Green Oslo: History, Trajectory and Prospects

It is our contention that Oslo has a long history of being a 'green city' in the sense both of having a strong self-awareness of the city in its wider geographic setting and a long tradition of conservation of natural resources and green spaces. We also b elieve that the specific character of planning decisions of the present and future should be informed by an understanding of place that relies on various aspects and modes of place analysis: the cultural geography, including imaginations and representatio ns of place; the natural setting understood as landscape and region; the cultural landscape; and architecture and urban physical space. Gathering narratives of Green Oslo - of garden developments, forest preserves, housing styles, tells us much about ho w people have understood what nature means in this place; efforts to shape and design the built environment out of these conceptions of place constitute a tradition that should be considered as public officials attempt to secure support for revived planni ng efforts. The primary goal of this project is to produce an anthology including perspectives from such fields as urban and regional planning, architecture, landscape architecture, anthropology, cultural history, and human geography. As this project is multidisciplinary in nature we will consider multiple approaches and methods; however there are two general perspectives that we would like to organise the book around. First a structural analysis of the growth and development of the Oslo metropolitan re gion, second a cultural analysis of the diverse narratives that have defined Oslo as a green city.