Public Greenspace Area

The Sand Motor is a hook-shaped peninsula that is artificially created at the coast near The Hague in order to protect the coast on the long-term. Not only provides the Sand Motor coastal protection, but it also allows for new forms of recreation and supports biodiversity as it creates habitat and allows for more varieties of species to live in the area. The Sand Motor is a unique pilot project in coastal management and follows the principle of 'building with nature' (1).

Due to the changing burial culture and the declining burial rates, Hamburg decided to establish a long-term development strategy called Ohlsdorf 2050 for the Ohlsdorf cemetery. The aim of the project is to preserve and develop the cemetery as a cultural landmark and a garden monument. The municipality aims to limit the burial services to a 120-hectare large area and develop a cemetery park in the remaining 280-hectare area. The strategy is being developed together with the locals, relatives of interred and experts. The participant's ideas included among others places for outdoor sports, allotment gardens and planting indigenous species. In any case, the entire cemetery will be preserved and maintained according to principles of garden heritage conservation and nature protection. Places for interaction, meditation, reflection and recreation will play a dominant role. (Reference 1, 2). In September 2020, the result of the consultations and the strategy itself is still unknown.

This intervention involved the removal of sediment and revitalization of the banks along with the rehabilitation of the urban part of the Segura River in Murcia. This was done to strengthen the environmental condition of the river and improve the visual aspects and the access of citizens to the river (Ref 3 and 7). In 2020, they are building the second part of the project, where the aim is to build three different walkways that join the two sides of the rivers and that will connect specific places along with it (Ref 5).

The Tree Master Plan of Barcelona is a long-term (20-year) plan, running from 2017 to 2037. The ultimate goal of the Tree Master Plan is to ensure the presence of dynamic, healthy and diverse urban trees in Barcelona. According to the Plan, urban trees are essential for green infrastructure and for creating quality public space in the city. An innovative feature of this intervention is the use of biological approaches to the tree maintenance (no pesticides or chemicals) (Ref 1, 2 and 3).

The Hort de la Masia de l'Antic Jardí Botànic is located within the city’s largest inner-city park Montjuic. It has been founded in 2008 by an association of volunteers and is supported by public and private entities. The garden is co-management by members of the association and a professional gardener. Its major objective is the maintenance and reproduction of traditional landraces (Ref. 2). The task of the Citizen's Commission of Support of the Botanical Garden, presided by Pere Duran, was supported by the promotion work from the Botanical Institute. It was therefore a necessity generated by a local group of people (citizens) that developed into an implementation plan (Ref 1).

The Barcelona Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Plan 2020 includes the development of several urban green corridors to increase ecological and social connectivity within the city. The green corridor of Passeig de Sant Joan is one of the first of these corridors implemented. The project consisted of the renovation of the promenade through tree and shrub planting and permeable green pavement installation, creating a green boulevard that benefits pedestrians and extend the urban green spaces, which gave new life to the neighborhood and allowed the expansion of small businesses and tourism (Ref 1).

The Senate of Hamburg commissioned IBA Hamburg GmbH with the development of the project which aims at realizing two new, family friendly residential districts in Neugraben-Fischbek, the Fischbecker Heidbrook and Fischbeker Reethen, which will offer 3000 residential units in total. (Reference 10) Out of the two districts, Fischbeker Reethen is planned to be the "Garden City of the 21st century", which is why this NBS case focuses on that project. The Fischbeker Reethen project pays attention to sustainability, having a blue-green infrastructure (large green surfaces, waterways and a lake that serves as a basis for the rainwater management of the area). A further aim of the project is to create a new district for the growing city, that with its good infrastructure, public transport connection and educational offers will help the integration of refugees into German society. (Reference 12) The construction of the buildings followed by the green and recreational elements is will start in the second half of 2020, and the handover is planned for 2022 the earliest. (Reference 7)

Mariahof is a community garden in which a large variety of actors is involved including citizens, schools and an NGO that supports social inclusion. In the garden, vegetables are grown for non-commercial food production, organic waste is composted and bees are kept for pollination and honey production (1,2,3,6). The garden works to raise awareness about sustainability and nature stewardship in an urban setting (2).

The FUTURE - a project of 100,000 trees in the Porto Metropolitan Area - is a planned and coordinated effort of various organizations and citizens to create and maintain native urban forests in this region, which needs to enrich its biodiversity, sequester carbon, improve quality of air, protect their soil and contribute to a better quality of life for regional people. The 100,000 Trees Project for the Porto Metropolitan Area” intends to restore 100 hectares of urban forest with native trees. (1, 2)

The Urban Park of Pasteleira is a public park located in the parish of Lordelo do Ouro, in the city of Porto. The park extends over an extensive area (7 hectares) of forest, divided into two plots by the street of Afonso de Paiva. The forest, an example that remains of the natural vegetation of the Porto area, consists essentially of wild pines and cork oaks, and enrichment of vegetation by the planting of trees and shrubs of Portuguese flora and exotic species. It was designed in 2004 and completed in 2009 (1).