Walks in the park are something many of us living in or near these patches of green amid the cement and asphalt take for granted. Increasingly, research is showing that these city parks, as well as designated national parks outside of cities, could be our lifeline in increasingly urbanized societies. With the assistance of environmental consultant and nature guide, Sara Borgström, we take a closer look at what parks actually mean to us and why Sweden is celebrating its national parks this 2009.
A Look Back
100 years ago Sweden became the first country to follow the United States in designating special zones of land to be conserved as national parks (the United States had already established Yellowstone in 1872). Well known explorers, including those from the Nordic region, proclaimed the need to protect natural heritage as a part of a rising national and cultural identity. Alongside this romantic cry for the protection of large swathes of wilderness, came a more desperate cry for air and greenery from farming families who had recently moved to crowded, filthy cities. The Nordic region’s city parks began to emerge and, as the 20th century progressed, became an integral part of the project to modernize through social democracy. The Colony Gardens created early in the 20th century are an excellent example of the way that Nordic cities tried to meet immigrating farmers’ needs.
Record Breakers
Today, the Nordic region is home to several record-breakers when it comes to parks. Stockholm has the world’s first and most extensive national city park, Finland has a high number of city parks by world standards and Greenland (part of Denmark) has the largest national park in the world. Nature guide, Sara Borgström points out that since 40 percent of Stockholm county is still green it has managed to preserve a high degree of accessibility to green areas, a model which can be of value to countries such as China who are in the process of creating new cities. At the same time, Sweden and other Nordic countries continue to have much to learn from the United States where parks have been creative in coming up with new sources of revenues (tourism centers, etc.) that also make them more accessible for urban visitors who do not have extensive experience in natural environments.
Coming Full Circle
According to Borgström, our view of national and urban parks has come full circle during these past 100 years. Once again, we have come to the conclusion that they are important as reservations of culture. We have learned that conserving the greenery isn’t just about preserving what nature gave us but, in many cases, about conserving environments valued because of the result of human interaction with them. Biodiverse meadowlands that emerged when forests were cleared are one clear example.
Humans vs. Nature
Borgström and her colleague, Hanna Erixon, a Stockholm-based architect, are currently pursuing a co-operation to break down the traditional view that it’s nature vs. humans, particularly in urban areas. They believe that we need to ask new questions which take the reality of history into account and which don’t immediately portray society as being at odds with nature. According to Borgström and Erixon, we should be taking a holistic rather than a category-driven approach (conservation vs. exploitation) to nature asking questions such as: Can we create new value by actively and consciously choosing to affect nature? Can we even create nature? How do we build (rather than should we or shouldn’t we build)?
Urban Ecosystem Services
Today more than ever we realize that we need parks, churchyards, gardens, golf courses, trees on the roadside and more from the point of view of our own health (see our article Back to the Forest) and that of our living environments which, more often than not, are in cities. In her contribution to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation Yearbook 2007, “Nature at Your Service” (“Naturen till din Tjänst”, Naturskyddsföreningen, 2007), Borgström lists 32 “urban ecosystem services” which our parks deliver free of charge. These include everything from erosion and flood control, to noise reduction and increasing social ties. Borgström’s basic conclusion is that however urban we want to be, we need the parks and they need us. 2009 is about moving forward from that understanding.
Sara’s 6 favorite park destinations in Sweden:
Tyresta National Park: Direct buses from Stockholm take you to a typical Swedish blueberry forest.
