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Ecological Sustainability and Urban Green Space |
RINGKØBING
PAPERS |
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Urban Density
and Green Structure Case Studies Ringkøbing
-DK Stocksbridge
-UK Social
Impacts of sustainable Housing Helsinki -
Espoo -SU Political
Instruments Norway
- N Planning &
Management
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RINGKØBING CASE STUDY - LANDUSE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Plan and policy for green space
In the municipal structure plan of Ringkøbing
In the municipal plan (1997) the area of Ringkoebing is structured in different categories of area use, see figure 3. The plan indicated that the category - "green areas" - is meant to form a "green structure". But these 4 selected "green areas" cover only a small part of what is within the definition of "green space" this project. For instance, land shown in the plan as areas for "public purposes" (including, for example, schools and sports grounds) and as "housing areas" in fact also includes a large area of "green" (land not built over); also areas which serve as public recreation areas, such as playgrounds, sport grounds, small parks and natural/semi-natural areas along the coast can be included in this category. The category of "green areas"in the 1997 plan the other hand did however include areas which are only publically accessible to a certain degree, for example, small plots with garden allotments. For all these reasons the official category of "green areas" used in the Ringkøbing master planning cannot be used in the identification of, for example, a "green structure" for the city, or in assessing the potential for recreation or for recycling of organic matter. The major purpose of the official category "green areas" in a planning context is that the designated green areas are protected against change. They cannot be changed into housing, parking etc. without the municipality changing the master plan. Ringkøbing has selected only a few such "green areas" compared with other municipalities investigated in this project. All the other actual green spaces in the city, which are not "green areas" in the structure plan, do not benefit from this protection. Even so, such areas will often be protected by local plans, but these are more easily changed. To conclude on the spatial reservation of different area types in the municipal structure plan: the actual method of selecting areas in the municipality of Ringkøbing does not have the specific aim of creating a comprehensive green structure in the urban area, either for recreational or ecological reasons. The green space is dealt with separately under the different area use categories in the detailed "structure zones" of the municipal plan. Regulations might be plot ratios and availability of common park/playgrounds in a new residential area. These regulations must be adapted for each local plan. Recognising that existing practice has not been adequate in the administration of the green space of the city, the municipal plan for 1993-2005 states that a "green structure plan" should be prepared during the following 4 year period until the next revision of the master plan (1997). So far it has not been possible to implement this aim. Lack of staff has been one obstacle.
The aims for a green structure plan and management plans
The green structure plan was to ensure that any local area has enough green spaces and that they are well connected with paths. In new housing areas the plan was to ensure that the green space was planned comprehensively. It was also aimed to make more detailed plans for the practical management of the different areas in connection with the green structure plan. In 1996 the municipal council had a meeting to discuss policy and the future planning and management of green space. One of the decisions was to make management plans and to finish this by the end of 1996. The areas managed by the municipal parks department should comprise 3 categories:
In Ringkøbing special attention was paid to the central park "Alkjaer Lukke" (the central "green area" of the municipal structure plan map, see Municipal Plan) and the semi-natural area with a walking path along the coast. Attention was paid to the fact that many important green areas which are situated in housing areas and areas around institutions etc. are not managed by the parks department, but they often require much more professional management that currently given. Especially the trees are neglected, as noted by the parks department. It was the municipality's intention that the parks department would assist these managers of green space in preparing management plans. At the same meeting it was decided to stop the use of pesticides in park management by the end of 1997. The political statements have not yet led to a green structure plan or concrete management plans. The head of the parks department has died and unfortunately has left only a few written directions about management practice. Up to now it has not been possible to fill the vacant position. That means that currently there is no gardener, landscape architect, garden architect, or others with an appropriate background in the parks department or in the entire municipal administration. The reorganised staff of the parks department have currently had neither the time nor the professional background to instigate a more detailed green planning practice. But the administration very much hopes soon to find a suitable person to fulfill the politically stated goals for green structure planning and management plans.
The waste system and the green space In 1991 the municipality changed the practice for removal of refuse. 65% of all households with some kind of garden now make compost of their organic waste in a special compost barrel. The compost barrels are provided by the municipality and participating in this practice means a reduction in payment for the removal of refuse. A lot of organic matter is recycled for green space (private gardens) as a result of this initiative of the municipality.
