Kaupunkiluonnon hallinnan utopia

Abstract

The rise of urban green policies from the 1990s has
brought many challenges to governance. What natures
should be protected in the city, with what kind
of citizen involvement? We use three case studies
to elaborate the interrelations of these two questions
on the production and management of urban
natures. We analyse (1) the practices of land-use
planning, urban forestry, nature conservation and
urban green planning, and (2) the roles of citizens
in relation to these practices. Though these four
formal institutions have adopted many new management
practices they seem to produce only a particular
kind of urban nature. Typically they select and
manage green areas on the basis of science-based
classification, prefer present values and virginity of
nature, and define clear-cut boundaries for the areas
to make them safeguarded stabilized objects in city
planning. We argue that these prevailing practices
neglect three highly relevant constituents of urban
nature, namely the productive bottom-up roles of
citizens, a posteriori characteristics of urban natures,
and the future potential of these natures. The neglect
results in many problems, but also produces starting
points for more experimentation-based urban
green policy.