Planting Design 2013 Working Group 26 - Case Study C

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The Green River Path of Uppsala, Sweden

Name	The Green River Path
Location	Uppsala
Country	Sweden
Authors	John Lööf Green

Rationale: From obstacle to asset

For many years the river Fyris, that passes through downtown Uppsala, was seen as an obstacle that had to be overcome. Since the early 2000s this view has gone through a change and the river has become more of an asset to the municipality. This has been manifested with a series of new rooms around the river meant for public outdoor life in the central parts of town as well as a larger vision with the river being a gate into the natural landscape that surrounds Uppsala. The work with the River Room has only begun and there will be a lot of questions to answer politcally, technically and design-wise in the upcoming decades for the city of Uppsala. The potential is clear and the first improvements have been nationally recognised in Sweden as Best Practice. Personally I spend time around this river every week in both its urban and rural/natural setting.

Author's perspective

My professional background is as a young Landscape Architect doing my MSc education at the moment. Earlier I was working as a media and communications consultant specialised on Landscape topics. This case is therefore interesting to me both from an ecological/social point of view as well as a case of the need for environmental communication.

Landscape and/or urban context of your case

Geography The municipality has got around 200,000 inhabitants which makes it the 4th largest city of Sweden. The city is situated on the fertile plains of Uppsala and the landscape is much affected by the glacial and post-glacial period. There are close to 100m thick layers of glacial and post-glacial clay right in the city centre where also the Fyris River runs in a sink. Just beside the river rins the glacial ridge “Uppsalaåsen” where the castle of Uppsala is located.

The Fyris River The Fyris river is the longest river of Uppland county, Sweden and runs straigth through the main city of Uppsala (200,000 inhabitants). The run off area is 1990 km² and the river is used as a source of drinking water for the city of Uppsala. Water is pumped from a nearby lake, Tämnaren, into the Fyris river. Downstream it is pumped up onto the glacial ridge, Uppsalaåsen, just north of town where the water can infiltrate, purify and be pumped up again as ground water in town. The Fyris river runs out in the lake Mälaren which is the southern bounds of the city of Uppsala.

History Uppsala is one of the oldest towns of Sweden. Since almost one thousand years it has been a religious, political as well as economical power hub. The oldest university of Scandinavia is located in the city and it is the hometown of Carl von Linné. The city has always been shaped by academia, the Dome Church (seat of the archidiocese of Sweden) as well its proximity to Stockholm.

Climate and location Uppsala is located very close to the 60th parallel north and has got a rather humid climate on the brink of being sub-arctic with cold winters and mild summers. During summer solstice there is more than 18 hours of visible sunshine whereas during the winter solstice it is merly under six hours. The average yealy temperature is around 5°C with an average of -4°C in february (coldest) and 16°C in july (warmest). Record high temperature is 38°C (1933) and the record low -39.5°C (1875). The average yearly precipitation was 537 mm/year between 1961-1990.

• Illustration: Map; sketches; short descriptive analyses

Analytical drawings

Please add four analytical sketches/drawings (or montages/schemes) of your case and take the following aspects into account:

• natural dynamic versus cultural framework - in how far do these two forces come together in your case?
• dynamic through the year (you may imagine how the site looks in spring and summer, maybe you also remember it)
• highlight potentials and problems

• Analytical Drawings
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  analytical drawing 1

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  analytical drawing 2

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  analytical drawing 4

Projective drawings

• Please add four projective sketches/drawings (or montages/schemes) for your case and take the following aspects into account:
  • How would you like this case to change in the near future? (in 1-2 years)
  • And how could it look like in 10-15 years?

• Projective Drawings
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  projective drawing 1

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  projective drawing 3

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  projective drawing 4

Summary and conclusion

The Green River Path of Uppsala has been acknowledged as a resource for the whole city since almost a decade. The question for the future is now how to manage this resource. Downtown the answer has been quite clear: better access to the river room with lots of space for pedestrians, places to sit and activities to take part. One part of the renewal won the “Siena price” as best landscape architecture in Sweden 2005 with the project “Östra ågatan”. When it comes to the more natural and green landscape along the Green River Path there has been a political stalemate within the municipality. One majority is in favour of protecting more or less the whole area hindering further development. The other side would like to give rather generous possibilities to external developers and real estate companies. Neither approach is reasonable if all the values of the area are to be considered. There has to be a lot of ecological sensitivity as well as perception of how to further increase the value of use. Many parts are today rather inaccessible and not conceived as secure for people in general. At first I consider these qualities to be of highest priority for communicational as well as practical causes.

Image Gallery

• Image Gallery
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  The author by river fyris green path in downtown Uppsala during the winter. Photo: John Lööf Green

References

• Information from the general plan for the city of Uppsala (In Swedish) [1].
• Municipality information about a new development area of the Green River Path (In Swedish) [2].
• Information about the Siena price 2005 (In Swedish) [3].
• Wikipedia article about the Fyris river [4].

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