Residential Patterns

The residential pattern in Oslo follows a basic east-west pattern. The western part of the city and the suburbs are generally middle and upper-middle class. The eastern part of the city is mixed and working class. Not many people live in the CBD. Two amenities have generally attracted the wealthy residents of Oslo; the fjord and the mountains. In earlier times they liked to live along the fjord for transportation purposes as well for its beauty. With the development of better forms of transportation, many started to move to higher ground, where they could still enjoy a view of the fjord but at the same time have more space. Two of the wealthiest areas in Oslo are Holmenkollen and Bygdoy. Holmenkollen, the home of the world famous ski-jump, enjoys one of the best views of the city. Bygdoy, home to many of Oslo's museums, is very close to the CBD. It has Several popular beaches and many public areas adjacent to the fjord. The royal family maintains a small farm here. The eastern side of Oslo, marked with a W on my map, is the traditional industrial zone of Oslo. It remains fairly working class and is the home of many immigrants. Although this section of town is not as well of as some of the others, it has greatly improved in recent years. Up until the early 1970s some of the houses in this area still had outhouses in their back yards. Just to the south of the section is an area that is a residentially mixed, with neighborhoods ranging from Upper-middle class to working class.

Commercial Districts

Oslo's main commercial district is located in the central part of the city. In the center of this district is Karl Johans Gate. (Gate is Norwegian for street.) The street starts at the royal palace and ends at the railroad station. The street contains many of Oslo's civic buildings including the university, the parliament, and the national theater. It is the main shopping district for high-order goods such as traditional Norwegian handicrafts marketed to tourists. Karl Johans Gate is also home to most of the cities street entertainers. A much newer commercial district is the one at Aker Brygge. It is now the main restaurant district of Oslo where

Model of the West European City.

Model

In many ways Oslo resembles the general model of the West European city. This model, however, reflects more how the city was structured several decades ago than how the city is today. The main feature of the model that makes it outdated in the case of Oslo in the industrial zones and the social housing for industrial workers. There are no real industrial zones left in Oslo and therefore there are not many industrial workers. Another variation from the model is that in Oslo the area that is labeled "Forest belt or other natural attraction," is much closer to the historic core, pushing all the residential districts more to the sides. Otherwise, the residential districts of the model roughly fit the pattern that is seen in Oslo.