Investigation
Natural resources
Romsås is an area with many natural resources, mainly in wood and water but also in quarries. Romsås was originally a stone quarry worker's place.
When the new plans for Romsås were developed, the stone quarry workers needed to move. But nearby Romsås the quarries are still there and working.
Forrest
Water source
Romsås inner forest
Romsås is not only surrounded by forest, it has one in its middle as well. Inside the perimeter, about 40% of Romsås is covered with forest. In addition, if we take into account all of the accessible green areas within 10 minutes walking distance from the perimeter, over 70% of this area consists of forest.
Calculated in the same way Sagene only have about 20% accessible green space, while Oslo in general comes in at around 8%. In addition, these are other characteristics than the green space we can find in Romsås, more parks than forests. The forest surrounding and in the middle of Romsås is not easily accessible all over and is quite hilly, so it forms a barrier within the neighbourhood.
Hiking area
As discussed before, Romsås is surrounded by nature. This makes Romsås an ideal starting point for hikes. On the map below, the main hiking routes of the area above Romsås are shown.
This shows Romsås is actually a good starting point for several hikes and leads to hiking destinations viewpoints and lakes.
Romsås street-path network
Forest value chain
Because of the present forest around and in Romsås, the value chain of forests is of importance. There are many factors in this value chain.
There is the management, the recreational service, as previously discussed by hiking, and there is the harvesting, transport and processing of the wood. This wood is further produced, transported and finally consumed and recycled.
Human resources
Buildings and public space
Mapping of different focuses in Romsås such as public buildings and gathering areas, service - and textile industry.
The map focuses on the public buildings in Romsås. These buildings are the main contributor to creating social gathering areas for the inhabitants.
Transportation
Romsås was initially built in relation to the subway across Oslo. This has made the subway one of the main transportation methods for getting to and from Romsås, among residents.
Transportation times in Romsås, from driving, biking and walking.
Statistics
Romsås has a significantly higher amount of immigrants than the rest of Oslo. This is increased since 2000 but seems to stagnate in the past years.
Nationalities in Romsås
Quality of life
Romsås has as well significantly higher numbers in low education, mortality, unemployment and reduced functional mobility.
Romsås diversity increase
Immagrant residents in Romsås
Short-term residents
Long-term residents
Norwegian born with immigrant parents
Age distribution
Activity
Romsås activity mapping
This activity map shows what a family in Romsås is doing throughout the different times of the day. The map illustrates the moving in the area and interest points for the younger and middle-aged individuals.
As a result of the daily activities, we mapped out a density map at different times of the day to show the areas of interest and the areas of engagement from the residents living there. The main focus seems to be towards Romsås Senter, the supermarkets, and the schools as well as activity areas.
Activity mapping
Click on the times to check out the activity densities.
Economical resources
Unemployment rate Groruddalen
Many young people do not complete upper secondary school, and many who live in the area do not have a job.
There are generally major challenges related to public health in Romsås, both physical, psychological and mental health, and young people, in particular, are at risk.
Low income rate Groruddalen
A growing gap between Romsås population and the rest of Oslo is significant. The cause is to the low employment.
A high proportion of Romsås households receive more than half of their income from public transfers.
Workplaces Romsås
Romsås have few locally based workplaces. But the workplaces that Romsås have, consists of grocery shops, schools, kindergartens and different sole proprietorship.
Activities Romsås
Of the sports and activities that can be found at Romsås, there are generally football pitches and some training centres. There is generally a poor standard in outdoor areas.
Property
Romsås borretsslag statistics
The development is divided into six housing estates and consists of uniform blocks of flats of three to eight floors, most with balconies, many with great views. There are a total of 2547 apartments.
The six housing association consists of:
Orremyr
Emanuelfjell
Svarttjern
Røverkollen
Ravnkollen
Tiurleiken
Romsås housing statistics
In terms of households, we can see a similarity with Oslo, except Romsås has slightly fewer one-person households and slightly more multi-family households. A significant difference is that Romsås consists of only about 0,71% of houses, whereas Oslo consists of 7,9% houses.
Romsås consists of no less than 98% of terraced houses, whereas Oslo is made up of about 76%. Important for the later project is the fact that Romsås has a lower amount of renting.
Houses in Romsås /Oslo:
Oslo consists of 7.9% houses.
Romsås consists of 0.71% houses.
Terraced houses in Romsås /Oslo:
Oslo consists of 16% terraced houses.
Romsås consists of 0.95% terraced houses
Residential blocks in Romsås /Oslo:
Oslo consists of 76% residential blocks.
Romsås consists of 98% residential blocks.
Ownership:
Renting:
Oslo 31%
Romsås 13%
Partial-ownership:
Oslo 32%
Romsås 85%
Self-ownership:
Oslo 37%
Romsås 2%
Household types
Room per person
Material investigation
Romsås material identification
The building's façades are mainly built out of 3 materials. There are buildings with brick façades, buildings with wooden façades and buildings with aluminium façades.
Material diversity
The building blocks in the area are predominantly built with reinforced concrete representing the massive construction method of the 1960´s.
The buildings have elements of timber along the arcade or as a railing. Some areas contain aluminium as well as pained concrete. These are elements that can be seen across multiple blocks.
Mental health resources
Groruddalen health resources
Many of the inhabitants of Romsås struggle with health issues, and the neighbourhood scores worse than the average of Norway on many of the health parameters. For example, 9% of the population has diabetes, and almost 1/3 is sedentary. In addition Romsås has worse coverage of physicians and other health professionals than the rest of Oslo and Norway.
This map shows the spatial relationships between the different resources and actors in the health value chain. The Romsås area has many health actors but is quite far from the first hospital and the different health training, which makes the study area more difficult to access for the inhabitants.
Romsås health resources
The maps below show different healthcare options that are available in and around Romsås. This includes hospitals, emergency response, dental care etc.
Mental health value chain
Health mapping
Romsås wellness mapped
