Sports areas and equipment

Kronsberg was built as a model district of sustainable urban development for the EXPO 2000, which motto was 'Humankind-Nature-Technology'. In the previously intensively farmed area, 3200 new dwelling unit was built. Among other sustainable technologies, the planners of the district developed a quasi-natural drainage system that aimed to provide the municipalities a sustainable alternative for traditional drainage (Reference 1, 2).

20 years after planning started in 1992, EXPO district of Kronsberg has proven its viability in terms of sustainable urban development and provided important foundations for advanced urban planning of new buildings in Hannover and elsewhere. The project was showcased in the ‘Crystal’ exhibition pavilion in London as a global standard for integrated construction. The ‘World Cities Summit 2012’ in Singapore also paid tribute to the residential area as one of the world’s hundred most innovative infrastructure projects (Reference 1, 2013).

The development of the sustainable district of the Haute Deûle River Banks, associated to Euratechnologies TIC center, leans on recognition of water as an element of its foundation. The current innovation is about the water garden. It is a part of the bigger project, building an eco-district on the banks of the Haute Deule river. The water garden, which plays the role of storage (stormwater) and of phytoremediator, evolves with the rhythm of rain and becomes the emblematic place for this work with water. Its vegetation improves every year and the natural seeds of young willow trees contribute to the establishment of a dynamic ecosystem (Ref 1).

Maritza Gardens is a residential complex with an abundant park environment along the north bank of the Maritza River. The inner part is a 5000 sq.m. park with luxuriant vegetation and facilities for recreation. The purpose of the complex is to allow residents to successfully combine city life with well-being. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2).

The garden is located on the territory of the social welfare home 'Helclów' in Kraków under the protection of a regional monument conservator. It is supposed to integrate the residents of various age and support physical rehabilitation and leisure with elements of garden therapy. Its main goal is to integrate the elderly from the social welfare home with other citizens through joint activities, such as flowers and herbs planting and caretaking. The initiative involves planting greenery (including 314 trees and 134 square meters of shrubs between 2010 and 2016), setting a grill area, and renovating the infrastructure for the disabled. The garden is supposed to serve as an offset for harmful developments in other parts of the city. Private investors are often obliged to provide resources for new trees in the garden’s natural wall and a noise and pollution barrier. The park is publicly accessible between 9 AM and 6 PM and is available for the organization of events and meetings. The concept to open the previously closed garden to the public was initiated an application for a participatory budget in 2016 and very much supported by all parties involved [1,2,3].

EPAEM (Euromediterranean public development establishment) launched the development a new park of 14 hectares. Located in former industrial area at the gates of the northern districts of Marseille, it is considered to be one of the poorest districts in France (Ref. 1). The planned park Aygalades is divided into two parts: the southern part of 4 hectares called Bougainville Park and the northern part of 10 hectares which runs along the Aygalades river (Ref. 1). Development work on Bougainville Park is set to begin in September 2020 with completion in 2023 (Ref. 12). The park is described as "the first step of a large project to restore a highly degraded industrial site" (Ref. 12).

The city of Palermo has planned a series of interventions to regenerate the coastal area in the Southern part of the city (Bandita, Romagnolo and Acqua dei Corsari). The activities performed to reach this goal were the cleaning of the green areas which surround the coast and creation of playground zones for kids. In particular, the green areas were expanded with the plantation of typical plants of the Mediterranean area. This project was aiming to improve the condition of both water and the coast itself, to make it more attractive and accessible to everyone. (Ref.1.)

The Ciric Entertainment Area is a bordering area of ​​the city, located 6 km away from the city center. Before the Second World War Ciric did not exist on the map, being a hollow valley without a forest. Nowadays, being arranged as a recreational site, Lake Ciric is surrounded by a beautiful forest. The rehabilitation aimed at creating easy access to the area, to include it in the functional green area of the city and to increase the quality of life for Iasi's inhabitants (1, 2).

The Grand Park Garonne urban project aims to rehabilitate and develop the banks of the river Garonne that runs 32 kilometers through the city. From 2015, several development projects was planned to be carried out for a total of 28.7 million euros across 3 areas: the Garonne downstream, Toulouse center and the city's "green lung" Island of Ramier (Ref. 1, 4). Within these are 12 sites that consist of 40 pilot projects for operations. Among these are projects focused on protecting and restoring natural habitats and species in order to create a citywide green corridor (Ref. 8).

In 2016 the Environmental Protection Division of Hannover's Department of Environment and Urban Environment started a common pilot project, KlimaWohL, with Bothfelder Kamp GmbH & Co. KG and the Gundlach Group. The building project in Hanover-Bothfeld, formerly called “Hilligenwöhren”, was renamed to “Herzkamp”. By 2021, the family company Gundlach will build approx. 300 terraced houses, rental and freehold apartments. The aim of the project is to implement a new residential area where the researchers of KlimaWohL can systematically test the climate adaptation strategy of Hanover. The new residential area that aims to be an innovative example of climate-adaption for other cities will be equipped with extensive green surfaces and will pay attention to protect the natural environment and species. (Reference 1, 3). In 2018, planting the edge of the forest was started, wherein a tiered 20m wide border consisting of shrubs and trees were planted between the forest and the residential area. Construction of the rental apartments was started and by 2019, the row houses and semi-detached houses have started to be sold. The shell has been completed and the interior work has started. By 2022, overall completion of the project is foreseen.

The planned intervention focuses on creating accessible green spaces for meaningful social exchanges. The City Council seeks to achieve this through a ground plan of connecting green spaces and ease of access into buildings. The intervention, proposed as a lineal green area, centers its structural organization around green spaces and public spaces. Accessibility for pedestrians is facilitated through spines of green spaces that cross the planned neighbourhood horizontally and vertically. These green spaces are planned to be watered with collected rain water, consequently the smart use of water is also a focus of the intervention. (ref 1)