From Iceland — Star Wars Fans Call For Changes To Street Names

Star Wars Fans Call For Changes To Street Names

Published August 29, 2013

The Reykjavík Environmental and Planning Committee decided yesterday to advance a proposal to change a street’s name in Reykjavík to the Icelandic translation for Darth Vader.
Morgunblaðið reports that the proposal is to change the name of a Reykjavík street which ends with the -höfði suffix – such as Bíldshöfði, for example – to Svarthöfði, which is the Icelandic translation for the Star Wars character Darth Vader.
The proposal made it into committee via the website Betri Reykjavík, an e-democracy website which was established in 2011 and accepts proposals from city residents. Proposals are voted “up” or “down” by other city residents. The city, in turn, chooses 16 proposals per month for serious consideration.
The Svarthöfði proposal has been a popular one, with one commenter lamenting, “It is unbelievably tragic that the city authorities have not yet answered the call of the people” to take on the name change.
The call of the people was answered yesterday, with the Reykjavík Environmental and Planning Committee deciding to advance the proposal to the next stage, submitting it to the Environmental and Planning Department for further consideration.
The matter doesn’t end there, either. Connected to the proposal is the suggestion to change the name of a street that ends with the suffix -kinn – such as Köldukinn, for example – to Anakinn, which as everyone knows is the given name of Darth Vader. Furthermore, it was proposed that “Anakinn” could be a street which is directly connected to “Svarthöfði”, thereby assuring that city planning conforms with Star Wars canon.

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