In harmony with the nature

by Helle Tolmoff

Tartu is known as the university and science centre of Estonia, but it differs from other Estonian cities with its unique natural environment. It is not very common that new habitations of protected plants grow on the territory of a city with 100.000 inhabitants, including the rarest plants. The reason for this is the old valley of river Emajogi, which makes the local water regime suitable for plants of various species. "Preserving the unique environment of our city and maintaining and expanding the green areas is one of the priorities of the City Government," says Urmas Kruuse, the mayor of Tartu. "City planning and development is carried out with the perspective that our citizens would still have a healthy living environment in the future."

The city planners of Tartu have to face unique challenges and skilfully unite the development of the city with preserving the nature, so that neither of them would suffer. Thus, they have reached a unique idea in Estonia to create small protectorates of protected plants inside the planned living quarters. "We have ordered the expertise of conservationists for several areas currently under planning in order to clarify in which limits and under which conditions buildings can be established in the habitat of protected plants," says Indrek Ranniku, the head of Tartu city planning service.

Tartu is open to the international ideas to enrich its city environment. Last year, the city offered its sites to the Europan competition of young European architects. As a new habitation of protected plants was found, an eight-hectare spot of land had to remain untouched. In the works presented, a large greenery was left in the middle of dense housing. The French architects who won the competition proposed a concept of modern living quarters preserving the existing nature, where the parking spaces as well as other human activity has been centralized under the houses.

Thanks to the specific environment of Tartu, the city planners constantly work closely with the national environmental service located in Tartu, sharing the common goal - to keep the nature and thus human-friendly city environment of Tartu.