From Iceland — City Website Invites Ideas From Residents

City Website Invites Ideas From Residents

Published November 7, 2011

A website from Reykjavík city council asking for input from the locals on how to make the town a better place has attracted ideas ranging from the practical to the surreal.
City council has legally obliged itself to discuss sixteen ideas from the website Betri Reykjavík each month. In an effort to make the city more in harmony with the needs and desires of its residents, the site invites people to not only post their suggestions, but to mark the ideas with either “Support” or “Against” – much the same way YouTube uses a system of Likes and Dislikes.
Many of the more practical-minded suggestions – move the domestic airport out of the city, let buses run past midnight, develop Hverfisgata – are familiar to many people living in the city. But other ideas seem to fall under the “not sure if trolling” category.
One such idea is the “running of the berserkers”. The person who submitted this idea suggests that every year, a cage full of enraged Viking beserkers be placed at the top of Skólavörðuholt. It would then be opened, and as the berserkers come charging down the hill, other residents can have fun jumping ahead of them and trying to outrun them, reminiscent of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
Another suggestion has been to make the lake Tjörnin significantly deeper, add fish to it, and sell fishing permits to city residents.
Which of these suggestions will eventually be taken up for discussion and a possible vote in city council remains to be seen.

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