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City centre green spaces survey

City centre green spaces survey

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Tallinn is a city with a lot of biodiversity - insects, birds and animals live right next to us, and it is important to provide suitable habitats for them.

In order to increase city's biodiversity, Tallinn is committed to steadily reducing the amount of mowing of green spaces. For example, since 1st of December last year, the city has signed new contracts for the maintenance of various green spaces, which also involves less intensive mowing.

For better assessment which areas in the city should be mown more or less in the next season, we need input about what kind of green areas are in active use, in which way and how often they are used. We are starting with a pilot project survey focused on gathering information about green spaces in the City Centre District. In the future, we plan to carry out similar surveys in other districts of Tallinn.  

The survey will take place on Maptionnaire platform from 17.08 to 12.09. Thank you for participating!

In survey, please mark on a map the green spaces you use in the City Centre District and answer questions about their use. We hope that you can take part in the survey and thus make the living space better both for people and city nature around us. 


Survey results

The survey about the city centre green spaces was active in the end of 2023 summer through the Maptionnaire and Tallinn webpage platforms. All in all, approximately 5000 citizens gave their input into the survey and around half of the respondents were citizens of Tallinn city centre. 
For a detailed overview of the survey, please check the file: Rohealade niitmise kokkuvõte. (File is in Estonian)
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Main conclusions from the survey

  • The large amount of respondents to the survey shows that handling of city centre green spaces is important to the citizens of Tallinn and the maintenance practices of the parks must be discussed.
  • Most of the respondents visit the green spaces once a month or even more frequently.
  • Citizens use the parks mostly for walking activities.
  • Over 75% of respondents believe that the green spaces should not be mowed or if mowing is required, it should happen rarely.
 

Picture author: Ilja Matusihis

We have separately brought out the responses to Toompark, Poolamäe, Skoone bastioni and Teatri väljak green spaces:

Toompark:
  • Snelli pond and Toompark near the Old Town were visited more than once a month by 70% of respondents. More than half of the respondents use Toompark for walking, either alone, in a group or with a pet. However, we also note that Toompark is also used for spending time with children, for playing, for  sports activities or for relaxation. 
  • Only 14.6% of respondents think that Toompark should be mowed. Just over 80% of respondents think that mowing should be done rarely or not at all. As visitors to the green area spend their time rather by the pond than the car road, the option of not mowing Toompark on the car road side was suggested.
Poolamägi:
  • 63.4% of respondents visit Poolamägi next to the Kalev Central Stadium more than once a month. Half of the respondents like to use Poolamägi for walking. 
  • 44% of visitors would like the green area rarely to be mown. Almost 20% think that the area should not be mown at all. A suggestion was made that if mowing were to take place, at least the slopes of Poolamägi should not be mown.
Skoone bastion:
  • Half of the respondents visit the Skoone bastion green area near the Old Town and Linnahall more than once a month. 43% of respondents visit the area less than once a month. The vast majority (52.9%) use this green area for walking. It should be noted that the area is also popular for relaxation activities (picnicking, yoga, nature retreats).
  • Just over half of the respondents strongly agree that the Skoone bastion green space does not need mowing at all. In addition, 28% of respondents think that the green area should be mowed rarely. A very large number of respondents felt that the green space has great potential to develop into a popular park if it would be managed better and if the biodiversity was increased. 
Teatriväljak:
  • The Theatre Square (Teatriväljak) in front of the Estonia Theatre and next to the Solaris Centre was also visited often. Almost 70% of respondents visit the green area more than once a month.  Compared to the previous parks, Teatriväljak is used most for walking (75%). The area is least used for spending time with children.
  • Nearly 60% of respondents think that the area does not need to be mowed. This is the highest level of opposition to full mowing of the green spaces identified. In addition, 25% of respondents see that the park should be mowed, but rarely. As the park is located between busy roadways, citizens feel that the park is currently underutilized and in need of a new landscaping solution.

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Picture author: Dmitri Povilaitis

Last modified 07.05.2024