Lillestrøm

The city of Lillestrøm is centrally located in the Oslo region, one of the fastest growing regions of Europe. It is the third most frequented public transportation hub in Norway, located between Oslo Central Station and the Oslo airport. This position has made the city a preferred home to commuters, which is the main reason for the city’s exponential growth in recent years. As such, the city wants to discuss a strategic development that not only plans for more housing, but more importantly contributes to a diverse city profile. Within the areas of which the city considers to expand is Nesa, the Europan Project Site, a peninsula located between the nature reserve Sørumsneset, the river Nitelva, and the city center. Recent changes in ownership have opened a discussion for a new direction for the area, and the agenda for both city and site owners is to create a vision for Nesa as a productive, mixed-use urban area that is integrated into the landscape, Lillestrøm and the region.

In the history of establishments of industries along the river in Lillestrøm, the industrial area of Nesa represents the last one of its kind. In a strategy for transformation, the masterplan needs to deal with Nesa in a scenario where the core industrial activity, a wood adhesives factory with chemical production (Dynea factory) is relocated, for it is not compatible with urban development. In the future, Nesa should inherit an identity that combines living and production in a new synergetic totality – a mix of functions and typologies.

The site owners and the municipality invite you to explore the potential of Nesa as a productive, mixed use urban area that is integrated in the landscape, Lillestrøm and the region. Competitors are asked to propose a new master plan with a mix of functions and typologies. Is it possible to develop an urban productive field that safeguards the natural surroundings of Nesa? Is it possible to create a strategy where both short-term and long-term programs can contribute in making the new Nesa? Is it possible, through new typologies and co-locations, to have housing and production co-exist? What synergies between landscape, nature, production and living can unfold? And how can the Nesa area better be connected to the central areas of Lillestrøm?

The agenda for both city and site owners is to position Nesa in the greater urban development area of Lillestrøm and the region. Europan is the tool to open up for investigations on the area’s future and create a new vision. You are hereby invited into that process!