Special public recycling centres have been developed, as a result of the new system. Here it is possible for private households to deliver items such as glass, iron, paint, old furniture etc. It is also possible to deliver garden waste, sorted into branches/wood and other parts. The wood, together with garden waste from the parks department, is made into wood chips and the rest is composted at a central recycling centre in Ringkoebing. Wood chips are only used by the parks department in parks etc. But the garden compost can be collected for free at the recycling centre for use in private gardens. So far the parks department does not use much compost in the park areas because of too many seeds from weeds. The process of composting is not running perfectly yet and the temperature of the process is too low to destroy these seeds.
Rainwater management and green space In most of Ringkøbing the sewer system is separated into rainwater and household sewage (except the old central part). Two types of basins serve as buffers in situations of extreme rainfalls. But rainwater from some areas is also let directly into recipients (surface water-bodies), which are the Ringkøbing inlet or the streams of Skelbaek and Følling Baek (both run out into the Vona, north of town). Diagram of the natural drainage system
The first type of basin is dry during normal weather conditions and the rainwater is led through the basin and out into the recipients. The water will only stay in these basins for a longer time during extreme weather conditions (The pipe which leads the water from the basin has a smaller diameter than the pipe into the basin. do this. For instance, it is not possible for a local plan to stipulate that the management of green space should be without pesticides, although it is part of the policy for the green space managed by the municipality itself. However, it is possible to express such political aims in the associated plan-report, which expounds on the legal planning document. Such statements concerning ecology and green space are This means that in normal weather conditions these basins have a limited effect on the ecology. But they may still have a recreational effect which the municipality uses in local planning, as elaborated below.
The other type of basin is permanently filled with water, and besides offering better recreational opportunities, it may achieve more ecological aims (concerning pollution, urban nature etc.), as the water stays longer in the basin before being let out to the streams and inlet. This type of basin is found in two places: in the central park, Alkjaer Lukke and in a new housing area in the south eastern part of Ringkøbing.
At present no political attention is being paid to incorporating ecological ideas further into the separate rainwater system. The attention is on renewal of old sewers for household and industrial wastewater. In the city centre the rainwater is also polluted from the roads and the municipality prefers to lead it to the treatment plant, which operates very well.
Green space and local planning
Local plans have to follow the directives of the municipal plan for each structure zone. A lot of the housing areas are, of course, from a period before the new planning system and before local plans. In local plans for housing areas space is reserved for common green areas, paths and local roads. But even before local plans were developed, the municipality made such directives and demands in relation to new housing areas, especially during the 1960s when the building of detached houses exploded.
Most of the housing areas built since the 1960s have been developed on land owned by the municipality. Here it is fairly easy to ensure that directives are followed in the development of individual properties, roads, paths and green areas. In the case of private developments, municipalities require that the developments follow the framework of local plans.
In the municipality of Ringkoebing the management of local common green areas within housing areas is carried out by the home owners' association. This is stipulated in the local plans.
The directives for green space within housing areas have changed since the 1960s. Early developments of single family houses have more green space, due to the size of the properties, to the fact that there were no or few semi-detached houses and to a larger sized common green space. At the same time more trees and bushes were planted on the common green space and windbreaks were established around the housing area as a part of the development.
In local plans some ecological concepts have been integrated with the development of green space. For example, a rainwater detention basin has been built in the "Soeparken" area (see figure 4). Here the common green space is also sited bearing in mind the cultural heritage - a moat built by the Germans during the Second World War to secure the city from tank attacks. The moat is filled in today. At the same time the local plan does not fully use the cultural heritage of old field hedgerows in the development plan; it might otherwise have improved both the biological and the recreational quality of the green space.
In general the local plans do not incorporate ecological considerations in relation to green space. But it should be borne in mind that the municipality has limited capacity to do this.
An example of what is being done is a report associated with the local plan for a new area of residential homes for elderly people, in which it is stated that special attention should be paid to building materials, rainwater, energy and recycling, including the handling of green space in the area. The green space is to be part of a comprehensive "green account" of the total area of the local plan (10.1 ha).
The next few years will show how these kinds of statements are implemented and if they have any effect on local plans, for example, the new local plan for an area north of the railway (now a natural succession of trees) and for the sea front at the harbour, where the shipyard has been discontinued. Both areas are also interesting in relation to the green structure of the town, as well as to the question of densification. Return
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