Environmental quality

The Sotos de la Albolafia Natural Reserve is situated on a section along the Guadalquivir River, that runs from the Roman Bridge to the San Rafael Bridge (Ref. 3,14). It was declared Natural Monument in 2001 and is part of the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Andalusia (RENPA) due to its wide variety of birds (Ref. 5,15). "The declaration recognized the environmental value of the Sotos de la Albolafia, a singular natural enclave located in the urban center of a large city, in a monumental and historical environment also unique and with an unparalleled concentration in protected species, especially water birds and wetlands." (Ref. 3)

The Air Pollution Garden (APG) in the UK has been established at Sheffield Botanical Gardens through a collaboration between the three White Rose universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield. Typically an (APG) size is 6x8m and contains plants that are particularly sensitive to damage by pollutants like nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) present in the air. The project owners hope to raise public awareness of air pollution effects in a tangible manner and change people’s behaviours (ref1).
In 2017, the city council hosted AirFest to push this initiative further (ref 8), a ‘Phyto-sensor’ toolkit was created by the Citizen Sense research group at the University of London to help identify the best locations for Air Quality Gardens (ref 6) and published the Air Quality Annual Status report (ref 7). In 2020 the project is considered as completed, although there are several different other projects in planning.

“The Royal National City Park, the world’s first national city park, was created in 1995 by the decision of the Swedish Parliament. The Park was established to safeguard and enhance the unique qualities of this area, containing outstanding natural qualities and heritage sites, ecologically important for the metropolitan area, and situated near and easily accessible from the central parts of Stockholm.” (Ref. 1)
One can experience a truly unique historical landscape, intertwined with parks, beautiful buildings, forests, open fields and beaches. In 2020, the park celebrates its 25 the year. (Ref. 12)

The El Patriarca Park aims to rehabilitate and restore 60 hectares of land for ecological benefits and recreational purposes for the inhabitants of Cordoba (Ref.1,3,4,6). It takes place on a site with distinct areas, including a holm-oak forest with Mediterranean scrubland of extraordinary environmental value. This NBS is an effort to protect natural values, erase the traces of urbanization attempts of the seventies, and repair damages caused by human action (Ref. 6). Implementation of the project is expected to start in early 2021 (Ref. 6).

The neighbours of the Fuensanta in Cordoba recovered an abandoned public plot of the old Fuensanta’s cinema transforming it into a social and ecological vegetable garden (Ref 1), occasionally used to play soccer and used as a dog park previously (Ref. 3). "All the activities were free of charge, coordinated by volunteers and consisted of: a walk around the neighbourhood, a building recycled furniture workshop, an urban vegetable gardens workshop and urbanism for children workshop. All of them took place in the plot and the creation of a vegetable garden was the most popular activity." (Ref 1)

“The purpose of the C/O City project is to highlight the value of nature in the city, create planning documentation and develop concrete solutions that facilitate work with ecosystem services in urban planning.” The three phases of the project were to develop tools and methods, verify and adjust the tools and make them available to key actors. The final phase was to test the tools/methods and evaluate them. (Note: the starting point of the project was the environmental profiling of the Royal Seaport; i.e. Norra Djurgårdsstaden). Now as the project is completed, the results and lessons are continued by a non-profit association. The purpose of the association is to draw attention to and highlight the value of urban ecosystem services and contribute to increased knowledge in the public construction sector. (Ref. 1, 7, 8)

A 40 m2 vertical garden installed on one of the clinic's walls in 2012. It was the first vertical garden to be constructed in a hospital in Europe. It aimed to create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for visitors and patients at the clinic, improve the air quality and humidity of the complex and beautify the space of the hospital. (Ref 1) Over 1400 plants with over 40 species were included in the vertical garden (Ref 2).

Via Gandusio is a social housing complex in the North of Bologna that was originally built for hosting workers that migrate from South Italy in the 60s. Nowadays, it hosts two different communities: advanced-age Italians and current international immigrants. The differences create some conflicts and limits relationships among the community. In 2010 a group of researchers tried to implement a community garden that was designed with the aim of setting a meeting point for the community where food production is the link between neighbours to exchange knowledge, culture and experiences. The 250 m2 roof garden started in 2011 becoming the first of the city of Bologna and of Italy (Ref. 7 and 8).
Over the years the project has undergone changes and variations, has seen the end of funding and known voluntary management (2013). Since 2013 there is an urban vegetable garden cared for by some residents with the support of the Biodiversity association. (Ref.10)

“The Guadalquivir River offers some of the best landscape, ecological and environmental values. There is an exceptional variety of flora and fauna and the river is considered as one of the main lungs of the city and as a privileged area for the residents”. (Ref. 12) The river is an essential element of Cordoba, having been declared a natural monument in 2001. (Ref 3, p.4) There are ongoing efforts to maintain and restore the river as a natural and cultural heritage site (Ref. 1,2,5,8,9) and a space for recreational activities (Ref. 12).

Hammarby Sjöstad is the first eco-city district in Stockholm. It is a 'town around a lake' where the planning work begun in the 1980s with an opportunity to expand the inner city of Stockholm. It is one of Stockholm's biggest urban development project and it focuses on water, energy and eco-friendly solutions. As a part of the ambition to create an eco-friendly city district, investments in e.g. green spaces, walkways and several large parks have been made. Furthermore, the Hammarby Model is the eco-cycle which describes environmental solutions used for energy, waste and water and sewage. It was established with a focus on 7 key areas: soil remediation, urban form, transportation, green buildings, energy, waste management, and water efficiency. (Ref. 1, 2, 11)