The European City And Green Space ― London, Stockholm, Helsinki And St. Petersburg, 1850-2000

Although they are all considered fine examples of European cities, in fact these four are quite different in how they were conceived and developed and how they are used today. In this collection of articles covering 150 years of development, 16 contributed articles describe the changes in London's green space and its social construction just before the Second World War, the politics and ideology within the issue of open space in London from 1939 to 2000, Stockholm's urban parks as meeting places and social contexts from 1860 to 1930 and from 1900 to 1939, the model for the building of the city in parks from the 1930s to the 1960s, the formation of national urban parks as a Nordic contribution to sustainable development, the role of nature in Helsinki from 1917 to 1960 and public conflict over it from 1950 to 2000, and St. Petersburg's parks before and during communism. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr Peter Clark is Professor of European Urban History at the University of Helsinki, Finland.