Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature

The Porsuk Stream divides the city of Eskişehir into two with a green corridor running along the shores of the stream. The Porsuk Stream served provisioning services and acted as a recreational area in the first half of the 20th century, however with increased industrial activities discharging untreated wastewater into the river, rapid urbanisation in the city and other settlements, and increased fertilisers and pesticides in the groundwater originated from agricultural practices (upstream of the Porsuk River), it became highly polluted and its ecosystem degraded severely (1,2,4,5). The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) identified the stream as one of the highly dangerous rivers in terms of pollution and health, where no living beings except viruses live (1).
Within the framework of the 'Eskişehir Urban Development Project' the 'Natural Disaster Loss Reduction Project (Porsuk Project)' has been initiated focusing on the ecological restoration of the stream, improving water quality, increasing the resilience of the city against natural disasters (as earthquakes and floods) while also reestablishing the stream's environmental and social role in the city (1). A network of natural infrastructure was created along the Porsuk by expanding public green spaces and link the entire corridor with a sustainable public transport network. (4,5)

One of Valdivia's (in South Chile) southern peripheral neighbourhoods reaches the river of Angachilla which in time led to the creation of an urban wetland, a beautiful and large urban nature reserve of the city of Valdivia. The city of Valdivia is inserted in an extensive network of rivers and coastal wetlands, which penetrate the city through estuaries, hualves and meadows. The Angachilla estuary wetland is one of the most important, connecting the southern sector of the city with the Valdivia River estuary.
These urban wetlands provide important ecosystem functions that directly benefit citizens. Since 2007, the residents of Villa Claro de Luna (neighbourhood) together with various social organisations have worked on the recovery of the Angachilla Wetland, a natural space of great ecological and social value located in the city of Valdivia. Actions included carrying out cleaning, restoration and environmental education activities to recover a place that, abandoned and without any protection from the authorities, was converted into a clandestine garbage dump. (1,2,3)

The Orbital Forest of Tirana is an innovative urban forest that as a green belt forms a natural growth boundary for the City. Tirana has experienced rapid development in the past decades that led to population growth challenging municipal services and infrastructure, while climate change also posed extensive pressures to the urban area with intense flooding, precipitation, urban heat and degrading environment (1, 4). The Orbital Forest is a ring on the periphery of the City that connects 14,000 ha of Tirana’s parks, agricultural fields, and forests, maintaining the ecosystem and supporting biodiversity. (3, 4) The NBS aims to increase urban greenery through the plantation of 2 million trees that fit well to the existing ecosystem while also creating a natural boundary to halt urban sprawl (1,4,5). The afforestation of the Orbital Forest has been done through the “Donate a Tree For Tirana” campaign started in 2017 where citizens, businesses and international organisations can plant a tree adding to the green belt. As of 2021, more than 440,700 trees in the framework of the "Donate a Tree" campaign are also bringing urban nature closer to residents (3).

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].

In 2014, a rooftop farming project was initiated in the informal settlements of the Greater Cairo Region to address challenges brought by climate change and to empower the local community. The project was initiated by the German Corporation for International Cooperation and a local NGO with the objective to "reduce ambient temperatures (microclimate) in a densely populated area through green spaces on rooftops, and reduce the impacts of the urban heat island effect and increasing heat." (1) The initiative also addressed four of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by tackling biodiversity loss, encouraging sustainable agriculture practices, fostering ecosystem services and developing local knowledge (1,11)
Besides environmental benefits, the project and its scaled-up project in 2017 brought several socio-economic benefits by reducing vulnerability to food price changes and by developing the local community. Rooftop Farming Hubs were also established to foster the training and knowledge sharing of rooftop farmers in Cairo (1).

The redevelopment of the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (Singapore) saw the naturalisation of the previously channelised Kallang River, as well as the installation of wetland cells as water cleansing biotopes and creation of butterfly habitats (Ref. 1).

The Kallang River was previously confined to a concrete canal that ran to the southern edges of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (Ref. 1). The channel segregated the two residential areas situated on either side of the park, with the river's 2.7km continuous concrete channel being crossable at only certain defined points (Ref. 3). Following its naturalisation, culminating in 2012, the now 3.2km meandering river is considered the park's highlight, "merg[ing] seamlessly with the park's greenery" (Refs. 1 & 6), and creating a "blue-green recreational network which is well-integrated with nearby residential areas" (Ref. 2).

The Krubong landfill site has been proposed to undergo a "thorough and safe environmental rehabilitation program[me]" so that the site can be developed as a public park (Ref. 1). Following completion of a feasibility study, it is envisaged that significant rehabilitation work to address environmental degradation and restoration of natural habitats will be required, after which the site will be developed into a public park (Ref. 1). The programme remains in its planning stage, but seeks to address Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) 11.6 and 15.1 through protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of ecosystems and reversing land degradation and/or biodiversity loss; and reducing the environmental impact of cities by paying special attention to waste management and providing access to safe, open public spaces (Ref. 1). At a more local level, the programme intends to complement additional programmes laid out in Melaka's Resilience strategy document, including promoting both cycling and pedestrian networks and reshaping public spaces in the city (Ref. 1).

Santalaia is a high-end, multi-family residential building located in the heart of downtown Bogota, Colombia. Santalaia is often referred to as "the green heart of Bogota" and is seen as an icon of sustainability [1]. The 11-story building was completed in 2015 and all eleven floors are engulfed in many species of plant wildlife to encourage biodiversity. There are 115,000 native plants of 10 different species covering a total area of 3117 m² [2,3].
The plants included on the exterior of the building rely on a hydroponic system and provide a model of how to increase green zones in urban areas. A vertical garden of this size provides natural beauty in the middle of concrete Bogota while mitigating the carbon footprint of more than 700 people. An additional benefit of Santalaia’s vertical garden is that the plants create a “green carpet” that serve as insulation and reduce the use of air conditioners, an increasingly valuable contribution during times of rising temperatures due to climate change [5,6].

A greening project in Laval aimed to replace impermeable surfaces such as asphalt with vegetation. This process would allow water to infiltrate the soil on a surface area of 3000 square meters and plant 7200 plants on land located near or inside urban heat island zones of the city (Ref. 1,2,3,7). The project takes an integrated approach to mitigate the impact of urban heat islands, which make up 12-13% of the territory in Laval (Ref. 1,7). Particular focus of this project is placed on planting on sites of vulnerable communities (Ref. 1,3).

The green belt was created not only as an aesthetic element but also to serve as the lungs of the city. The forest planting works around Nur-Sultan have been carried out since 1997 [6, 7]. The area of ​​the green belt of Nur-Sultan is 100 thousand hectares, of which 15 thousand hectares are planted within the city limits. The main idea of the project was to provide comfortable conditions for the residents of Nur-Sultan city, which would serve as a mechanism for improving air quality, mitigating climate and as a natural barrier to protect the city from dust winds and snowstorms [2, 4, 5, 6, 7]. An important aspect that was taken into consideration are the animal species of the forest, as the territory of the green belt is inhabited by foxes, hares, corsacs, white and grey partridges, roe deer, wild boars, etc [1, 2, 7, 8]. The primary importance of biodiversity efforts is assigned to the breeding of birds, especially pheasants [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], as pheasants are an element of local cultural heritage, and on the territory of the green belt, traditions and cultural events related with the pheasants are organised every year [2, 4]. The young forest should turn into an improved recreation area, a favourite pastime for city residents at any time of the year [2,7].