Simon Bell

Design of Urban Forests

Designers work to change the landscape from its current state to one which better meets society’s prevailing needs, while protecting the valuable assets handed down from the past and ensuring that the potential for future generations is also maintained. The urban forest may already contain a great legacy, the best of which must be conserved, restored and maintained. Other areas may need to be altered to a greater or lesser degree, in part to reflect the changes experienced by the community as well as to reflect the evolving urban structure. Significant new areas of urban forest may also be required, possibly to be established on technically difficult sites. Here the designer may have a relatively clean canvas upon which to create a landscape for the future, responsive to current needs but also looking to advance the frontiers of design, especially in meeting the needs of sustainable cities. Landscapes of woodlands, parks, and trees in streets and other urban spaces take a long time to develop and mature; such landscapes require vision and perseverance on the part of the designers and managers. This vision needs to encompass scales of landscape ranging from the regional planning level where large-scale green structures are designed to unify several urban areas, such as in the English Community Forests or the Dutch Randstadgroenstructuur (Ministerie van VROM 1991) down to the detail of a small park or urban square. It is a tremendous challenge. This chapter explores the design of the urban forest. Whether the various elements are new to the urban green-space structure, or whether they are existing components which require changes in layout or management due to evolving demands, design has an important part to play. The spatial layout of trees, their composition and structure, interact with the ways people perceive or make use of them and also affect physical and ecological functioning such as shelter, shade and habitat provision. What are the design elements covered by this chapter and how do they fit together? In Chap. 1 the main focus of this book was set out primarily to include woodlands, parks and street trees. It can sometimes be difficult to be precise about distinguishing between, for example, a park, a woodland, or forest: after all, some places are called ‘forest parks’. Street trees obviously include trees in squares and other urban thoroughfares, but what about riversides, canal sides or railways. Where do trees in gardens fit in? These are all part of the urban forest. Some are mainly to be found in the public realm, others in private spaces. Making the distinction between forest/woodland and park is more complicated in English than it might be in other languages, due to the origins of and historical and cultural associations of these words (Harrison 1992). The term ‘forest’ originally reDesign of Urban Forests

Peri-urban futures : scenarios and models for land use change in Europe

Presently, peri-urbanisation is one of the most pervasive processes of land use change in Europe with strong impacts on both the environment and quality of life. It is a matter of great urgency to determine strategies and tools in support of sustainable development. The book synthesizes the results of PLUREL, a large European Commission funded research project (2007-2010). Tools and strategies of PLUREL address main challenges of managing land use in peri-urban areas. These results are presented and illustrated by means of 7 case studies which are at the core of the book. This volume presents a novel, future oriented approach to the planning and management of peri-urban areas with a main focus on scenarios and sustainability impact analysis. The research is unique in that it focuses on the future by linking quantitative scenario modeling and sustainability impact analysis with qualitative and in-depth analysis of regional strategies, as well as including a study at European level with case study work also involving a Chinese case study.

Management of Cultural Landscapes: What Does this Mean in the Former Soviet Union? A Case Study from Latvia

Abstract Concern about changing cultural landscapes has increased recently, with the advent of the European Landscape Convention placing signatory countries in a position of having to develop action for protecting and managing cultural landscapes. In countries of the former Soviet Union the landscape underwent many changes as a result of agricultural collectivisation and its aftermath. This situation has been analysed for six sample rural municipalities (pagasts) in Latvia, one of the three former Soviet countries to join the European Union (EU), using maps from the period 1901 to 1927 (to represent the ‘traditional landscape’) and 1997 orthophotographs updated to 2000 (to represent the ‘post-Soviet landscape’), abandoned agricultural land to 2007 to show the continuing aftermath of the Soviet system and field assessment of their character. It was found that all sampled pagasts had experienced significant landscape change during the Soviet times that replaced the pre-Soviet, traditional character with a new ‘ideological landscape’. The implications for the protection and conservation of such landscapes created by a previous foreign occupying power are many, raising questions of what landscapes or elements to conserve under the requirements of the Convention.

Blank Space: Exploring the Sublime Qualities of Urban Wilderness at the Former Fishing Harbour in Tallinn, Estonia

Abstract The gradual relocation of industry and other related activities out of the core areas of cities often results in voids in the urban structure—spaces that are ‘left over’. These places—in transition between their past and future functions—are landscapes with no formal spatial arrangement or current use. Their state of limbo often allows for a variety of informal and spontaneous uses that may enrich the urban structure, albeit temporarily, with their diversity. However, they are usually shown as blank areas on city planning maps with a status of awaiting some future use: thus the space is considered to be empty. As a case study, the temporary in-between status of a disused and abandoned fishing harbour in Tallinn, Estonia, is documented, in order to present and discuss ways of analysing both positive and negative aspects of dereliction in a post-Soviet context. This blankness, the paper concludes, is an opportunity and a quality, not always a vice but in some cases a virtue and that the rich content of derelict places is worthy of consideration in city planning.

Health Benefits of Nature Experience: The Challenge of Linking Practice and Research

While there is a growing base of knowledge concerning the health benefits of nature experience, this knowledge appears to be insufficiently translated into practice. The perceived gap between research and practice is often explained by a lack of hard evidence on the effects and mechanisms at work. In this chapter we argue that strengthening the evidence base is only one of the areas where more needs be done. Converting the evidence into practice is a process that requires concerted attempts with different kinds of effort, and should therefore be viewed from different perspectives. We examine the topic from three distinct perspectives: problem definition (who is responsible?); acceptability (what constitutes acceptable evidence?); applicability (can the evidence be used in practice?). Throughout, we use examples from various disciplinary fields to illustrate the significant challenges and complexities faced in joining practice and research.

Human Engagement with Forest Environments: Implications for Physical and Mental Health and Wellbeing

Humans have always had close relationships with forest but since 2005 most people live in cities or urbanised areas. This has profoundly shifted the kind of relationship people have with forests. Instead of being sources of utilitarian products, forests are increasingly valued for their benefits for physical and mental health and wellbeing. Different forest types, such as wilderness areas, managed production forests or urban forests offer different possibilities. Effects on the physical environment of urban areas, such as pollution reduction or temperature mitigation help to provide healthier places to live while the ability to see or to visit green areas close to home helps to reduce stress, to provide settings for relaxation, socialising and physical exercise and provides aesthetic pleasure. Much recent research has strengthened the evidence base for these benefits and public health policy in many Western countries is beginning to take the results seriously. However the research is focussed at present in Western countries, while the mega-cities with poorest environments are in developing countries. It is here that the gaps in research and the challenges for the future are to be found.