3. Green Urban Areas Incorporating Sustainable Land Use
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3. Green urban areas incorporating Sustainable Land Use 3A. Present Situation Please complete the following table providing the most recent data that is available: Land use within the city (this will provide important background information on the character of the city and is not an evaluation criterion itself) Inner City Overall City Unit Year of data provided Public Green Area 8,7 24,6 Private Green Area* 19 28,3 Blue 0,1 7,3 Residential 25,5 23,2 Industrial/economic 0 8,9 2014 % Mixed 31,7 3,3 Brownfield 7,4 2,2 Other 7,6 2,2 Total 100 100 Year of data Inner city Overall city Unit provided Percentage of people living within 300 m of green urban 68,1 81,1 % 2014 areas >= 5000 m2 Percentage of people living within 300m of green urban 79,9 87,3 % 2014 areas of any size in inner city *Private green area includes mostly private gardens, that are not accessible to wider public, and other privately owned areas covered with vegetation. Describe the present situation in relation to green urban areas incorporating sustainable land use, including any relevant disadvantages or constraints resulting from historical, geographical and/or socio- economic factors which may have influenced this indicator area. Include information on the indicators mentioned below for both the inner city area and the overall city area: 1. New developments: relative proportion of greenfields, natural and semi-natural areas, and brownfield sites, where the construction of new buildings and/or commercial and industrial areas has taken place in the last 10 years; 2. Evaluation of the densification in the inner-city or urban cores; 3. Population density (inhabitants per hectare) in built-up areas (city area minus green and blue areas); 4. Population density (inhabitants per hectare) for new developments; 5. Quality of green and blue areas; 6. Investments in green infrastructures (e.g. sustainable urban drainage, green rooftops, vertical gardens, high-quality business parks and public spaces, biodiversity-rich communal gardens, green belts and metropolitan park systems); 7. Use of permeable or semi-permeable materials and surface areas covered by them. Maps: Provide a land use map that indicates 1. The municipality boundaries delineating the overall city area and 2. The inner city area. Provide the percentage of green and blue areas (public and private) and soil sealing in relation to 1) the overall city area and 2) the inner city area in the table above including trends over the past five to ten years. Provide additional maps showing city parks, the scale of green and blue areas in the city and their connectivity and coherence. Provide maps of the location of brownfield sites that have been regenerated in the past 10 years. (max 1100 words & 5 graphics, images or tables) plus requested maps Spatial development and land use in Tallinn in recent decades has been strongly influenced by the national land and ownership reform carried out by the state at the beginning of the 1990s. The need for this was caused by the nationalisation of land and redistribution of property by the Soviet power in the 1940s. At the beginning of the 1990s, the land was returned to the former owners or privatised and Estonian local authorities, including Tallinn, generally only gained ownership of the land under the existing social infrastructure and street network, and city parks. Unlike other European cities, Tallinn owns very little land intended for other purposes, which is why the spatial development of the city can only be directed with planning methods. Tallinn has a very rich landscape and biota where plants and animals that have become rare elsewhere in Europe can be encountered. The biological diversity of Tallinn is based on its location on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the diversity of landscapes (cliffs, coast, dunes, forests, alvars, meadows, bogs, wetlands) and the mosaic nature of habitats this has created. Many large ecologically functioning green urban areas have preserved in Tallinn, which serve as migration corridors for various species (birds, bats, pollinators). Tallinn has 485 protected natural sites and objects on 2200 hectares, which comprises 13.8% of the territory of Tallinn. Tallinn is made special by Lake Ülemiste (area: 9.8 km2), which is the city’s water intake and therefore not a publicly used body of water, and the island of Aegna (area: 3 km2), which is a landscape protection area rich in forest, bogs, dunes and various types of beaches. The important green urban areas of Tallinn are the parks in the historical bastion zone around the Old Town, the baroque Kadriorg Park started by tzar Peter I in 1718, Tallinn Botanical Gardens, Tallinn Zoo and Rocca al Mare Open Air Museum (Figure 1). The Old Town of Tallinn and