal with different types of social- and material contexts. He has worked with, written and lectured on subjects related to urban and architectural transformation and the sustainable development of cultural environments - all themes that relate to his research interests.