Green space is a fundamental concept for understanding modern and contemporary urban society, shedding light not only on the ecological development of cities but also societal relations, urban governance and planning processes. Closely linked to issues of environmental change, changing perceptions of nature, urban well-being and social integration, as well as city economic competitiveness and branding, it is an important element both in the internationalisation of European cities, and the forging of their distinctive communal identities. Building upon recent research on the history of green landscapes in the city in Europe and North America, this volume mirrors the burgeoning global attention to urban green space developments from city policy-makers and planners, architects, climatologists, ecologists, geographers and other social scientists. Taking case studies from Paris, London, Berlin, Helsinki, and other leading centres, the volume examines when, why, and how green landscapes evolved in major cities, and the extent to which they have been shaped by shared external forces as well as by distinctive and specific local needs. Quantifying green space trends in this way raises important issues of classification and categorisation of the different varieties of urban green space. While urban parks have received considerable coverage, many other smaller, less prestigious, spaces have been largely ignored. This volume argues that green landscapes can only be properly understood when the full range of spaces from parks to recreation grounds, housing areas, allotments and domestic gardens is taken into account. Adopting a broader approach to urban green space helps put European developments during the 19th and 20th centuries into a global perspective.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- Notes on contributors -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- City trends -- 2 Vegetation and green spaces in Paris: a spatial approach -- 3 London's green spaces in the late twentieth century: the rise and decline of municipal policies -- 4 Outdoor recreation and green space in Helsinki and Dublin, c. 1965-1985: a transnational comparison -- Varieties of green space -- 5 Impacts of residential infilling on private gardens in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area -- 6 The right to the garden: allotments and the politics of urban green space in Sweden -- 7 Green space in socialist and post-socialist Zagreb -- 8 'In Antwerp, the birds cough in the morning': green space activism in a time of urban flight: the case of post-war Antwerp -- Interactions -- 9 The urban politics of nature: two centuries of green spaces in Berlin, 1800-2014 -- 10 Immigrants and green space in the Helsinki region -- 11 Women landscape planners and green space: Sweden, 1930-1970 -- 12 Urban green space in a globalising world -- 13 Epilogue: how green is your city? Transnational and local perspectives on urban green spaces -- Index

Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations introduces the concept of ‘deep cities’, a novel approach to the understanding and management of sustainable historic cities that will advance knowledge about how the long-term, temporal and transformative character of urban heritage can be better integrated into urban policies for sustainable futures. Contrary to the growing emphasis on green or smart cities, which focus only on the present and future, the concept of ‘deep cities’ offers an approach that combines an in-depth understanding of the past with the present and future. Bringing together chapters that cover theoretical, methodological and management issues related to ‘deep cities’, the volume argues that using this approach will force researchers, managers and consultants to actively use the heritage and history of a city in the planning and management of sustainable cities. Exploring different definitions of ‘deep cities’, the book reveals varying and sometimes conflicting views among stakeholders concerning how, where and when the depth of a city should be conceptualized. Despite this, the book demonstrates how this new approach can help to create robust cities for the future, as new and innovative solutions are combined with the preservation and strengthening of historical features. Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations is the first international collection on the subject of sustainable historic cities. As such, the book will be of great interest to academics and students engaged in the study of heritage, heritage management, architecture, heritage conservation, anthropology, development studies, geography, planning and archaeology.

Against the backdrop of an accelerating global urbanization and related ecological, climatic or social challenges to urban sustainability, this book focuses on the access to “safe, inclusive and accessible green and public space” as outlined in United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal No. 11. Looking through the lens of environmental justice and contested urban spaces, it raises the question who ultimately benefits from a green city development, and – even more importantly – who does not. While green space benefits are well-documented, green space provision is faced by multiple challenges in an era of urban neoliberalism. With their interdisciplinary and multi-method approach, the chapters in this book carefully study the different dimensions of green space access with particular focus on vulnerable groups, critically evaluate cases of procedural injustice and, in the case of Northern Europe that is often seen as forerunner of urban sustainability, provide in-depth studies on the contexts of injustices in urban greening. Chapters 1, 5, and 6 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

What do we mean when we say that cities have altered humanity’s interaction with nature? The more people are living in cities, the more nature is said to be "urbanizing": turned into a resource, mobilized over long distances, controlled, transformed and then striking back with a vengeance as "natural disaster". Confronting insights derived from Environmental History, Science and Technology Studies or Political Ecology, Urbanizing Nature aims to counter teleological perspectives on the birth of modern "urban nature" as a uniform and linear process, showing how new technological schemes, new actors and new definitions of nature emerged in cities from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.

Rosemary Wakeman's original survey text comprehensively explores modern European urban history from 1815 to the present day. It provides a journey to cities and towns across the continent, in search of the patterns of development that have shaped the urban landscape as indelibly European. The focus is on the built environment, the social and cultural transformations that mark the patterns of continuity and change, and the transition to modern urban society. Including over 60 images that serve to illuminate the analysis, the book examines whether there is a European city, and if so, what are its characteristics? Wakeman offers an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates concepts from cultural and postcolonial studies, as well as urban geography, and provides full coverage of urban society not only in western Europe, but also in eastern and southern Europe, using various cities and city types to inform the discussion. The book provides detailed coverage of the often-neglected urbanization post-1945 which allows us to more clearly understand the modernizing arc Europe has followed over the last two centuries.

This book explores novel theories, strategies and methods for re-naturing cities. It enables readers to learn from best practice and advances the current theoretical and empirical understanding in the field. The book also offers valuable insights into how planners and policymakers can apply this knowledge to their own cities and regions, exploring top-down, bottom-up and mixed mechanisms for the systemic re-naturing of planned and existing cities. There is considerable interest in ‘naturalising’ cities, since it can help address multiple global societal challenges and generate various benefits, such as the enhancement of health and well-being, sustainable urbanisation, ecosystems and their services, and resilience to climate change. This can also translate into tangible economic benefits in terms of preventing health hazards, positively affecting health-related expenditure, new job opportunities (i.e. urban farming) and the regeneration of urban areas. There is, thus, a compelling case to investigate integrative approaches to urban and natural systems that can help cities address the social, economic and environmental needs of a growing population. How can we plan with nature? What are the models and approaches that can be used to develop more sustainable cities that provide high-quality urban green spaces?