Cultural (museum, concert areas)

Typically considered dividers of the urban space, ravines ('barrancos') which run through Guatemala City are being targeted for an overhaul of their reputation and are instead being reframed as a way to bring people and their environment together (Ref. 3). Now metamorphosed into a grassroots movement, 'Barranqueando' "wants to continue integrating the ravines with the urban environment to generate ecological, social and economic benefits for their city", where the unexplored potential of the ravines can be realised as areas to "serve as natural reserves, as nodes and paths for sustainable mobility throughout the city, as rainwater collectors, as crucial carbon sinks, as well as for purifying and cooling the air" (Ref. 3).

One of the first projects of the movement was the development of Jungla Urbana, an ecological park that brought together a ravine and the adjacent urban space, "giv[ing] residents the opportunity to wander through largely untouched nature – and experience the natural ecology of the site their city is built on", and providing an area to "...explore how the city’s unique ecosystem can be used to benefit its citizens – ecologically, socially and economically" (Ref. 3).

Al Shaheed Park is the largest park in the country. The park was designed to include besides its green spaces, several buildings (museums, parking) populated with green roofs and an artificial lake. The size of the park with all the mentioned grey and green elements stands at 20 ha. The park is viewed as an encompassing part of a green belt that surrounds the city of Kuwait. From an environmental point of view, the park was built to protect the city from sandstorms and to reduce air pollution. From a cultural point of view, the park and the museums are providing the public with high-quality programs, events and spaces, and part of their mission is to spread awareness and educate the public on the importance of the country’s land, history and environment, in addition to the encouragement of international and regional exchange of arts. In addition, the park is meant to commemorate the victims of the first Gulf War. (1,2,3)

One of the first public institutions to rise to the climate change challenge in the Philippines is the LLDA, which unveiled a two-wing, four-story green building in Quezon City to mark its 48th anniversary in 2014.
Reflecting the critical mandate of the LLDA to protect the country’s largest freshwater lake, the LLDA building features its own water treatment facility, material recovery facility, and a rain collection system that can hold 60,000 gallons of water. In order to be certified by the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence, several greened areas have been installed in the building: two “pocket gardens” on intermediate levels and a green roof (Bio Roof) which covers an area of 208 m2. The Bio Roof is integrated within the building’s structure. Its vegetative layer protects the waterproofing membrane from climatic extremes, which allows for the reduction in maintenance and the reduction in the size of stormwater handling facilities. [1]

Recognising the benefits which urban forests bring to its citizens, Salvador has committed to protecting and restoring the Atlantic Forest, and has developed its own local framework which goes beyond national requirements (Ref. 1). The city has launched several programmes under its 'Salvador, Capital da Mata Atlantica' initiative, which together aim to restore the forest which has "suffered from severe deforestation" (Ref. 1). Included under the umbrella initiative are programmes such as the "'Delivery of trees', recovery of parks and collective planting" (Ref. 4).

The Sustainable Residential Complex project was a measure taken by the city of Dubai, one of the largest city ecological footprints, with a goal to reduce it to the smallest ecological footprint by 2050. For the past two decades, the UAE government has made an effort to lower its own dependency on fossil fuels, shifting toward more environmentally-friendly sources to power its cities. The sustainable residential complex development project is one of the few initiatives taken by the city administration of Dubai under Vision 2021. Located just outside Dubai the area is the first operational net-zero energy residential complex in Dubai. [1, 2]

The Jerusalem Forest is located southwest of Jerusalem and is the green lung of the residents of Israel's capital. The forest has a variety of trees, flowers and wildlife, remains of ancient farming implements and burial caves (2). The forest was planted in the 1950s in an attempt to increase the green cover and natural biodiversity of the area. However, due to intensive urban development including road constructions and energy grid installation and forest fires the size of the forest has been shrinking once covering 4 700 000 m2 to the current size of 1 250 000m2. In 2016, a non-governmental green organisation initiated the renewing of the Jerusalem Forest with the aim to preserve the forest, halt its decrease, secure its sustainable maintenance while involving the public in the conservation efforts increasing their environmental knowledge about their local habitat and support nature stewardship through the application of a community forest model. (1,2,8)

The Anderson Road Quarry, once a vacant 40-hectare site is getting transformed into a sustainable residential neighbourhood while ensuring climate resiliency and low environmental impact in Hong Kong. The site will supply housing for 25,000 people. In addition to this, the city is employing a wide array of adaptive and resilient approaches including saving around 3,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, helping the city live up to its 65% to 75% carbon reduction goal by 2030 set in Hong Kong Climate Action Plan. [1]

Battambang is projected to experience significant effects of climate change that will have a range of impacts including changes to hydrology and the frequency and intensity of flooding and droughts. As part of an Asian Development Bank project, a technical Climate Change Core Group was established to ensure that representatives from key sectors and levels of government work together to build resilience for the town and prepare the residents for the inevitable climate change impacts in the future. Three infrastructure systems in Battambang were identified for detailed vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning by the climate change Core Group; a) a long canal system to the west of the town, b) the riverbanks near the Sor Kheng Bridge in the centre of town, c) the train station and surrounding wetlands and settlements in the centre of town. [1, 2]

The Gangxia 1980 green roof, a pilot of the Green Cloud project, was launched by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in collaboration with key partners, including: Zhubo-AAO; Glocal Estate Management; and Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen (UPDIS) [1]. Located on an old building in Gangxia village in Shenzhen, the project utilizes three-dimensional light steel structures that are simple to construct and have the capacity to hold over 420 plant containers, filled with plants mostly native to Southern China [1, 2]. The original concrete rooftop is transformed by vegetation, which is capable of absorbing and preserving rainwater, creating a nature-based stormwater management system for the residential building, achieving a 65% of run-off control rate [1, 2]. As a result, a living “green cloud” is formed on a rooftop of Gangxia village, showcasing “a model to improve the urban village’s stormwater management system and its living environment” [1. p.33].

Hatirjheel area development project is a wetland restoration project that explores the possibility of reintroducing water edge elements into the city of Dhaka. The project includes both engineered infrastructure and NbS. The restored jheel (wetland) and Begunbari khal have improved storm-water management of Dhaka and made aquatic biodiversity better. It also increased green and open space in the busy capital. The intended objective of the project was to create a bridge between the densely developed old part of the city on the south and the new organised north part of the city. Spreading over 311 acres, this project has endeavoured towards improving connectivity between major urban corridors as well as acting as a retention pond to mitigate the flash flood-prone densely populated part of the area. [1,2]