The Future of Our Cities - Joint Responsibility and Joint Green Action
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The future of our cities - joint responsibility and joint green action György Alföldi1, Zoltán Kovács2 “Cities are built not only to provide roof and shelter but they should be designed in a way that apart from granting comfort for the people enough space should be left for public squares, gardens, green area, entertainment a recreation purposes.” Leon Battista Alberti – Italian architect, 16th c. Cities comprise a part of our natural environment, their development started more than 5000 years ago. Besides offering protection, cities have also been the engines of constant progress and continuous change. They came into existence at a time when social organisation and population density made the creation of central governments possible. It was made possible because a leader/organiser/expert layer was formed which did not have to take part in the everyday agricultural activities anymore since society was able to support them. This proves that society actually needed this layer, mainly because the development of production brought about new systems which needed central organisation and control. Throughout their development, cities have always been governmental and economic centres. This concentration is one of the key conditions and at the same time one of the main consequences of progress. Concentration also led to dense spatial structures. After the Roman period European cities have developed from streets, squares and houses tightly cramped together. In the scant areas within the city walls, the idea of creating public parks was financially and socially unconceivable, sporadically only the very rich could afford large gardens. In the development of ancient and feudal cities, green spaces remained low key. 1 CEO, architect Doctor of Liberal Arts, Rév8 Urban Renewal and Development of Józsefváros Plc., 1083 Budapest, Páter u. 22. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Scientific Advisor, DSc, Geographical Research Institute – Hungarian Academy of Sciences (GRI HAS), 1112 Budapest, Budaörsi út 45. E-mail: [email protected] 100 Urban Green Book Green space development began to gain importance gradually no sooner than the 17-18th centuries in the capitals of absolutist monarchies. In this era, green spaces – such as gardens and parks – served the comfort of the privileged few (monarchs and aristocrats), but their broader effect was limited. In the cities environmental problems within the walls did not yet necessitate the creation of public green spaces. From a bird’s view, cities were typically lonely spots in their natural surroundings. The absence of green space was not felt neither from a social nor from an environmental perspective. The loosening of feudal bonds and the appearance of modern industrial urbanisation brought along multiple changes, the ever-increasing concentration of economic power caused a population growth in cities and in the surrounding settlements. Rapid population growth brought never seen before problems to the surface. City leaders, engineers, politicians and rich business people realised that the intolerably bad air, the deterioration of public health and security problems were partly caused by the dense city structure and industrial smog. The only remedy for suffocating cities was seen in large scale green space development. Firstly, in the first half of the 19th century the city walls were pulled down and their site was converted to green spaces in many European cities; these green spaces already had public functions. Another important step in green space development occurred in the late 19th century with the Path Test emergence of city planning movements, all starting out from England. The two The picture was made within the frame of the „For a more vitable most important movements were the Public Parks Movement and the Garden and secure Magdolna Quarter” crime prevention project, supported by Ministry for Justice and Law Enforcement, on occasion of the City Movement. public greening work of the courtyard at 7 Dankó Street, Budapest (Rév8, ZÖFI - GANG) Urban Green Book 101 From the 20th century, urbanisation has sped up. Together with environmental problems, social problems have also exacerbated. 20th century urban planning has used the “green weapon” more consciously so as to impede the expansion and rapid physical growth of the cities. Communities developed liveable resi- dential quarters for the workers and lower classes with significant central/local governmental subsidy; liveability was the concept behind the construction of green public spaces as well, intended for spending leisure time there. The landscape is quite different nowadays: natural environment disrupted by cities here and there has been replaced by continuous urbanised regions in many places all over the world. The territories of natural environment keep shrinking. The naturally or rather, unnaturally growing cities experience significant problems in their environment and development. The economic power concentrated in the metropolis attracts people from the country and from all over the world who want to work and live in the city, creating an ever growing social/cultural gap between social groups. The welfare state keeps withdrawing from city development and conflict solving, leaving local governments alone with the hardships of maintenance and social equalisation. But what role do green spaces and green space development play in city development today if the future of the cities are determined by two conflicting needs? One need is gaining a better position in competition which aims at further enhancing economic concentration and economic power. The other need is sustainability which aims at maintaining the liveability of cities and preventing social/natural catastrophies. The requirements towards green space can be summarised as follows: The culturally and socially diverse population of European cities requires green space, which are easy to access, and are of high quality and secure. People have more and more free time, but their mobility has significantly decreased with the energy prices on the rise – the economically active population therefore gets stuck in the cities and they do need the multifunctional green space where they can relax and exercise with their families and colleagues. In the cities of growing population the communication and cooperation between various social groups and local cultures living side by side is one of the most important bases of liveability, the feeling of security and the strengthening of local identity. An outstanding field for this cooperation would be joint green development and park building. The green, “ecological” development of public places and limited public places – green yards – would serve both public needs and the need of energy saving, and it can directly influence the attitude of the youth. Granting healthy, good quality air to the motorised cities – this task is 102 Urban Green Book getting more and more complicated. Cities need geographically well-located green spaces and air vents to provide ventilation. The protection against global climate change and urban heat islands calls for conscious development of green spaces in European cities. Considering all these factors we can securely state that the key elements of the policy of 21st century cities will be green space development and the involvement of local residents in it. Artistic visions about future cities often see those “megapolises” as inhuman, barren and greenless. It should be the joint responsibility of all of today’s city leaders, social and environmental experts to prevent these visions to come true. The objective of green space development is the protection and development of nature, the reestablishment of balance in urban societies. Progress in Europe seems to have slowed down and the countries need to act jointly to keep the continent competitive and at the same time preserve the cultural value transmitting role of the natural environment. Local governments and non-governmental agents must keep looking for a way to push the urban region towards cooperation, to enable the residents of city quarters to build parks and gardens suiting their own needs. Nowadays the environmental criteria of sustainability and the “ecology” attitude blossom in the confines of smaller settlements, as far as low emission, renewable energy and energy saving are concerned. Traditionally, rural settlements have a better basis of joint ecological awareness because of the traditionally vivid economic-social co-operation, people know that they need each other. In the big city, communities of diverse social/cultural backgrounds do not have memories about joint actions, there are no traditions of cooperation and co-dependency. Urban people live side by side – they have only the city in common and no connection to each other at all. Green surface development plays a crucial role in the construction of the city of the future, because it serves both the “macro-environment”, that is, the future of the Earth, and the “micro-society”, the residents of our cities. The present publication contains studies about the roles of green space as well as the condition and social effects thereof. Besides, we publish the experiences of smaller experimental steps towards environmental sustainability. One community for instance developed their yard by installing solar cells and a container for collecting rainwater so that they can water their garden without actually paying for it. We hope that the joint construction of the new “green yard” and its results will have a permanent