Install vertical or horizontal artificial surfaces that help with carbon storage and cooling

IKEA opened its doors in Budapest in 1990. This was the very first store in Hungary. Twelve years later, the store announced that it would install a green roof. The main purpose of the green roof was to compensate the locals for the loss of green space. The green roof was intended to create a biologically active surface that fits in aesthetically into the suburban landscape and provide a home for animals such as pollinators. The green roof, built in 2002, was covered with a Sedum carpet. In 2014, when the original Sedum vegetation died out, the green roof was completely removed. Then, during the autumn 2014 planting, four types of Sedum shoots were seeded. This was followed in the spring of 2015 by the seeding of herbaceous dicots seed mixes, which contained seeds of roughly 50 plant species. The vegetation is regularly monitored by ecologists: in 2021, more than 160 different taxa were recorded, including spontaneously occurring species. The green roof is closed, not accessible to the public, however tours are occasionally organized for professionals [3] [6] [8] [9] [10] [11].

Penang is a state located in north-western Peninsular Malaysia with an area of 1,049 km2. It comprises two local authorities, Penang Island and the mainland. The former is further divided into five administrative districts which are further divided into mukims (sub-districts). Two urban mukims located on the island – George Town and Bayan Lepas – are the focus of the proposed nature-based solutions (NBS) climate adaptation programme. The programme was launched in 2022 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) of Malaysia, Penang Island City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang - MBPP), Department of Irrigation and Drainage (Jabatan Pengairan Dan Saliran - JPS) and Think City (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad (the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia)). (Ref 1)

The implementation of the project responds to several challenges posed by climate change including heatwaves and flooding (Ref 4). The main goal of the programme is to enhance urban resilience and reduce human and ecosystem health vulnerability to climate change impacts and extreme weather events by implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) such as tree-lined streets, pocket parks, green parking spaces, green facades and rooftops, urban agriculture and blue-green corridors to reduce surface temperatures and stormwater runoff, as well as to increase social resilience and build institutional capacity (Ref 1, 3).

A green wall of 73 square metres was constructed on the building of the Federación de Entidades Empresariales Privadas de Cochabamba (FEPC, the Federation of Private Business Entities of Cochabamba) (Ref. 1). The vertical ecosystem comprises over 3000 plants of 35 species and is considered the first vertical garden to have been created in Bolivia (Ref. 1). The green wall is considered to have 'beautified' the city of Cochabamba, but is also considered to "contribute... effectively to the preservation of the environment" (Ref. 2).

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]

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].

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].

The green roof pilot project is part of eThekwini Municipality's Climate Protection Programme, initiated in 2004, it was focused initially on understanding the vulnerability of the city of Durban to the impacts of climate change. A strong emphasis has been placed on identifying climate change adaption projects that will improve the resilience of the city to future developmental, social and environmental challenges. Basically, the green roof pilot project is a response to the higher temperatures and increase in the frequency and severity of floods and droughts that are expected as a result of climate change. From an urban environment perspective, these changes will exacerbate the already high temperatures experienced as a result of the Urban Heat Island effect and the high levels of surface run-off and flooding that result from the hardening of permeable surfaces. (1,3)

In 2014 a counselling office of the NGO Green City was established, entitled The Greening Office (Begrünungsbüro), with the objective of better engaging citizens in green adaptation measures, such as green roofs, green façades, green walls or green courtyards (Reference 1, 5). Financed by the City’s Department of Health and Environment, the project addresses climate change adaptation through greening private properties, achieved through counselling citizens and companies, with diverse outreach and networking activities. The NBS recognised the potential of the many unused private spaces, such as south-facing facades and flat roofs to better adapt to climate change across the entire city (Reference 1).

The 16-storey EnBW Administrative Complex and planned office district in Stuttgart's industrial area of Fasanenhof has three wings and a high-rise for about 2,000 employees on the 35,000 square meter sites, with many extensive green roofs and usable intensive roofs over underground parking. With the new office complex, EnBW wanted to create a modern and pioneering work environment for its employees. Different green system solutions were used on the project including a "Natural Roof", "Garden Roof", "Public Roof" and "Landscape Roof", with both extensive as well as walk-intensive plantings. The resulting green roofs offer respite and recreation for employees and visitors. [ref 1, 2]

The creation of pocket parks is an urban initiative that has steadily grown throughout Budapest since 2010 (Reference 1). Most of these projects are citizen-led, but there is often support provided in the form of education and consultancy by initiatives such as the Contemporary Architecture Center (KÉK), or sometimes the local government (Reference 8). These spaces, typically covering an area of 1400 square meters only, are multi-functional and provide a space for small-scale food production, recreation, community sharing, and can be a fundamental element of neighbourhood rehabilitation. Moreover, it provides positive environmental effects such as water retention and the improvement of the area's micro-climate. Pocket-parks are critical in increasing the number of green areas in neighbourhoods that have limited space. (Reference 9)