Green Tartu

Spatial Planning Project

The city of Tartu (Tartu linn) is divided into 18 districts with the river Emajõgi running along the most important district of the city – Kesklinn (The City Centre) which dates back to the Swedish occupation of Estonia during the late 15th century. Located to the south of Kesklinn is Karlova which dates back to the post war Estonia and still embodies the aura of its time. Annelinn which is another important district especially in terms of mass housing, was designed and constructed as a mikrorayon during the post war Soviet occupation of Estonia roughly following Le Corbusier’s modern city planning principles. Before and after Estonia’s independence from the Soviet, the city of Tartu has exhibited a centrifugal growth like most cities during which all its peripheral districts like Maarjamõisa emerged. As a result of the diverse historical occupation of Estonia, the many districts of Tartu exhibit a varied land use pattern and therefore the distribution of green spaces in all the districts is not homogenous both in terms of quality and quantity.