Stadslandskapets obrukade resurs: om grönstrukturens potential och synliggörande i en hållbar stadsutveckling

Doctoral thesis, 2001

Contemporary urban landscape is characterised by disintegration and spreading out which are caused by the transport culture. Green areas are both being created, fragmented and used for other purposes. Sustainable development is the most important political challenge today which calls for an identification of the physical and functional challenges for urban design and planning. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how the multifunctional character of green areas can be understood and integrated in urban design and planning supporting sustainable development. Green structure, understood as water and all areas which are neither covered nor sealed, has a multifunctional meaning in urban development. Different parts of the green structure have composing potential in the urban landscape. Thus, green structure is an important tool for urban development. In order to make use of the green structure in a sustainable development it is necessary to integrate it in urban design and planning. By the help of a case study, historical examples and four contemporary theories on urban development this dissertation investigates the development of the concept green structure, definition and handling of green structure and possible ways to integrate the green structure. Two previous pilot studies have illuminated the difference between formal green structure, all areas that are green in maps and plans, and actual green structure, all areas that correspond to the definition of green structure. The urban design and planning tends to handle the formal green structure which means that about 60% of the actual green structure never becomes visible in the planning documents. With these problems as a point of departure a case study was executed in the north east of Göteborg. Through studies of documents and interviews the development and handle of the greenery within urban design and planning was investigated. The urban design and planning is not capable of handling green structure in a way relevant to changes in the urban landscape. The planning system doesn't aim at the contemporary landscape and the result is that the total amount of green areas neither are seen nor used in urban design and planning. The historical examples show that the integration of greenery implies that it is treated as an element in urban development. The four contemporary theories indicate that the integration of greenery implies a new understanding of green structure considering the scales and tendencies in the landscape.