The monitored area of the Sustainability project in the North East has been defined from Vaðlaheiði in the west to Tjörnes in the east. That area is considered to be subjected to most influence from the development and operation of Þeistareykir power station and the development and operation of industry in Bakki. Growth in tourism has also been considerable in this area. 

On the eastern and western side of the monitored area that we call central area are areas that could also be influenced by the aforementioned changes so they will also be monitored in some cases and the development there compared to the development in the central area. Those areas are called western and eastern area. The western area is Akureyri, Eyjarfjarðarsveit, Svalbarðsstrandahreppur and Grýtubakkahreppur. The eastern area is Norðurþing from Tjörnes, Svalbarðshreppur and Langanesbyggð.