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Environmental history and future of a Nordic city

Environmental history and future of a Nordic city. CECT, Spatiality and visualisation of culture/nature relationships: theoretical aspects , 22-24 October 2009, Tallinn. Why city? What is a city?. A city is the most complex and intensive socio-ecological system on earth

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Environmental history and future of a Nordic city

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  1. Environmental history and future of a Nordic city CECT, Spatiality and visualisation of culture/nature relationships: theoretical aspects, 22-24 October 2009, Tallinn

  2. Why city? What is a city? • A city is the most complex and intensive socio-ecological system on earth • OK – let’s make it even more complex by asking how has it changed over time • How to make sense of the urban environment and its historical change?

  3. Environmental history? • Environmental history explores the interaction between human beings and other species and elements of nature in time • How has nature affected human societies? • How have human beings conceptualised, utilized and affected nature? • EH studies focused first on the countryside and nature conservation, not on cities

  4. Background & aim: Holistic studies of a specific city

  5. Some books on the environmental history of Helsinki in the 19th and 20th century

  6. All these books including our own have a common problem: fragmentation Approach Space Time Issue

  7. What is the problem? • Firstly, edited books are needed in new fields of studies as they provide new information by means of case studies • Thereby one understands the development of different sectors, yes - but what happened to the city as a whole? • How the develoment of given sectors was related to the development of the urban society? • How to solve the problem of fragmentation methodologically?

  8. One possible solution – cross-section approach? Moving from vertical to horizontal approach also in historical studies? Time Space Issue

  9. So what is a cross-section? In cross-section approach the interaction of a city with its physical environment is studied vertically, that is, spatially in a holistic manner during a limited time period WATER AIR FLORA & FAUNA CITY SOIL

  10. Different cross-sectionsin terms of time depending of our needs

  11. A cross-section of what? • Culture signifies how people adopt to a given physical environment • Human beings (body/mind) need material resources to use their non-material resources – and vice versa • In conclusion, A) the human culture (non-material, society) is dependent on • B) material culture (organisms/artefacts) that is dependent on • C) environmental culture (abstraction of air, water, biomass, minerals; other uses of nature), that is, modification and domestication of nature,i.e., of the planet Earth

  12. One step forward? • Cross-section approach focuses on environmental culture to describe and explain how and why a city dis/functions • Now the aim is to focus on four main phases of urban environmental culture in Helsinki 1) preindustrial urban society and the environment 2) industrialising ” ” ” ” 3) industrial ” ” ” ” 4) deindustrialising ” ” ” ”

  13. Four cross-sections to be studied Four cities in one place?

  14. PRE-INDUSTRIAL HELSINKI

  15. INDUSTRIALISING HELSINKI

  16. INDUSTRIAL HELSINKI

  17. 2000 Helsinki

  18. Predictions: The future city? A conservative unenvironmental business city of elites? Dystopias: Backcasting: Helcynborg – a city a of technospecies that will survive ecocatastrophies? A non-environmental conservative city of elites? A city of low consumption of the 1950s? Green individually orientated garden cities? A class city of the early 1900s? Helsinki 2050? A semi-environmental socialdemocrat suburban zone? An organic city of the 1850s? A homogenious ecocommunist city machine? (CCCP) A neoreligious city that adapts to changes spiritually?

  19. Some conclusions • We do not recognize anymore the dependence of our culture of the environment – hence we have to explore it! • However, we need new methodological tools to make sense of the socio-ecological complexity and intensivity of cities, in particular • Environmental culture approach signifies here connecting human (material) culture to its environmental basics • Cross-section approach signifies a shift from vertical approach towards horizontal approach in order to connect events to structures also in historical studies • So let’s move from a City to a BioDiverCity Thank you for your attention!

  20. Comparing historical and contemporary phases of development

  21. Environmental Kuznetz curve

  22. City as a political social economic cultural system in a given period and place Household is the basic socio-ecological unit of a city Rest, work, leisure individual needs Active citizens Urban governance of the following non/material resources and/or processes Air Water Soil Biodiversity Energy Transport Disaster mitigation Environmental culture

  23. Interactive circles/layers of environmental culture Maybe this mode could beapplied to the study of cities as well?

  24. Please (do not) try to live over three minutes without breathing (air), three days without drinking (water), three weeks without eating (food) or longer time without shelter (clothes, buildings)

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