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Working Group 1A - Comparison of Case Studies |
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Case study
Mubicipality of Herning, Denmark ©Susanne
Guldager, Ulrik Reeh and Marina Bergen Jensen, Skov &
Landskab, Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning
(DFLRI). Greenstructure and
Urban Planning - Herning Background COST action C11 studies
environmental and social issues related to urban green
structures as well as political instruments and their impact
on green structure plans. Working group 1A (WG 1A ) is one
of three working groups in the action. WG 1A is engaged in
the ecological and environmental issues on the COST Action
C11 agenda. The first part of the
work in WG 1A is carried out as case studies, including
cases selected by the members of the working group.
Involvement in research projects, town planning studies and
working relations with local authorities has formed the
background for the selection of the cases. Most of the
selected cases are cities, many of them big cities in the
European context. The case representing Denmark, however, is
a medium size municipality with the town of Herning as the
urban centre in an extensive landscape of nature resources,
forest, and agriculture. 1. Introduction to the
Municipality of Herning - general facts The Municipality of
Herning is part of the county of Ringkøbing in the
Western part of Jutland. The total area of the county is
4850 km2 with a population of 273,500 inhabitants. The
Municipality covers a total area of 542 km2 and has 58,679
inhabitants. Figure 1 - Herning in
Northern Europe Year Number of
inhabitants within the Municipal area of
Herning Number of
inhabitants in Denmark 1971 52,873 4.9
mill 1992 57,329 5.1
mill 2003 58,823 5.3
mill With a population
density of 108 per ha, Herning is sparsely populated in
comparison with many other European towns and cities.
However, Herning is number twelve by number of inhabitants
among Danish towns and cities. Furthermore, at present
Herning is expanding as a modern commercial centre and plays
an important role in promoting new ideas in town planning
and environmental management, not only in the region but
also at the national level. Herning was selected for
this study because the local authority has demonstrated a
progressive and open-minded attitude to sustainability. In
addition, the local authority has a strong tradition for
progressive ideas in town planning and management of parks,
green areas and natural environments. Over recent years,
ecological issues have increasingly been on the municipal
agenda in relation to new housing developments and resource
management. Among other awards the
Municipality of Herning received an award from the Danish
Society for the Conservation of Nature in 1998 for
demonstrating sound environmental policy and practice. In
2002, Herning again received an award, this time from the
Danish Town Planning Institute for the Municipality's
long-term visions and initiatives for sustainable planning.
Additionally, in 1998
&endash; 1999, the Municipality of Herning was host for a
research project on green structure and sustainability
carried out by the Danish Forest and Landscape Research
Institute (DFLRI) in close co-operation with the appropriate
departments within the local authority. This study will be
referred to as the Research Study in the following
presentation of the case. 2. Main issues of the
Research Study in Herning The study analysed the
potential in the green structure to meet environmental
goals, and related the results to spatial planning and
management procedures. The environmental goals concerned
biodiversity, organic waste and water flows adapted to a
local context. The analytical approach was to answer the
following questions: How can barriers be
overcome and the right knowledge presented to support
cross-sector team working and decision-making in the
planning and management process aiming at a better
utilisation of the ecological potentials? How can the
greenstructure support sustainable development by the
introduction of alternative handling of surface runoff water
and organic waste and at the same time increase biological
diversity and recreational value? The first question
relates to organisation and procedures in the local
authority and the second question to sustainable management
potentials in the green structure. The concerns of both
questions are firstly the environmental issues related to
sustainable development and secondly the potentials in the
green structure. A lot of data were collected and
geographical information system (GIS) maps produced to get
an overview as a background for discussions and analyses of
the potentials of change. The data and maps from
the Research Study have been updated and edited to support
the COST Action case study. 3. Aim of the case
studies in the COST Action The main question raised
in the COST Action is: How urban ecology can
inform green structure planning and decision
making? This main question is
further illuminated with the following five thematic
questions: How have the natural and
cultural features influenced the development of green
structure in the urban environment? What does this green
structure mean for biodiversity, environmental services and
management of flows? How are the character
and functions of green structure considered in land use/
landscape planning? How are the character and functions
being managed to meet ecological and environmental goals?