the surrounding parks have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. Figure 1. Green areas of nationwide importance are located in Tallinn – parks in the bastion zone (1), the Estonian Open Air Museum (2), Tallinn Botanical Gardens (3) and Kadriorg Palace and its park (4) The population of Tallinn as at 1 October 2015 was 438,569. Over a period of 10 years, the population density in Tallinn has increased from 24.7 residents per hectare (2005) to 27 residents per hectare (2015). The population density in the city centre has increased from 48.3 people to 57.2 people per hectare. The population of Tallinn has increased by ca 25%, i.e. more than 13,000 residents over the last 10 years. At the same time, all of the green urban areas in the city centre have been preserved and the accessibility of such areas is very good. The city centre has become more comfortable and safe for all residents of Tallinn, because the space has been streamlined and densified, and it has become more crowded. The new developments in the last 10 years cover ca 3% of the city’s territory, and 70% of them have taken place via the densification of the city (filling housing gaps, splitting plots of land; Figure 2). Many commercial and industrial buildings were abandoned after independence was regained, but over the last 10 years most of the new developments in Tallinn have taken place in these areas. The average population density in the new developments is 100 people per hectare, but in the city centre this indicator is 200 people per hectare. The population density in the new residential areas in the suburbs is 25 people per hectare, which makes it possible to maintain the valuable trees in the region. Figure 2. Examples of new developments in Tallinn Residential and mixed-use areas dominate land use in Tallinn (Map 1). Brownfields, many of which have been given a new use and identity in recent years, cover 2.2% of Tallinn (Figure 3 and Map 2). Figure 3. Former brownfields now have commercial and residential functions – Ülemiste City (2-4) has been built on the land of the former military factory Dvigatel (1) close to the airport and the industrial Rotermann quarter (5) in the city centre has become a business and living area (6-8) www.ulemistecity.ee, www.rotermann.eu) Map 1. Purposes of land use in Tallinn Map 2. Developments in brownfields The share of water-permeable surfaces is 63% and ca 71% with the inclusion of bodies of water (blue areas) (Map 3). 9% of the territory of Tallinn is covered with buildings, while other paved surfaces (mostly car parks, streets) cover 19%. In the city centre, however, paved surfaces cover 65.3% (Map 4). Map 3. Water-permeable and paved surfaces in Tallinn Map 4. Water-permeable and paved surfaces in central Tallinn Tallinn Greenery Development Plan was established in 2005 to streamline the development of green urban areas in the city, which increased the functionality and aestheticism of the green urban areas significantly. 21 parks over 157.45 hectares were reconstructed in ca 10 years, which comprises 49.2% of the total area of parks. A new development document –Tallinn Greenery Action Plan for 2013-2025 – was established in 2013. 81.1% of the residents of Tallinn and 68.1% of the residents of the city centre live within 300 metres of the nearest green urban area larger than 5000 m2 (Map 5). When smaller green urban areas are also taken into account, the percentages are 87.3% and 79.9%, respectively. Map 5. Accessibility of green urban areas in Tallinn Since 2003, Tallinn City Government has commissioned an annual survey of the satisfaction with the city amongst Tallinn residents. Whilst 69% of residents were satisfied with their living environment in 2006, the share of satisfied citizens had increased to 89% by 2013 (Faktum & Ariko, 2006; Eesti Uuringukeskus, 2013). 80% of respondents in 2006 and 94% in 2013 were satisfied with the status of green urban areas and parks. The quality of green urban areas is demonstrated by their functionality, and the possibility to play is an important part of this. Systematic maintenance and reconstruction of playgrounds started in 2007 (Table 1). The number of playgrounds built in the Soviet era has decreased, but the safety, quality and functionality of the attractions has improved. Nine family playgrounds have been established and all playgrounds have been added to the online map. The development of playgrounds is regulated by the Public Playground Development Action Plan in Tallinn 2011-2016. An information system based on the needs of Tallinn has been implemented for the improvement of maintenance, as this helps to carry our repairs quickly and efficiently. In 2012 Tallinn City Government adopted the regulation (Requirements for Establishment of Dog- walking Grounds and Swimming Spots) in order to guarantee high-quality dog-walking grounds in Tallinn.