Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Urban forests in urban environments are under pressure in Finland. The urban expansion causes a loss of urban forests. Urban forests have been increasingly studied, and their properties of improving e.g. air quality, noise reduction and recreational benefits have become more and more valued. In the case of Finland, the urban forests are often existing forests, which have become enveloped by growing amount of urban development.
The necessity of having urban forests in an urban environment has recently been justified with the growing adaptation of the ecosystem services. Ecosystem services can be described as benefits gained for human beings from ecosystems in general, combined with a more economical assessment. In regards to urban forests the ecosystem services include matters such as climate management, storm water management and recreation. Urban forests have also been studied as a way to complement traditional forestry. This new approach to forestry is called urban forestry, and it has been coined as a way to go about the growing urbanization and the ever more urban forest amenities. In urban forestry urban forests can serve other functions, not only production. These alternative functions can be of those of recreation etc.
This thesis studies three cases in northern Finland, in the city of Oulu. These cases are residential development areas that are different in size, but they share similarities such as housing type and location in the peripheries. It is the aim of this study to observe how urban forest amenities are treated in a planning stage. The availability of forest amenities in northern Finland is predictably high, but the treatment of urban forests is a feature that has not got much attention. The urban forests are studied in this thesis with an analysis of both their ecosystem service, and their landscape quality. Results from this study show that increasing attention has been paid to urban forests in Oulu. However the true potentials of the urban forests are not made use of in these three case studies.
In the concluding discussion, points in relation to urban forests will be made based on the study, and certain aspects for improvement are described. The understanding of urban forests and their amenities, in the case of Oulu, are explored. Differences between the case studies will be discussed and the cohesion and the need for urban forests are discussed.