What is presently recorded about ecology in the case study
area, by whom and how? How have the ecological
goals been set out to influence the planning, design and
management processes? Is there any evidence that these goals
have effectively influenced the planning proces within the
study area? In the following some
answers to these five questions are given. 4. State-of-the-Art
&endash; Herning, natural and cultural features that have
influenced the development of green structures in the urban
environment. The landscape in which
Herning is situated was from its origin dominated by hills
and plains of heath, subdivided by streams and valleys. This
landscape was formed in the latest and second latest glacial
period in Denmark. The living conditions in the region were
poor and the population very sparse until the railway came
late in the19th century and changed the
situation. Land use has changed
over the years influenced by changing economic conditions in
the area. Heath, streams and meadows originally covered most
of the landscape - figure 4 - but in the first part of the
20th century the landscape was effectively cultivated and
drained to provide sufficient agricultural land - figure 5.
Due to decline in agricultural interest nowadays, streams
and meadows are again extensively being restored as wetlands
and grassland - figure 6. The landscape of
wetlands surrounds the central part of Herning today and
forms an almost complete green/blue ring around the town. As
a way of keeping control, the Municipality today owns most
of the former agricultural land around the urban development
and manages it as nature reserve or as grassland.
The landscapes in the
green/blue ring define and structure the urban development
as can be seen on figure 11. Most new housing and business
developments are located outside the ring in connection with
the former agricultural villages in the area. In these
areas, developments are also separated from one another by
green belts of agricultural land. The hills to the north and
south are nowadays plantations with pine and fir. Landscape
elements such as urban forests and wetlands have been
integrated in new housing developments. South of the central
part of Herning are 276 ha of bog called Knudmosen. This
wetland has limited the urban development to the south, and
resulted in a rather extensive recreational area available
close to the urban centre. Knudmosen include the oldest
landscape park in Herning, but most of the bog is today
managed by grazing cattle and offers indigenous flora and
fauna as an attraction to visitors. The bog also receives
surface water and cleaned water from the sewerage works.
5. What is the
importance of the green structure for biodiversity,
environmental services and management of flows? The topics biodiversity,
surface water and organic waste were investigated as part of
the Research Study. In the following an overview of the
situation regarding biological diversity, surface water and
organic waste management is presented with reference to the
Research Study and related to the green structure. Thematic
subjects such as air and climate are mentioned briefly.
Biodiversity and the
urban green structures Besides providing
habitats for flora and fauna, the urban green structure
traditionally serves amenity purposes like providing
playgrounds, lawns and greens, picnic sites, trails and
greenways etc., the construction and maintenance of which
limit biodiversity to varying degrees. In the research study
the following question was raised: To what extent can the
urban green structure contribute in a sustainable way to a
higher level of biodiversity in the Municipality?
In Herning, as in most
Danish municipalities, there is no systematic registration
of fauna and flora and only sparse information on biotopes
and natural vegetated areas. The local authority uses
selected species as environmental indicators and maintains
an overview in co-operation with privately organised
societies on different biodiversity themes - birds, fungi
and botany for instance. Indicators are a well-known
methodology used to assess environmental status and monitor
changes. In Herning, certain bird species are chosen and
used as indicators for water quality in streams. The research project
aimed to get an overview of biodiversity related to both
indigenous and cultivated plants in the urbanised areas. The
purpose of this was to analyse the possibilities of
improving biodiversity in the urban green structures.
Existing information supported by field studies was
presented on thematic GIS-based maps. As a starting point
for the field study the historical maps as presented in
figure 4, 5 and 6 were produced. These maps show the changes
and illuminate the natural potentials in the landscape.
Information on natural
or urban vegetation types add more information on the
natural potentials. These vegetation types occur in areas
such as the following: creek, windbreak, moor, meadow,
common, pond, bog, forest, agriculture, dense urban
character, open urban character, garden character, park
character and grassland. An assessment of the
biodiversity in the urban areas was done as a visual
registration of the perceived biological variation. It was
not the intention to register species but to create an
overview with an anthropocentric approach. The flora was in
focus, and the methodology gave high value to sites with
high variation on the following parameters: vertical biomass
structure, age, local biotopes and number of different
species. In this way an assessment on biodiversity was made
with the purpose of creating an overview suitable for the
planning process. The results are presented in figure
7. Figure 7: Overview of
experienced biological variation The data illustrated in
the different GIS maps were analysed, for instance by
combining the experienced biodiversity categories and the
land use categories. By doing so it became obvious that
large parts of the urban green structures present low or
medium biodiversity, as can be seen in figure 8. The
conclusion was that from an anthropocentric point of view,
there is great potential for improving the biodiversity in
the urban green structures. Figure 8: Potentials for
improving biodiversity exist in many of the urban areas.
