Stimulate development in deprived areas

A new lake with green banks was built in the district of Altenhof in Essen in order to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, create new recreational facilities and prolong the existing transport and green infrastructural developments in Essen. The water is supplied to the lake by means of groundwater from a separate well, as well as rainwater from the surfaces of neighboring roofs (Ref. 1).

The project involves the formation of a statutory Green Belt of 3,500 hectares as part of the broad strategy of the Tyne & Wear County Structure Plan to restrain the further spread of the built environment and to safeguard the city's countryside from encroachment (Ref 2). The Green Belt prevents small villages to merge with large towns, preserving their individual identities, and also accommodates a wide variety of the borough's environmental assets, including Local Wildlife Sites and wildlife corridors (ref 3). It is claimed to contribute significantly to the city's green infrastructure (Ref 1 & 4).
The Green Belt boundaries have not changed since 1998 (Ref 1), but it is currently (in 2020) under reassessment in response to the development needs of adjacent towns (Ref 1). Thus even though the intervention started almost 50 years ago, it is an ongoing process.

Renovations were conducted on Bayard Street, an artery in Toulouse, between 2016 and 2017 Rue Bayard, in anticipation of the arrival in 2024 of a new metro station and the complete overhaul of the Matabiau district (Ref. 10). Renovations included introducing vegetation to the commercial street leading to Matabiau station (Ref. 5) and its newly renovated city centre via planting 81 trees (44 pear trees and 37 hazel trees of Byzantium) (Ref. 2). Furniture was also added and sidewalks were widened for greater pedestrian comfort (Ref. 2).

The former site of the Krupp cast steel factory was transformed into a 230 hectares green belt stretching from the city
center to the district of Altendorf, while the adjacent industrial wasteland was turned into an 11 hectares add-on to the Krupp Park (Ref. 1). The landscape vision "Freiraum creates urban space", in which the Krupp Park is a building block, is a comprehensive strategic approach that aims to gradually build up new urban landscape structures and to create diverse qualities of location for different urban uses" (Ref. 9).

The City of Milan intends to carry out a functional intervention in the valley of Ticinello for the strengthening of the environmental matrix and of the structural characteristics aimed at improving the ecological connection. The project, which aims to contribute to the valorisation, strengthening and conservation of the natural heritage, as well as expand local biodiversity, through the realization of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is necessary for the realization, development and enhancement of large-scale ecological corridors already identified by the instruments of territorial planning (1).

The Project "Let's Open the Walls" is an integrated program of urban and social regeneration interventions that aimed to revitalize a portion of the Venice Commune (that is, one in the former neighbourhood Quartiere Due: Dorsoduro, Santa Marta, Giudecca, Santa Croce, San Basilio). The program, promoted by the City of Venice and funded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in 2004, provides for social inclusion and the weakest sections of the population and involved several interventions, including the planting of trees and the creation of green spaces for social activities. In particular, the Urban Italia program addressed to Venice is named: “Apriamo i Muri” (Opening the walls). It refers to the work-field “Quartiere 2” (District 2), in which are concentrated many actions that the city Administration has planned and approved during these last years. The Administration's objective was to transform and revitalize the degraded areas of the Venetian historical center, also through innovative actions. The program aims generally at urban, infrastructure and social regeneration of the Quartiere 2, moreover, it responds through articulated specific works to the critical complexity of the area. (1 and 4).

The Vesdre River Greenway plan was intended to give the town of Verviers the opportunity to reconnect the local residents and businesses with the river and to create new functions, such as recreational and economic activities, around the river Vesdre. The development of the plan was part of a research project called VALUE, Valuing Attractive Landscapes in the Urban Economy, which was funded through the European Union Interreg IVB programme for North West Europe. It aimed to demonstrate the economic value of Green Investment (GI) at the site scale, showing how to target investments to maximise the competitive benefits to communities. "To serve this purpose, the Economic Development Agency of the Province of Liege in collaboration with the University of Liege planned developing a cycle and pedestrian path in the Pré-Javais District, near the city centre, on the left side of the Vesdre River in Verviers, linking the centre of Verviers to the suburbs" (Ref. 5). The green and blue infrastructure was planned to allow the creation of a true link between natural wildlife, inhabitants and businesses, and will offer a new development strategy for the whole town (Ref. 3).

Belfast is located within the River Lagan Catchment and is at risk from flash floods caused by storm water unable to drain away into the combined storm and sewerage network. The Local Development Plan will facilitate the development of green infrastructure resource or ecosystem services such as the green wedges in Lagan Valley Regional Park (ref 2). Lagan Canal is one of the emerging partnership projects to produce plans to restore and revitalise the Lagan Canal corridor. The river Lagan and the canal is an asset for the city, and for the wider region (Ref 1).

Monglong Park was rehabilitated in 2012 with the explicit aim of strengthening social ties. The site is a wooded area of 4 hectares to the south of the Bellefontaine district. Unknown until its redevelopment, it constitutes a true ecological niche for the city and has great biological richness and landscape. The associations of gardeners and the gardeners of the Bellefontaine neighborhood, including the Maghreb and Mong communities, were involved throughout the construction of the park (Ref. 2).

The garden was designed by landscapers Michèle Orliac and Miquel Battle and realized for a cost of 3 million euros. This "new green lung", as presented by the City Hall of Toulouse, is part of a major urban project that provides for the creation of 500 housing units in the Niel District (Ref. 1). The project involved creating vegetation enmeshed benches (Ref. 7) and using permeable flooring materials that prevent water loss and reduce the potential of flooding (Ref. 8).