The plans cover issues such as urban development, nature conservation, highland areas, agriculture, development of infrastructure and energy efficiency, tourism, recreation and employment. In 1994, Iceland was planning a new regional development policy which would move services from the central government to local authorities. This would help to prevent depopulation of rural areas and increased urbanization in the area around Reykjavik by generating new employment opportunities to meet the changes arising from structural changes in agriculture and fisheries. However, several laws and regulations are being amended to improve the environmental infrastructure, i.e. solid waste management, freshwater, and pollution control . In Iceland, weather conditions can be extremely violent, and the island is geologically very active, with a high rate of volcanic and earthquake activity.
Snow avalanches are also common.
The programmes monitoring and giving out warnings about potential disasters serve also land-use planning and human settlement planning. Work is being done to link these programmes with the Geographic Information System currently under preparation. By the end of the century, Iceland will also produce digital base-maps for the whole country. The Civil Defence Committee charged with public disaster protection has put much effort to the rescue training in case of natural disaster. No information is available Cooperation Iceland participated in the Habitat II process.