The systems for data
collection and field registration developed during the
Research Study have now been handed over for use by the
local authority and environmental organisations: In relation
to this, the local authority has established a website -
www.herning.biobank.dk . Surface runoff and the
urban green structures Surface runoff water
constitutes a freshwater resource and can support ecosystems
and provide amenity values to human beings. In the research
study the following question was raised: To what extent can
the urban green structure contribute in a sustainable way to
the handling of surface runoff? In co-operation with the
local authority, a GIS-based map showing the present
management of surface runoff was produced. In the old
(central) urban areas, surface runoff is handled in combined
sewer systems, while in the younger (peripheral) urban areas
separate lines are used. The map also showed positions of
outlets, and overflow basins. To evaluate the
potential of utilising the urban green structure for surface
runoff treatment, the team evaluated the physical conditions
for local infiltration, which is regarded as a sustainable
management method. Information on the degree of impervious
cover, soil contamination sites and soil type were gathered
and presented in a simplified form on a second GIS-based map
- figure 9. The degree of impervious
cover was grouped into three categories (residential areas
with 40 %; industrial areas with 60 %; and central urban
areas with 85 % impervious cover). The original 13 soil
types present in the area were grouped into the following
soil types: 'clay', 'sand' and 'peat' - indicating different
suitability for local infiltration or construction of
reservoirs. This was done not only to support the overview,
but also to support the dialog with other professionals
within the local authority. Another reason for focussing on
surface runoff is that water supports biodiversity and can
make attractive contributions to recreation facilities.
The conclusions on the
theme in the Research Study were that urban green structures
have great potential for contributing to sustainable surface
runoff handling in that the conditions for introducing
sewer-free handling are generally favourable, and that
sufficient green areas are available. As the operating
sewer-system is rather well functioning, it was suggested
that sewer-free handling be introduced at convenience in
already urbanised areas and in new urban development. The
team recommends the use of vegetated systems rather than
subsurface infiltration tanks in order to support biological
and recreational use of the area, and to provide
purification of the runoff. Organic waste and the
urban green structures Organic waste represents
not just a problem to society, but also a resource in terms
of nutrients, energy, and organic material. In the
management of the urban green structure there is a demand
for soil amelioration products. In many cases, organic waste
products (e.g. compost) can fulfil these demands and in this
way reduce the mining of scarce resources like phosphorus,
lime and sphagnum, as well as the energy-expensive fixation
of nitrogen from the atmosphere. In the research study the
following question was raised: To what extent can the urban
green structure contribute in a sustainable way to the
handling of the organic waste produced in the Municipality?
To answer this question
a two-sided analysis was conducted. Firstly, the amount of
organic waste products that can be applied to the urban
green structures in a sustainable way was estimated.
Secondly an estimate was made on the amount of organic waste
that the Municipality has to take care of. As a result of the
analysis, sustainable nutrient application criteria were
agreed upon. These criteria range from application of
nutrients corresponding to that part of the nutrient demand
of vegetation that exceeds that provided by the soil itself
(minimum amount), to the amount that from a soil and water
pollution point of view can be justified (maximum amount).
Due to the limited budget of the local authority, it was
anticipated that their consumption of manufactured
fertiliser and sphagnum is approximately equal to the
minimum amounts of nutrients and organic matter that can be
replaced with organic waste products. Annually,
approximately 4 tonnes of nitrogen (N), 0.8 tonnes of
phosphorus (P) and 20 tonnes of sphagnum are purchased and
used by the Parks Department. Information on the
fertiliser use in private lots of the urban green structures
was not directly available, but this was assumed to be no
less than the amounts used in public areas. Thus, the
minimum amounts of nutrients and organic matter from organic
waste products that can be applied in the urban green
structure amount to 8 tonnes N, 1.6 tonnes P and 40 tonnes
sphagnum. In order to estimate the maximum amount of organic
waste products that can be applied within the urban green
structures from an environmental protection point of view,
the limits stipulated by the Danish Ministry of the
Environment (1996, 1998) were used. The stipulated limits
are: 170 kg N ha-1, 30 kg P ha-1 and 15 tonnes dry organic
matter ha-1. With the 2,750 ha of urban green structure
available, the following amounts can be applied: 2750*170 kg
N, 2750*30 kg P, and 2750*15 tonnes dry organic
matter. Information on the
actual amounts of different fractions of organic waste
produced in the Municipality, the present treatment methods
and the end use of products was gathered, and depicted in a
single waste flowchart - figure 10 (see
bottom of this page).
