Benches and drinking water stations

The "Jardim do Eucaliptal" (Eucalyptus Garden) in Benfica is undergoing extensive renovations to improve its facilities and usability. Over time, the intensive urbanization of this neighbourhood has not left many traces of the historic eucalyptus forest typical of this area, but this urban park actively protects and maintains these old and heavy-trunk eucalyptus trees, growing amidst the park's more recent vegetation (Ref. 3). In the last few years, several trees have fallen, causing considerable damages to buildings and vehicles in the nearby area (July 2023), and leading to residents demanding financial compensations for damages and for the Lisbon City Council (CML) to take action for mitigating future problems (Ref. 5).
The renovation project implementation, expected to last six months, includes refurbishing the children's playground, sports field, toilets, and amphitheatre, along with introducing a dog park and outdoor exercise equipment (Ref 1). The park, originally part of the Quinta das Palmeiras de Guerreiro Galla forest, remains a crucial green space in the area despite extensive urbanization (Ref 2). These renovations, with a budget of 180,000 euros, also address the maintenance of public street furniture, the pavement, and lighting infrastructure, ensuring that the park meets the growing needs of the local community (Ref 3). These activities aim to meet the growing needs of the local population and improve these urban green spaces so that the community can enjoy them to the fullest. (Ref. 4).

The Heat Action Planning project in the Lindo Park-Roesley Park Neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona, specifically addresses the heat-related challenges residents face in this area. Phoenix is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat events, and this project aims to provide both mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce the direct impacts of heat and help residents cope more effectively with these conditions. As part of the city’s broader Heat Action Plan, the Lindo Park-Roesley Park initiative is one of three target areas, including Edison-Eastlake, just east of downtown Phoenix, and the Water Tower Improvement District in the City of Mesa. The project focuses on heat hazards such as extreme temperature events and the urban heat island effect, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.
This project is a collaborative effort, uniting a range of stakeholders including The Nature Conservancy, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance, the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network, Arizona State University’s Urban Climate Research Center, and the local residents. Together, these partners are working to develop comprehensive heat mitigation and adaptation strategies that address social equity and strengthen community engagement. Furthermore, the Heat Action Planning process was designed to serve as a model for future heat resilience efforts and create a local, contextual, and culturally appropriate vision of a safer, healthier future. The iterative planning and engagement method used by the project team strengthened relationships within and between
neighborhoods, community-based organizations, decision-makers, and the core team, and it combined storytelling wisdom and scientific evidence to better understand current and future challenges residents face during extreme heat events.The ultimate aim is to foster a more resilient and equitable neighborhood (1-7).

Lafayette Greens is a transformative urban green space and community garden located in downtown Detroit, occupying a parcel of 1720 sqm that once housed the historic Lafayette Building. Following the building's demolition in 2010, the site, situated near Compuware headquarters and the Detroit Federal Building, was re-imagined through a public-private partnership into a productive urban garden (Ref.1, 6). The garden was designed in 2012 for a local software company, Compuware, which after completion gifted it to a local NGO, The Greening of Detroit, in 2014. Lafayette Greens serves as a green oasis in a bustling urban environment, offering city workers, residents, and visitors a space to relax and engage with nature. The garden produces chemical-free fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and since 2019, has focused on cultivating a certified pollinator habitat, essential for supporting urban biodiversity. The garden also provides educational programming, including classes on pollinators like bees and birds, and the DIG - Detroiters in the Garden series, in collaboration with Fort Street Presbyterian Church’s Open Door program, fostering community involvement and environmental stewardship. (Ref.2)

Del Nervi Park is a project co-led by the Port System Authority of the Sardinian Sea and the Municipality of Cagliari. Completed in 2021, it transformed a long-abandoned and degraded area on the Cagliari waterfront into a vibrant green space. The two-hectare site surrounds a 1950s industrial building and underwent extensive redevelopment to enhance its structural integrity and convert it into a public park. With a budget exceeding 5 million euros, the project prioritized green investments by creating new pedestrian and cycling paths, along with green spaces featuring local plants, flower beds, grass, and lawns.

Nervi Park is set to become a key destination for leisure, sports, and cultural activities, while also providing the Cagliari community with greater access to green spaces. The environmental and urban renewal efforts aimed to beautify and modernize the area, with future development plans focusing on long-term management and the introduction of commercial activities to further enhance the space
The project faced significant barriers, including prolonged disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted work for about eight months. (Refs. 1, 2, 3 & 4).

The Three Mile Creek Greenway Trail project aims to transform the existing creek into a valuable community asset by developing a multi-use greenway trail (Ref 1). This greenway will connect various parts of the city through walking and biking paths, linking neighbourhoods, parks, and commercial districts while providing access to unique natural areas (Ref 2). The creek having been adandonned for decades (Ref 5), the initiative seeks to turn 3 Mile Creek (3MC) into a vibrant natural corridor that fosters recreation, education, and economic activities (Ref 1, Ref 2). The project aims also at reducing pollutants in the waterway, restoring natural stream channels, and maintaining flood protection (Ref 1).
The 3MC Greenway Trail is expected to become a key feature of Mobile's urban landscape, offering numerous benefits. These include enhancing community health, both mental and physical (Ref 2), and stimulating the local economy by increasing property values, tax revenues, and opportunities for recreation-related businesses and job development (Ref 2). Additionally, the trail will improve community connectivity by linking neighbourhoods, parks, and schools, thereby fostering a stronger sense of community and better access to public spaces (Ref 2). Lastly, the project will contribute to environmental restoration through stormwater management, pollution reduction, and natural habitat preservation (Ref 2).
The greenway is part of a plan to restore the health of the Three Mile Creek watershed and is the first major piece of a long-term Mobile Greenway Initiative (MGI) (Ref 4).

