When Urban Planning Doctrine Meets Low Density Countryside

Abstract

Abstract:Drawing on an empirical analysis of Finnish local policy-makers' views on land use planning aims in rural areas, this paper investigates local responses to the new national planning regulations set out by the Government. According to the new norms, a dense settlement structure should be promoted not only in urban centres but also in rural areas in order to curb climate change and improve the viability of communities. Based on the data obtained from an internet-based survey conducted by a regional newspaper in western Finland before municipal elections in 2008 and 2012, this paper shows that the majority of the local policy-makers challenge the new norms. They do not believe that sustainable development can be promoted by constraining building rights in the rural region characterised by a dispersed settlement structure. Key words: land use planning, climate change, rural areas, FinlandAbstrakti: Artikkelissa analysoidaan suomalaisten kuntapoliitikkojen näkemyksiä siitä, tulisiko kuntien keskittää ja tiivistää asutustaan ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemiseksi. Aineistona käytetään kuntavaalien 2008 ja 2012 alla kerättyä internetkyselyä, johon vastasi molempina vuosina noin tuhat ehdokasta Etelä-Pohjanmaalta. Artikkeli osoittaa, että kuntapäättäjät eivät kannata keskittämistä ja tiivistämistä, vaan suosivat sen sijaan hajautettua rakentamista eri puolille kuntaa. Näkemykset eivät ole muuttuneet neljässä vuodessa. Kantaa perustellaan ennen kaikkea alueiden ja ihmisten välisen tasa-arvon turvaamisella. Ilmastonmuutos ja ympäristösyyt eivät ole keskeisiä argumentteja, kun kuntapäättäjät perustelevat näkemyksiään maankäytön suunnittelun tavoitteista.

Ecological Village Planning and Green Building Design from the Perspective of Rural Environmental Aesthetics

“…In the process of ecological civilization construction, villages and towns are the main construction subjects of ecological civilization [2]. In the development process of rural human settlement environment construction, not only the horizontal development of human settlement environment but also the vertical development of rural human settlement environment should be considered [3]. However, the current rural construction, especially the housing construction, has many problems and often does not meet the ecological requirements.…”

Degrowth in city planning

“…Compact cities and densely built city centres are regarded as climate friendly. Accordingly, climate concern has become established as the explicit rationale for densifying regional city dynamics (Newman & Kenworthy 1989;Kenworthy 2006;Dodman 2009;Haarstad 2016;Sireni 2016; caused by urban compression have shown that the actual footprints do not necessarily follow the initial thesis. Climate strain seems to grow when populations are concentrated due to changes in consumption patterns.…”