From sparse to compact city – shifting notions of nature in post-war residential landscapes in the Helsinki region

Different urban models, ranging from sparse garden cities to dense compact
cities, have aimed to achieve healthy environments and combat the
disadvantages of the city. They have aspired to respond to the specific
challenges of each era, although, the means have substantially varied.
Shifting ideologies have materialized in urban models but also in landscape
architecture – a field that has remained largely unexamined in urban
planning history. This article highlights the role of landscape architecture –
urban greenery, parks, and gardens – and the ideals of urban nature they
entail. The focus is on post-war residential landscapes in the Helsinki region,
Finland in the 1950s–2010s. The article analyses the changing planning
paradigms of urban nature with five city types: the garden city, forest city,
compact city, ecological city, and the new compact city. Each paradigm has its
specific nature type, which is characterized by different meanings and spatial
forms given to nature, the ideal environment and the appropriate density.
The study brings a landscape architecture approach to the academic
discussion on the role of urban nature in urban planning. It also offers a
critical outlook, reminding that the discussion on nature is not neutral and
straightforward, but contradictory and loaded with underlying meanings.