Private sector/Corporate/Company

The Urban Ecology Agency of Oslo (Bymiljøetaten) installed two CityTrees in the city of Oslo to act as green lungs in the city and reduce air pollution. The two CityTrees were placed at the Solli plass by Sommerrogata and on Nordraaks plass, close to Slottsparken. The CityTree is an environmentally-friendly plant wall with benches. (Ref. 2) It is an invention of a German company, Green City Solutions, and acts both as an aesthetically attractive furniture for resting, while simultaneously combating air pollution in city centres. (Ref. 1)

FutureBuilt is a program running between 2010-2020, with expectations to continue from 2021-2030 (Ref. 9). One of its projects consists of the construction of a large greenhouse in between a housing complex in an old industrial building. The greenhouse will be the centre of the building and provide a Mediterranean climate with a lot of green facades, green roofs and indoor vertical greeneries (Ref. 1). The nave of the complex will become a greenhouse and the natural gathering point for the residents. (Ref. 1, 3)

This underground garage in Alicante, Spain, received a green roof makeover according to Alicante's climatological conditions (Ref. 2). Urbanarbolismo, a Spanish firm with a strong focus on vegetation, designed and installed this succulent garden in the courtyard of the garage. The garden is very low-maintenance and doesn't require any irrigation whatsoever. Further, with every passing year, it will grow more and more beautiful as the plants grow larger and take root. The Urbanarbolismo Benisaudet IVVSA parking garage was created by this Spanish design firm with the purpose of "keep[ing] the underground lot cooler, as well as improv[ing] its air quality." (Ref. 1)

Sweden's largest real estate company, Vasakronan, tests its first green outdoor facade at Kyrkogatan in Göteborg. The project was implemented with aim of improving the local climate and contributing to a more sustainable and resilient city. (Ref. 1)

"Grünes" C is an initiative of six municipalities (Alfter, Bonn, Bornheim, Niederkassel, Sankt Augustin and Troisdorf) to secure, connect and (re)develop open and recreational spaces (agricultural, cultivated, garden, commercial landscapes, protected nature areas, rivers, transport routes). The major objective is to create an accessible, united park landscape in the original area of the "Grünes C" which spans 37 square kilometres to preserve those landscapes facing urban pressure. This is envisioned through a set of interventions initiated in and around the participating municipalities. Bonn has three interventions that will be dealt with here (3,4,5,9)

The project LIFE SeResto (LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331) aimed to trigger a process of aquatic recolonisation in “Northern Lagoon of Venice”, mainly through the transplantation of "Zostera marina" and "Zostera noltei" to small sites distributed throughout the area. The proposed intervention technique involved transplanting a small number of plants, with advantages in terms of lower costs and impact on the donor sites (1).

The park will have a surface of 100.000 sqm. It is designed to be the beating heart between municipality offices, fashion and culture related buildings, vital train connections and residential areas. The paths generate a mosaic of irregular plots. Each with specific groups of plant species, grasses or lawn. Circular tree groupings are superimposed on these plots, and together they will form a botanic library. The vegetal patches alternate with water and hard materials, thus creating a series of public spaces that house cultural and recreational program (1).

This is a pilot project part of the strategic plan "Città di Città" in the Milano province, launched in 2006 by the Direzione Centrale Risorse Ambientali, by the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano and by the Multiplicity.lab of the Politecnico di Milano. The project consists in the realisation of a green ring surrounding the city for an extension of 30.000 hectares (15% of the metropolitan area). The ring will connect a series of green areas already existing in the city. The project will insert a total of 3 million new trees along different areas of the city (2). The "metrobosco" is described as: a green belt made up of new forests, parks and rows that extend along the borders of the capital of Milan. A continuous ring of trees and small and large clearings to meet farms, abbeys, watercourses, agricultural areas and spaces for recreation and sports. The project arises from the need to redefine the relationship between city and country, to intensify plant and animal biodiversity, the preservation of existing and the construction of new "ecological corridors", the mitigation of climate imbalances, the abatement of noise and atmospheric pollution, the care and maintenance of the territory and the production of sources for agro-energies (4).

The project addresses a current issue: the integration between cities and the countryside, and the relationship between the urban and the agricultural context. The NBS focuses on enhancing the west peri-urban area of Bologna through the promotion, recovery and valorisation of old rural settlements as new nodes of the productive-fruit network (4). The intervention is extended over 50 ha of municipal property and focuses on natural restoration of the rural landscape and the infrastructure in proximity of it in order to improve local agricultural businesses and recreational activities. As of July 2020, the project is still in full force.

The conservation of agricultural activities allows for the preservation of the landscape for all, with the possibility to offer to Milaners a place of leisure, tranquility, nature and tradition within the city, where to taste - also while tasting the products of the earth - what is the the Milanese agricultural world. It is located in the South West of Milan, within the Parco Agricolo Sud, in an area between the two Navigli, the Grande and the Pavese (1).