The Mziuri Park in the center of Tbilisi and adjacent to the city's zoo was heavily impacted by floods and landslides that occured in June 2015 in Georgia. As a result, many of its facilities were destroyed, necessating the redevelopment of the site (Ref. 1,2). In 2017, the Georgian government initiated the Urban Reconstruction and Development (GURAD) Project with funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the 100 million € framework loan. The park's reconstuction is one of multiple projects under the natural disaster recovery component of the GUARD Fund (Ref. 1,2). As of 2020, the park has been fully redeveloped catering to the needs of diverse groups, but especially youth and children with a number of different sports, cultural and recreational areas (Ref. 3,4). Importantly, construction was carried out under consideration of spatial adaptation measures for people with disabilities and with a renewed drainage system to mitigate the effects of future floods (Ref. 1). The park is now again one of the most important recreational areas in Tbilisi (Ref. 3).

The Circle Forest project, led by Arboretum Detroit in partnership with Detroit Future City, is transforming a vacant lot the size of a football field in the Poletown East neighborhood into a green space. Once used as a dumping site, the area is being revitalized with 200 native trees, including oak, elderberry, white pine, and juniper. Supported by local groups like Detroit Audubon, Singing Tree, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the project aims to improve environmental quality and provide better access to nature for residents. Since 2019, over 120 trees have been planted, with plans to develop a native meadow. This initiative offers a space for recreation and reflection, benefiting the local community, including a nearby nursing home and rehabilitation center. Beyond ecological restoration, Circle Forest fosters connections to indigenous knowledge and respects the wisdom of the original stewards of the land. (Ref.1, 2)

The new 6.5-hectare Anita Berber Park has been created on the site of the former St Thomas cemetery, between Tempelhofer Feld and Hermannstraße. It is named after the dancer Anita Berber, who herself was buried there in 1928. The cemetery was unused and out of use for several years and became accessible to the public through the intervention. (Ref. 3; Ref. 6) The construction period was preceded by a public participation process in which the facilities and design were developed together with the users. The redesign of the space was conducted by a landscape architecture office (Henningsen Landschaftsarchitekten PartG mbB) and financed by the German Federal Government (Ref. 1). The new park, which was planned and financed as a compensatory measure for the construction of the A100 urban highway, increases the quality of local recreation in the densely populated district of Neukölln. (Ref. 2; Ref. 6) An important goal was to achieve high species diversity in the park while preserving its valuable trees and shrubs. The park also offers multiple spots for rest and play as well as a zone for free running dogs. (Ref. 2; Ref. 6)
The park features wooden climbing structures and an old collection of trees with hollows, along with bushes and shrubs. These areas often accumulate rubbish, highlighting the ongoing waste management issues the park has faced since its renovation (Ref. 4).

Birmingham faces several immediate risks due to climate change, including heatwaves, water shortages from droughts, floods, and extreme weather (Ref 11). To address these challenges, Birmingham City Council has set a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2027. As part of this effort, the new Birmingham Library project, initiated by the council, includes a rooftop garden designed to contribute to this target (Ref 3). The library was designed by the Dutch firm Mecanoo Architecten, with a design process spanning from 2008 to 2012 (Ref 5). The two outdoor rooftop gardens, located on levels 3 and 7, were completed in 2013 (Ref 1). These gardens provide green spaces in the city center, enhance water management through rainwater harvesting, serve as educational facilities for sustainable food innovation, and create natural habitats for wildlife (Ref 1, 3, 4, 6). Their contributions helped the library achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating and have garnered various awards (Ref 1, 10). The new library aligns with Birmingham City Council's Big City Plan to regenerate the city center, with the green roof gardens playing a key role (Ref 4).

The Estufa Fria de Lisboa (Cold Greenhouse of Lison), located on the south-facing slope of Park Eduardo VII in Lisbon and part of the city's green corridor (Corredor Verde de Monsanto) aims to integrate leisure, culture, and education opportunities to promote plant biodiversity conservation within a sustainability framework (Ref. 1). Cold Greenhouse refers to the fact that there is no heating system on the premises, and it also refers to one of the three gardens (Ref. 5). The greenhouses were created in an old quarry dedicated to rock extraction, and these lush gardens are now comprised of three distinct greenhouse environments: cold, warm, and sweet (Ref. 1). These greenhouses collectively house over 300 plant species from diverse continents, including rare species (Ref. 2).
The garden's design integrates natural water features, with watercourses and waterfalls and statuary elements. Since the opening of its Interpretation Center in 2016, the Estufa Fria has expanded its role as an educational resource, hosting exhibitions and activities related to botany and urban green structures. Since 2016 the project has been focused on its educative agenda with the development of a set of pedagogical resources for preschoolers, students from ages 6 to 12 years old and their teachers, and with guided visits. (Ref 1, 2)