Case study 5:
New approaches in Europe
Anne Beer and Anna Jorgensen University of Sheffield
Transformations - creating usable space
One of the challenges currently facing housing providers is how to deal with the landscape legacy of the 20th century. Many post-war housing estates were designed on modernist principles. The landscape of most of these estates was no more than a bland, park-like, visual context for the buildings. They have considerable shortcomings as environments for housing: they do not provide for a range of users, or a variety of different social activities. The demarcation of public and private space is frequently very poor and the result is often a bleak underused landscape that is difficult for residents to control or oversee, and which consequently becomes the setting for crime and anti-social behaviour. There is a pressing need to re-evaluate these landscapes in the light of current user requirements. This means radically rethinking their whole structure and layout and turning them into relevant, accessible, usable and experientially rich places. The public and private realm should be clearly delineated, as should all the semi-public and semi-private spaces in between.For example, at Gillesager, Rodovre, Denmark, a bleak corridor between the housing blocks was renovated in 1980s. A central concept was 'the play street'; that an integrated approach to play, passive recreation and circulation along the green 'spine' would lead to a synergistic combination of diverse activities involving different age groups. The 'spine' itself is a staggered sequence of spaces and footpaths, structured and enriched by both hard and soft landscape elements. The green 'spine' links a series of courtyards between the housing blocks and is one of the principal means of accessing the dwellings, further increasing the usage of this area. In addition, small private gardens have been created at ground floor level, creating opportunities for informal supervision of external spaces. The public/private division is demarcated by level changes, or in some cases, beech hedges. Some 20 years on, this landscape is still functioning effectively, a tribute to the quality of the original design and its sensitivity to users' needs.
Creating sustainable landscapes
Environmental sustainability initiatives are being introduced in tandem with measures aimed at social sustainability. The former can include sustainable urban drainage schemes (SUDS), solar/wind power, energy efficiency, recycling, integrated transport, increasing urban biodiversity and wildlife habitats and local food production. Residents' involvement in food production and recycling can be a catalyst for social interaction, and community houses/centres can act as a focus for these activities.SUDS schemes can easily be designed to incorporate areas where children may safely and playfully interact with the water. Examples of these measures can be found in Augustenborg (Malmo); Vesterbro (Copenhagen); Friedrichshain, Peninsula Stralau, and at Berliner Strasse 88, Zehlendorf, (Berlin).
Many of these features may be found at Berliner Strasse 88, a mix of social and private housing. Here the perimeter housing blocks enclose a series of courtyards and green spaces that link up with a green corridor to the south of the development. The courtyards themselves (from which cars are excluded) are designed around a visually dramatic sustainable urban drainage system and incorporate some private gardens and plentiful children's play facilities set within a dense vegetation of trees and shrubs. This development was designed with feedback from the residents and a visual inspection of the landscape suggested that it is a respected and valued environment.
'Natural' landscapes and social housing
The lush, densely vegetated landscape of Berliner Strasse 88, together with a number of other examples, suggests that there may be greater appreciation for more 'natural' and/or densely vegetated landscapes around housing in northern mainland Europe, compared to Britain. Numerous Scandinavian studies suggest that interaction with complex natural environments has many benefits for children including a positive impact on children's social play, concentration and motor ability.In northern mainland Europe it is also common to see water in housing landscapes. At Augustenborg, Malmo, there are many water bodies associated with the sustainable urban drainage system, and at 'Das Grüne Hufeisen', the 1920s housing at Britz, Berlin, there are a number of ponds, one of which is directly adjacent to a children's playground. This evidence seems difficult to reconcile with the current climate in Britain, where, generally speaking, local authorities and housing providers have a defensive attitude towards dense vegetation and water bodies in housing areas, presumably on the grounds that residents do not want this type of 'natural' landscape, health and safety, and litigation avoidance.
Involving the community
There is a widely held belief that where residents have a say in what happens to their housing environment this is more likely to result in sustainable long-term solutions. In Scandinavia there are many interesting examples of user involvement. In Denmark most social housing is provided by non-profit making housing companies, legally required to manage their housing stock through local residents' committees, and similar administrative structures exist in Sweden. These committees have extensive powers to make changes to housing green space, and even to raise rents or take out loans to pay for the changes. Implementation is often carried out by skilled caretakers, who live on site. Frequently the local committee also administers the housing company's maintenance budget; the work is also carried out by the caretakers, ensuring local accountability.At Eriksbo in Gothenburg, Sweden, the residents' association has responsibility for green space maintenance: it administers the maintenance budget and employs 6 local (formerly unemployed) people to help the caretakers with gardening and maintenance. In general, the residents at Eriksbo have been proactive in transforming their estate. Their achievements include turning one courtyard and its neighbouring flats into a children's playschool, and managing the adjacent parkland, play facilities and children's farm. Likewise, at Holma in Malmo, Sweden, residents of different blocks and courtyards have made differing decisions about what should happen to their communal green spaces. At Gardsten in Gothenburg the housing company has carried out a radical programme of housing and green space renewal, runs a training company for green space workers aimed at local unemployed people; and stipulates that all maintenance must be carried out by contractors whose employees live mainly in the area.
These examples suggest that user involvement at the outset of new projects in the style of 'Planning for Real' is unlikely to be sufficient to secure residents' long term 'ownership' of their surroundings. Permanent administrative and structural change is needed to empower residents to take responsibility for the creation, renewal and management of their housing green space.
Anne Beer & Anna Jorgensen
University of Sheffield
see: www.shef.ac.uk/landscape
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