The figure shows that
the Municipality of Herning uses most of its organic waste
to produce energy, the motivation for utilising the local
urban green structure in organic waste handling is therefore
small. However, to complete the assessment of the potential,
the amounts of N, P and dry matter contained in the urban
fractions of organic waste annually produced by the
Municipality were calculated. Approximately 166 tonnes N, 82
tonnes P, and 8,459 tonnes dry matter in total are contained
in these fractions. Compared to the minimum
estimation, the potential for the urban green structure to
contribute to handling of organic waste in non-agricultural
fractions by replacing purchased fertiliser and sphagnum is
small. It amounts to 5 % in terms of N, 2 % in terms of P,
and 0.2 % in terms of sphagnum/organic matter. Compared to
the maximum estimation, the available area in the urban
green structure just suffices in terms of legal application
of organic waste products. The conclusion was that
the ongoing consumption of manufactured fertiliser and
sphagnum in parks and gardens was unnecessary, and should be
replaced by the use of compost based on garden and park
waste. Climate and
Air: The prevailing westerly
wind brings fresh air from the North Sea into the region.
Accordingly, protection by windbreaks has been necessary to
support agricultural production. Over the years, this fact
has created a net of pine- and fir-hedgerows. The hedgerows
today almost belong to the perception of the traditional
landscape in the region. Within the last decades, the
traditional hedgerows have been replaced by deciduous trees
and shrubs planted in three, five or seven rows. Since
agriculture on areas of poor soils is no longer profitable,
some of these areas have been changed again to meadows or
have been forested. These changes are supported financially
by the Danish Government as part of a general nature
protection and forestation policy. 6. How are the
ecological and environmental functions of green structures
considered in land use and landscape planning? How are the
functions managed to meet ecological and environmental
goals? Formal planning
instruments - Danish planning regulations: The Danish planning
system was changed radically in the 1970s with the
introduction of a new Planning Act. According to the
Planning Act three comprehensive planning levels were
introduced in the local authorities based on the principle
of framework control. The local authorities have to
formulate plans for the total geographical expanse of the
local authority, including the countryside. This is the
overall structure plan, which forms the frame inside which
more detailed local plans are drawn up. Local plans include
regulations and guidelines for green areas in local planning
districts. Furthermore, local authorities are required to
follow the planning process as stipulated by the Planning
Act when changes and new developments are to take place.
Following an amendment to the Planning Act in 2000, an
Agenda 21-strategy on environmental issues is now a
compulsory part of municipal planning. Green areas are given
attention in the Planning Act as one possible category of
land use within towns and cities. Also, green structures
connecting urban and rural areas are brought into focus. In
the overall structure plan in Herning green areas and
structures are integrated parts, but also a Green Plan has
been produced in the Parks Department. The Green Plan
underlines the traditional cultural and recreational values
of the Parks Department, but does not specifically take the
ecological potentials into consideration. At present, there
are no examples of green structure plans that include such a
broad ecological perspective among Danish local authorities.
The Green Plan produced
by the Parks Department covers the town of Herning and its
suburbs. The plan is illustrated in the form of a wheel. A
blue ring of streams and wet areas and a green ring of
wooded areas are connected by green belts forming the wheel.
The intention is to get the message across by using a simple
figure. The plan is not holistic, rather it is
sector-specific to the Parks Department. The plan expresses
the ideas of the Parks Department on its traditional areas
of responsibility such as recreation facilities and
protection of natural features and amenities. Informal
strategies: The actual handling of
urban landscapes and green potential in the local authority
is defined by economic possibilities and by the know-how and
skill of the local authority's specialist staff, where
dialogue with the citizens also plays an important role.
In the last decade or
more, economy and efficiency related to quality in the
management of green areas have been a very big issue in park
departments all over Denmark. Management systems have been
developed to help all actors within the profession to
communicate and find a common understanding. Competition
with the private sector has demanded clear statements of
quality and finances/pricing. The Parks Department in
Herning has defined quality criteria expressing different
working processes and aims in management of the parks and
green areas. The system is used as a basis for the daily
working process. No less important however is the
information, which can illuminate the actual working process
in detail and pass this information on to politicians and
the public. In relation to
environmental goals, the use of pesticides has stopped and
instead alternative methods have been introduced with
success. Also different standards are accepted in the
maintenance of the green elements. This means, for example,
that there are different levels in maintenance of lawns and
football fields and that some areas are left for maintenance
only once a year. In these areas biodiversity can improve
due to the natural potentials if the right strategy is
enforced in management. From 2003 onwards, the
Parks Department is hosting an innovation project supported
by the National Agency for Enterprise and Housing, under the
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. The project has
been called Holistic Park Management. The project brings the
users of the parks in focus and relates user needs to
financial issues, priorities and organisation of the green
areas and nature. 7. What has been
recorded about ecology within the Municipality by whom and
how? Herning made an early
start by participating as one of nine local authorities in a
pilot project initiated by the Ministry of the Environment
in 1988. The 'Green Municipality' project aimed towards
starting local activities on sustainable development.
