Browsing by Author "Suomalainen, Sari"

Green areas in cities provide social, ecological, cultural and economical values. Furthermore, the effects and importance of green areas on human well-being in the context of day to day life have been investigated in previous studies. The creation of green structures, and the quality and quantity of green areas are defined at different levels of urban planning in municipalities. The aim of this research was to determine which factors influence the green area planning process. The study compared the planning processes of Tampere in Finland and Stuttgart in Germany. It also analysed the prevailing trends of the cities and the participation of inhabitants. The study utilized qualitative study methods. The material included documents, reports and laws relating to the planning processes. The themed interviews were carried out in the city offices of Tampere and Stuttgart. The results indicated that landscape and green structure planning were compulsory parts of land-use planning processes in Stuttgart, required by laws, and are applicable nation-wide in Germany. The aims of a Landscape Plan and Green Structure Plan were legalized in a Preparatory Land Use Plan and in a Local Development Plan. In Finland, Tampere had good regulations concerning green area planning, but these were not applicable throughout the whole country. The aims of the green area plans could be legalized in Local Development Plans or in Federal Building Code, but there were not as many specified symbols expressing the content of green areas than in Stuttgart (Germany). A special difference was also the compensation method and habitat network planning that influenced the planning process at many levels in Stuttgart, identifying every green space as a part of a green structure. In addition to ecological values, also city parks and gardens were developed in exhibitions and competitions throughout Germany. The aim of Landscape planning is to combine natural elements and values as part of a landscape and a green structure of every city in Finland. It would also provide ecological development. With increasing knowledge about biodiversity and importance for human well-being, different kinds of green areas in the vicinity could also become more familiar and acceptable to citizens. Resulting from this study, future recommendations would be to develop landscape planning, to include more strategic green area planning based on Land Use Act and utilize interaction with citizens. Furthermore, an understanding and consideration of the ecological and physiological aspects of the environment and the using indicators to measure the fruition of the aims should be mandatory during the co-operational planning processes in order to reach the aims.