Offer Master’s Thesis
Date
[2012-11-27]
Author
[Björn Wallsten]
The pros and cons of Gräveklubben –
on the infrastructure management of
Bergen, Norway
Background
From a technological point of view, what is unique about cities is that they are dense
concentrations of infrastructure. Infrastructure systems facilitate and manage all urban
flows and connect the city, often through underground cable and pipe arteries.
However resource efficient and practical these systems are for the urban population,
many cities lack in coordinating practices for handling maintenance and repair work
with these systems. Many different actors and systems use and share the
underground space but do not always sync their activities with each other. One
exception to this rule is the Norwegian town of Bergen, who in 2007 instated the
coordinating organization “Gräveklubben” as a way of doing infrastructure
maintenance more manageable. Since then, Bergen is said to have shown decreased
CO2-emissions, maintenance expenses as well as the number of traffic disruptions. In
ten years, Bergen is predicted to have the best updated infrastructure of all major
cities.
Objectives
This master thesis shall describe the establishment process of Gräveklubben and its
major benefits. Environmental as well as urban gains shall be assessed, and possible
comparisions with Swedish cities of the same size might be investigated.
Proposed Research Questions
• How and why was Gräveklubben instated in the Norwegian town of Bergen?
• What did this technological management improvement promise before its
establishment and has it lived up to the expectations?
• What could be learned from the Bergen case?
Proposed Methodology
This master thesis is both quantitative and qualitative, and will be therefore be based
on a combination of interviews and document studies, as well as environmental and
economic calculations. A study trip to Bergen is expected to experience the process in
action.
Environmental Technology and Management,
Department of Management and Engineering
SE-581 83 Linköping
http://www.iei.liu.se/envtech/utbildning/examensarbete
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Qualifications
We are looking for engineers interested in cross-disciplinary research.
Other information
Language: Swedish is required to perform the interviews and assessing the
document. Skills in Norwegian is a plus but not necessary.
Proposed time: Five months
Number of Students: 2
Location of Research: Mostly Linköping but also short stay in Bergen.
Examiner/Supervisor/Co-supervisor: Joakim Krook & Björn Wallsten
Contact person: Björn Wallsten, bjorn.wallsten@liu.se
Department of Management and Engineering
SE-581 83 Linköping
www.liu.se/iei
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