The old and the new

       The city of Copenhagen has integrated both old, historic greenspace, with new, contemporary greenspaces. As one may expect, the cities new greenspaces have much more of a modern, urban flare than their historic counter parts. The old tends to have the classic elements of most parks: vast green expanses of grass, rod iron benched, colorful flower beds, paths for walking, and maybe a serene body of water or a babbling brook. Contrarily, newer parks offer areas made up of vast expanses of pavement, with many recreational features such as playgrounds for children, and colorful design.
      This week we visited parks both old and new. Made in 1699, Copenhagen's Frederiksberg park has truly become a favorite historic greenspace of mine. This park, established by King Frederik IV, was first a maze of linear flower beds and fountains that cascaded down the lawn in perfect form. With a change in style came the removal of the sophisticated gardens and the lawn in front of the palace is now a beautiful, we'll manicured grassy area. This historic space, is speckled with bodies of water in which visitors can watch and feed geese, ducks, and swans. It's winding trails, lined with trees, offers an intimate setting within nature. Small pockets of open green areas where picnicking and lounging occurs, are scattered rough the park. Whimsical bridges connected small peninsulas over calm bodies of water offer a complete sense of serenity. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of a city within this park, as all of your stresses and worries are forgotten and all you can hear is the sound of  song birds people enjoying themselves.
      Contrasting this beautiful historic park, is the newer urban park of Superkilen. This space was created in June 2012 in Copenhagen's Norrebro district. Superkilen is very different from Frederiksberg park in that it not only offers no feeling of escape from the city setting, but it also has very little green space, and what green space it does have is not heavily utilized. The park resembles a skate park with it's large blacktop area. What sets this modern urban park from others is it's design. The blacktop is painted wild shades of red, orange and pink, while other areas offer visually altering patterns. With its abstract design and noisy area, this park offers not feeling of relaxation and perhaps offers just the opposite. Additionally, a bike path cutting directly through the center of one park makes you hyper aware of your bustling surroundings.
        These two parks, both old and new are completely different from each other. While one offers a feeling of escape and peace, the other offers more of an area for recreation (biking,skating, playground). Both parks bring something to the city in different ways and are both integral parts of the neighborhoods/districts they are located in. However, when choosing to go to Superkilen or Frederiksberg, it should not be expected that you will have similar experiences as they are very different.

               Public urban greenspace historically is an integral part of every city. Beautiful, intricate gardens were created and utilized in popular styles (such as baroque). Some have been preserved in their original form and some have been altered to fit our current lifestyle and design. Although the design and layouts of public urban green spaces have perhaps changed, what hasn't is the ways in which these greens paces are utilized.
               Within the city of Copenhagen, there are many green spaces, ranging from vast expanses of grass and trails (such as Frederiksberg Park), to smaller "pocket parks." Larger parks such as Frederiksberg (pictured below), serve as places for the public to congregate in a social setting with friends and family, and to even meet new people. The park, like many throughout the world, also serves as a recreational area. When visiting many of the larger parks within the city we saw many joggers and of course people cycling (because it's Copenhagen). Many of these bikers and joggers were with friends and their children as well! It is a an extremely social setting and provides for a feeling of peace and calm within the bustling metropolitan setting.

              Small, pocket parks may not provide many trails and paths for recreational use, however they still provide that needed sense of peace that is so ever important to our psychological well being. Aesthetically many pocket parks are calming and still provide a social setting or say a place to read a book. Besides the important benefits urban green spaces have on us at an individual level, there is also a great importance of these greenspaces on an ecological level. Trees and plants sequester carbon, which is not only beneficial to the environment but to the people of the surrounding area as we'll, such as in Copenhagen. Parks also provide habitat for local species, and serve to absorb rain water/runoff. In a city setting with many impervious surfaces it is important to have grassy areas with soil for this reason.

                For the residents of Copenhagen, greenspaces serve as an important function to everyday life. These areas are extremely utilized and are very appreciated by the public (often kept clean and respected). The city recognizes the importance of green spaces within the urban setting, something that is not nearly as well integrated in to many cities throughout the world.
             

Historic Greenspace-Trip to Lejre

                We may not realize it, but landscape shapes our lives. In Denmark, like in many regions, the ice age (and glaciation) carved out the land to the way it appears today with its grassy, gently rolling hills and shallow valleys. The periods in which the thick ice retreated and advanced changed the surrounding environment, and thus the early peoples of Denmark had to learn to adapt and adjust to these changes. Ultimately, like in most of the world's societies, these hunter gatherers began to use the land to their advantage (through agriculture).

                Visiting Lejre on our whistle stop tour, we were able to walk through thousands of years of history, and it really put everything into perspective. Denmark's hunter gatherers first began by hunting what they could, and gathering edible flora. Overtime, they became skilled hunters and once reindeer entered the region they began to hunt them. Often time they would stand on the top of each side of a hill and shoot down to the herd of reindeer in the valley. A reindeer provided a lot of food, and the hunters were able to make shelter from their pelts (as seen below). Soon, however the reindeer went further north where it was colder, and the hunter gatherers were left with a choice to either stay or adapt, or to follow the reindeer north. Many stayed and adapted to new, warming conditions. From here they migrated closer to bodies of water. Fishing and gathering became the way of life (lots of oyster, mussels, fish), and the newly forming darker forests provided a new place to live.

A reindeer hunter's shelter

               If we fast forward a little more in time, we would enter Denmark's Bronze Age (around 1650 to 1200 BC). In this time, the early people of Denmark began to use the land to their benefit by farming and domesticating animals. During this time a lot of tools and weapons were created, and there is evidence of large amounts of deforestation. By being able to use the landscape to their benefit, these once nomadic peoples now had a food supply without the need to migrate. Once agriculture starts within any region of the world, many things emerge. Complex societies form, people begin to specialize in specific types of production, and conflict emerges.  At Lejre we were able to see re-creations of Bronze age clothing, in which wool was made from domesticated sheep and dyed using plants found on the land (the colors blue and red were the most expensive and showed a sign of wealth). After Denmark’s Bronze Age, came the Iron Age, named for the large amounts of iron present in Denmark’s soil. From the soil, people were able to extract the iron and use it for blacksmithing; this is a great advantage because weapons and all types of tools could be made from the great amounts of iron. However, the digging up of soil for iron probably had some type of impact on the land as did agriculture (human altering of the land). 

 Bronze age yarn and                                                                                               clothing

                  Lejre was a great place to imagine what it might have been like through the amazing recreations on the premises. All civilizations are shaped by their geography, which includes many factors such as climate, the soils, the amount of precipitation, and the juxtaposition to coastal areas or bodies of water. It is what distinguishes more northern regions such as Denmark (at 55® North) to more equatorial regions such as say Peru.