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Strategies

The KAA masterplan uses landscape as a connecting agent between the focus areas, as well as an economic resource for the stakeholders. 
The comprehensive landscape &amp; afforestation strategy will be hugely impactful in mitigating both environmental hazards and the impact of airport activity, while creating a better living environment altogether.

Reykjanes peninsula is a geologically young section of Iceland. Its distinct landscape is formed by the patches of volcanic palagonite tuff; basaltic lava fields with multiple open fissures, high-temperature geothermal fields and volcanic fissures, faults and craters. It is predominantly flat, scarcely vegetated, and exposed to strong winds.

Reykjanes peninsula has great attractions: lighthouses, coastal walks, and geothermal fields amongst others – it offers ample opportunities to increase tourism, recreation and other activities.

Natural landmarks such as old volcano craters, as well as man-made landscape forms, land art, sculptures, viewing towers, lighthouses and other visible elements will be mapped and enhanced to assist navigation throughout the peninsula.

Green forest corridors will enhance connectivity throughout the peninsula and provide alternative mobility routes. This will reduce the reliance on automobiles and increase the use of landscape for sports and recreation.

Stakeholders express great interest in sports and recreation and are willing to invest time and effort in planning and implementing a diverse infrastructure for these activities. Sporting events would attract viewers and provide more tourism opportunities.

Afforestation will become the main tool for creating a new identity of public space. It can shelter public spaces from winds, give distinct character and enhance useability.

A positive relationship to the new identity will develop as a result of personal involvement in the planting process. The identity transition will also be gradual, providing people enough time to acquire a new respect as the advantages of forests become more apparent over time.

Although it appears completely natural, the open-view landscape is a result of several centuries of simultaneous human activity and wind action mixed with salt storms. 
A positive relationship to the new identity will develop as a result of personal involvement in the planting process. The identity transition will also be gradual, providing people enough time to acquire a new respect as the advantages of forests become more apparent over time.

Iceland aims to achieve carbon neutrality before 2040 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 under the Paris Agreement. Large-scale afforestation is viewed as the right way to uptake carbon.

Iceland has a huge opportunity to reduce soil emissions by restoring drained marshes and capturing carbon from the atmosphere through afforestation and revegetation.

Strong wind from all directions is the main cause of discomfort and the key deterrent for outdoor recreation. Protective landforms and afforestation will lessen the impact and attenuate temperatures.

Deforestation and strong winds are the main causes for soil erosion and nutrient poor soils. Using green fertilizers, including phosphorous rich plants is the safest and cheapest way to regenerate soils.

Afforestation will create habitats for more species and create the environment for berries, mushrooms and other vegetation that can be used by food and pharma industries.

Shelters, including service stations, warming huts, built-in landscape elements, will reinforce the useability of the landscape corridors and make the use of alternative modes of mobility, walking and hiking easier and more enjoyable.

The landscape strategy has three main objectives:

Connect and create year-round opportunities for recreation, sports and tourism. They provide alternative routes for non-motorized modes of mobility.​

Protects the network, the nodes and the communities by reducing the impact of wind and uses afforestation to help the country reach its carbon neutrality goals​.

Historically, the Reykjanes peninsula had several paths cutting across the open areas and connecting settlements. Residents express the wish to bring these back into use for recreational purposes.
Residents use the car roads to race bikes due to the lack of designated bike paths, and fields for off-road biking. Both sports would attract more users if better infrastructure was in place.

A better infrastructure network will benefit the local economy and provide active mobility opportunities to people. 
Historic paths could be restored with different kinds of surfaces. They require improvement in wayfinding, lighting, and services.

Existing Networks for tourism, sports &amp; recreation 
Reykjanes peninsula may appear less dramatic and deceptively flat, but it is a gem of natural beauty with many attractions worth discovering whether one has half a day between the flights or several days for lava field hikes, biking, visiting the lighthouses, playing golf and watching the Northern lights. The coastline and the long views over the landscape with the old craters covered in mosses create a perfect setting for recreation. 
There are already several marked hiking trails in the area and many unmarked trails. Bikers mostly use the main roads, due to lack of cycling infrastructure.

Networks for active mobility
Future networks should be planned by the communities, selecting routes, generating funding, identifying priority projects and appropriate landscape technologies, and taking wayfinding into account. Majority of paths would need a certain level of adaptation to maximise the connectivity in the peninsula. These interventions differ from minimal, such as removing vegetation from the path, to paving the main routes with porous materials to ensure stormwater drainage. The routes should correspond to the desired communication lines, and consider the best scenic viewpoints, connect attractions, avoid speed and mode conflicts. Different surfaces from simple dirt cover to pavement for race biking should be created using local materials. Excess material should be used to create berms and other landforms to facilitate wind mitigation.

Current attractions generate traffic between the nodes, but the natural beauty of the peninsula can generate many more attractions.
Adding programs and landmarks to reinforce existing nodes will increase the amount of traffic for different modes of mobility. 
Community input is essential to uncovering the potential of the landscape and creating new nodes. 
Shelters, warming huts, service and rental points, wayfinding elements, cafes and picnic areas, observation towers and viewpoints will become important nodes in the network.

Existing Nodes generate interest and attract activity
The Reykjanes peninsula contains unique natural and man-made landmark ‘nodes’ - points of interest for locals and visitors. The Stafnesviti, the Holmsberg and the Old Garður lighthouses, the ruins of a fishing station, the Hvalsneskirkja church, and many other points attract visitors and locals. The Gallows Cliffs, the UNESCO Geopark and the old volcano craters covered with beautiful moss are unique magnets capable of generating more tourism and nature exploration in the area. There are a lot of points that give structure to the peninsula, on the whole however, these ‘nodes’ are often explored by car, and an alternative network is needed to provide alternative mobility options between the nodes.

Together with landscaping and the mitigation strategy that protects, connects and enhances the KAA, nodes give stronger spatial organisation and in turn facilitate navigation in the vast intercoastal area.

The main mitigation strategy is to divert wind as the main deterrent preventing people to spend more time outdoors on the peninsula. This mitigation will primarily consist of afforestation and natural landforming which start inside and along the defined perimeter of settlements, continuing along existing infrastructure and extend to protect new connections between the towns.

<ul><li>more time spent outdoors on sports &amp; recreation</li><li>community cohesion - joint planning, implementation and maintenance of forests</li><li>more social networks and positive emotional ties</li><li>improved health and wellbeing</li><li>more people move to the peninsula attracted by the lifestyle and economic opportunities</li></ul>

<ul><li>reduced soil erosion</li><li>reduced sediment in the sea</li><li>carbon sequestration</li><li>regulated water cycles</li><li>reduced ambient temperatures</li><li>improved biodiversity</li><li>cleaner air</li><li>sustainable construction material</li><li>reduced energy consumption</li><li>reduced use of automobiles</li></ul>

<ul><li>reduced energy costs</li><li>increased building lifecycle</li><li>reduced costs to the healthcare system</li><li>increased productivity</li><li>reduced amount of missed days at school and work</li><li>reduced transportation demand</li><li>income from forest-based industries</li><li>stable real estate values</li><li>more investment in the region</li></ul>

K64 Landscape Toolbox

Interested in mitigation?

K64 Landscape Strategy Toolbox demonstrates an approach to mitigation using landforms and afforestation.

Strategies

A community driven approach to landscape

Context

Bring communities together and phisically connect them

Create year-round opportunities for the exploration and outdoor recreation

Mitigation to create comfort and identity

Impact

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