Public Greenspace Area

Hamburg decided to increase the number of trees in the city, however, the budget was not enough to completely fulfil this goal. Therefore, the city not only tripled the municipal budget dedicated to tree planting and but began encouraging the citizens to contribute to greening the city through the donation campaign "My tree - My city”. The project was launched in 2011 as part of the European Green Capital programme of Hamburg. Citizens can donate and by using an interactive map, can choose a site and a tree species to be planted, and follow-up the implementation of their tree. (Reference 1, 3) The City of Hamburg gave for each tree that reached donations of 500 Euro the same amount on top to cover the average costs of 1.000 Euro per tree, which includes the preparation of the planting pit, the planting itself and maintenance. (Reference 4) The campaign was so successful that it continued even after Hamburg’s year as the European Green Capital and is still going on in 2020. (Reference 2, 7)

While Hamburg has already had an impressive green infrastructure, it is now (since 2013) implementing an interconnected green network that will cover the 40 % of its area and support commuting by bicycle, recreation and climate change resilience. The project is planned to be completed by 2034. (Reference 9) The project aims to connect the two green belts, parks, recreational areas, cemeteries and animal habitats to each other with green paths and with the already existing “green axes” leading from the agglomeration to the urban core. The green network could not only absorb more CO2 but also prevent flooding by soaking up an increased amount of rain- and seawater caused by storms. (Reference 1, 2). An extensive network of cycle paths is also being built as part of the project. (Reference 2)

The restoration of Highfields Park was completed in Summer 2018 with path repairs and tree works to be carried out in winter 2018 to 2019. The five-year development journey of returning Highfields park to its former glory has included two rounds of public consultation. The views of park users and project partners such as the University of Nottingham, the UK's Environment Agency and the Highfields Park User Group identified a strong desire to see the park restored and improved (ref. 1), including improvements on heritage features such as historic walls, bridges and the old Boating Lake Ticket Office (ref. 2). In total, this project aimed to repair unused structures of the park including walled gardens, gardener’s cottages and historic halls and houses, converting them into volunteer and training centers, event spaces and community facilities (ref. 3). Highfields Park also provides valuable scrub and woodland habitat for breeding birds such as robin, sparrow and blue tit. The additional diversity of habitats provides important foraging and breeding opportunities for invertebrates and mammals. (Ref 4)

In 2016, the project facilitated the revitalization and development of green areas in Dąbie (by an urban part of the Vistula River) to create the Dąbie Park. The park had been a neglected vacant green space with randomly scattered former playground facilities. The initiative involved greenery management and creation (bushes, trees, flower meadows), building new sports facilities (running/cycling paths, a basketball field), new infrastructural solutions (new water drainage system, a viewpoint) and creating a safe and modern space for children in a playground surrounded by large trees which provide shadow. The modernization and revitalization of the park infrastructure and local greenery have made the green riverbank area accessible to the public [1,4,5].

An educational forest trail was developed by the centre for environmental education organization Lipka as part of the ACT WELLL project partnership between Austria and the Czech Republic (2007-2013). (Ref. 2; Ref. 3). The trail includes eight stops on a two-kilometer circuit, where children and adults can learn about how nature works through games and challenges. (Ref. 2). These elements were created by artists Blanka Ponížilová and Hana Havlíčková (Ref. 1). Three-hour field-trip educational programs are available to kindergarten-aged students, and the trail is also open to the general public (Ref. 9).

It started with the “Let’s Plant for the Earth, Let’s Plant for Murcia” project, as Murcia’s committed to the United Nations Billion Trees Campaign. The city of Murcia committed itself in 2008 to plant 12 000 trees around the urban fabric through a series of action projects. The target was exceeded in 2010 with a total of 23 576 trees pledged and planted toward the campaign (Ref. 1).
In 2020, after having surpassed their 12,000 planted trees goal, Murcia has the new goal of planting 100,000 trees by 2030. It is a long-term project that the municipality committed itself to make (Ref. 5, 2020a).

The “Cities Dare Wilderness” project is part of the overall Hanoverian program of “More Nature in the City”, a new future-oriented approach to green spaces in urban areas. The aim of the project is to bring wilderness back to the city by increasing urban biodiversity, strengthening nature in the city and making it habitable for its inhabitants. For fulfilling these goals, eleven sites were chosen (some parts of the city park Eilenriede, some currently intensively cultivated areas or some derelict small gardens), in which different methods have been tried out, like planting local woody plants, grazing, and the implementation of interpretive trails. The development of the flora and fauna in the new wilderness is now being observed and investigated. The first step in the wilderness was made on a meadow along the course of the Fße in the Badenstedt which was fenced. It was made available for cattle to graze and influence the new growth of shrubs through feeding preferences (Reference 1, 2). The flowering meadows have attracted a variety of species. The rich habitat resulting from the project has attracted songbirds, hedgehogs, butterflies and some of the 67 bee varieties endemic to the state of Saxony (Reference 10).
Campaigns for environmental education are regularly offered in order to involve the population in the process of wilderness development. The series of “Wilderness Concerts” were organized, a “wilderness woodlice” was installed in one of the project areas (Mittlefield), and handicraft activities have been regularly offered, in addition to excursions and guided tours (Reference 8). Citizen science is also part of the project through the iNaturalist app that allows the community to record observations of the flora and fauna in the area (Reference 9).
The project is financed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Natura Conservation and Nuclear Society. Two other cities, Frankfurt am Main and Dessau-Roßlau is also involved as model cities. (Reference 1,2)

The Ronald McDonald House is a temporary home for families with seriously ill children who are treated at the Essen University Hospital. The house was designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who merged the garden and architecture together in order to bring residents of the house closer to nature improving their psychological and health conditions (Ref. 1). The house was opened in 2005 in Essen's Grugapark (Ref. 2). A special highlight is the accessible intensive Green Roof (950 sqm) with grass, herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees (Ref. 3).

Due to human interventions into the natural river flow with dykes, drainage of agricultural and grassland or cutting off its water bodies, the wetland Elster-Luppe had lost its groundwater base which decreased its biodiversity. With the support of the regional biodiversity fund and building on previous efforts, the city of Leipzig, together with partners such as the NABU Sachsen and research institutions, has revitalized, renaturalized and connected the water bodies of Leipzig's North-Western wetlands to one continuous watercourse since 2012. Its objective is restoring its ecosystem functions and increasing awareness for the importance of wetlands (4, 5).

In 2013, local activists came up with an initiative to plant 100 trees and 100 bushes in different parts of the District XIII in Kraków. It was supposed to be financed by the participatory budget of Kraków. Still, the delay in implementation led to a situation when the second project by the same team (plant 101 trees and 101 bushes) overlapped with the previous one the following year. The city implemented the original idea, and the district received 100 trees and 101 bushes in 2015. The project aimed to increase the aesthetic and decorative value of the area and to increase the comfort of living of its inhabitants, as well to obtain funds for urban greenery management [1,3].