One of the first
initiatives was to organise green guides with the task of
setting up events and organising education to support a
broader knowledge related to nature resources and recycling
etc. among the public. Many of these initiatives were
carried out in schools and institutions but also in the
urban parks and landscapes with the aim of introducing
alternative thinking and behaviour. In the early 1990s, the
new paradigm of sustainability was incorporated into new
housing projects and redevelopment of redundant industrial
areas into housing. . It was characteristic of
this early period that the great interest in environmental
issues and sustainability stood in stark contrast to the
very limited knowledge and few systematic analyses on such
issues. Since then, progress has been made in developing
knowledge and analyses, which help us towards finding
sustainable solutions. The need for
co-ordinating the many individual projects did lead to the
appointment of an Agenda 21 co-ordinator in Herning. The
role of Agenda 21 co-ordinator was initially given a high
priority and was attached to the local authority department
dealing with overall planning matters and economic issues.
However, after some years the Agenda 21 co-ordinator role
was discontinued. So far as management of
records on biological and environmental matters is
concerned, these are found in several different offices
within the local authority. For example, this implies that
data on parks is kept in the Parks Department; data on green
issues as an integrated part of the urban environment is
kept in the Town Planning Department; and data on flora and
fauna is kept in the Environment Department. Systematic
information is not currently collected by the local
authority itself, but information on certain subjects of
interest such as birds and botany has been gathered in
co-operation with private interest organisations. Certain natural habitats
are protected according to the Danish Nature Protection Act.
These are registered and maintained as areas of special
environmental value. The Danish Nature
Protection Act also places emphasis on planning activities
and an Action plan on Environment Protection has to be
prepared by local authorities. In Herning, such a plan was
first presented in 1993 and has since been evaluated and
revised several times. Topics in the plan for the period
2001 &endash; 2006 include, among others: health, noise, air
pollution and protection of water and soil resources etc.
Tools to support the plan include identifying indicators
(birds and fresh water conditions) and subjects of high
priority (energy saving in industrial production and
transport planning to reduce transportation). By giving the
Environment Protection Plan a high priority, Herning shows
that environment is a main concern for the local
politicians. 8. How have ecological
goals been set out to influence the planning, design and
management processes? And have these goals influenced the
planning processes within the study area? The Municipality of
Herning took an early interest in sustainability and
formulated goals in local planning demanding sustainable
solutions from designers and developers. Much valuable
experience was made and new knowledge was gathered, which
have influenced the next steps and made the need for new
tools and methodologies clear and obvious. In the process of
finding alternative solutions for the handling of organic
waste, Herning and other local authorities shared their
experience in co-ordinating planning strategies, waste-flow
planning and technical waste-processing solutions. Such
experience showed that the planning process must take care
to co-ordinate local plans with the goals of overall waste
management planning in the local authority. For example,
this could include incorporating issues concerning
collection of organic waste from households or possibilities
of local composting into local plans. Treatment of surface
water, improvement af climatic conditions and support of
biodiversity in an area are other issues where ecological
goals influence the detailed planning, design and management
of an area. 9. Conclusions and
perspectives: In the co-operation with
the administrators from the Municipality of Herning it
became clear that the green structure does possess a
potential for contributing to a more sustainable management
of especially biodiversity and urban runoff, and to some
extent organic waste too. However, the situation
is that lack of adequate information and appropriate
methodologies are barriers in the planning process as well
as in the realisation of the goals in design and management.
In the Research Study,
the conclusions were concerned with the development of
planning tools to support the ecological issues in the
planning process. Sustainable criteria -
such as nature protection, recycling of waste and surface
runoff, and increasing biodiversity - were discussed as
possible goals towards sustainable development. A model was
developed to explain an alternative planning procedure
helping in meeting the overall goals of sustainability in
society. The Alternative planning model is shown as figure
12
.
Figure 2 - Population increase over the last 30 years (www.
Herning.dk)
Figure 3 - Land use plan for the central part of the
municipal area - (Planning document 2001 - 2012,
www.Herning.publikationer.dk)
Figure 4: The landscape around Herning anno 1872
Figure 5: Herning and the surrounding landscape
anno1957
Figure 6: Herning and the surrounding landscape
anno1998
Figure
9: Impervious cover and soil types 
Figure 11: Green plan for the central Municipal area of
Herning 
Figure 12: Alternative planning model
Figure 10: Flowchart &endash; future situation according to change in procedures
Working
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Comparison of Case Studies Other papers
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updated 21 July 2003