Corporate investment

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 office building of the Nord/LB Bank that was built in 2002 became a landmark of Hannover. A huge proportion of the building is naturally ventilated. The interior is designed with progressive energy concept with superstructure exposed and windows that provide ventilation. The building is also protected from noise and vehicle emissions through the areas of double façade, which also serves as a duct transferring clean air from the central courtyard to the individual offices. The reflection of daylight is increased through the large areas of water in the courtyard which also contributes towards a beneficial microclimate. The building is also equipped with generous roof gardens which not only provides aesthetic benefits but also improves the general climate for the occupants, and collects rainwater for irrigation and use within the building.
The building is owned by Norddeutshce Landesbank and was designed by BEHNISCH, BEHNISCH & PARTNER (Reference 2).

The city of Leipzig initiated the project "Für eine Baumstarke Stadt" in 1996 to integrate community support into the greening of Leipzig through tree planting. Citizens can become tree sponsors with a donation of 250 Euros or more supporting the increase of the tree stock in parks, on the street and at squares since they are planted in addition to the tree stock determined by the city department for urban green. The sponsorship includes a sign with the indication of the tree species and a personal message. This programme contributes to a greener city landscape and strengthens the attachment of citizens to their urban environment (1, 2, 3).

The "New Nature" also called "La Calanque" is a new housing residency and business designed by the famous architect Jean Nouvel. The building design is inspired by the typical Mediterranean sea landscape called "calanque" (creek in english). "As an essential component of the project, vegetation is ubiquitous from the ground to the façades, from the heart of the buildings to the terraced roofs" (Ref. 2).

The Rohrschollen island, located near Strasbourg, is representative of a particular environment in Europe: the Rhine alluvial forests. These forests are known for the exuberance of their vegetation and their richness of species: it is a rare ecosystem both at the national and European level. These forests are regressing nowadays and as a result, the four major European rivers from the Alpine range (Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Po) have lost most of their riparian forests. The objective of the project is to restore a dynamic flood regime on the island of Rohrschollen that is modeled on the Rhine's hydrological rhythm (Ref. 1).

The community garden is located in the midst of a housing quarter and in the city district of Grünau, a former Plattenbau-area and forms part of a wider area redevelopment project which turns former brownfield (from the DDR era) into generationally mixed housing units with higher living standards. The idea for the garden arose among its residents, who determined its design and elements. It consists of multi-use zones for young and old residents: a central square, a pond with special flora, plant beds for gardening and harvesting, a wild meadow for recreation and picnics (2,3).

Working with Cardiff local authorities, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water's (DCWW) upgraded Trelawney Avenue to its RainScape Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) (Ref. 4) which alleviated risk to residents and nearby highway which were at a 2 in 10 year flood risk (highly-risky) (Ref. 3). Flooding commonly occurred due to rainwater run-off from the roofs and roads of upstream catchments that drained into a combined, overburdened sewer network. Traditional systems of increasing pipe-size and storage were not cost effective (Ref. 3). A sustainable solution was developed which combined road surface drainage (gullies and slotted grates) and provided water-butts (200 liter reservoirs for roof drains) to 101 properties in Trelawney Avenue and to 75 properties in the upstream catchment (Ref. 3). Additionally, a wall was built to protect properties from the potential effects from surface water run-off (Ref. 1).

The Liège Expo 2017 Masterplan was developed for the city of Liège, as part of their bid to organize the International Expo of 2017. In this plan, the Expo was not just an exciting stand-alone event, but rather the start of a sustainable transformation and an ecofriendly future of the city. The proposed development on both banks of the River Maaswill aimed to create new access to the river and improve the quality of life and the sustainability of the city, all at the same time (Ref. 1). While Liege was not awarded the 2017 Expo, the decision was made by the City to continue the competitive dialogue procedure initiated with a view to developing the Coronmeuse site into an eco-district (Ref. 12). Construction was launched in 2020 (Ref. 14).

Cardiff City Council and Urban Buzz brought together local organizations, community groups supporting wildlife, to create environments to encourage more bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects. (ref 1). One project inspired by Urban Buzz is Pharma Bee, a project housed and run by Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, that worked to create a bee-friendly campus through their PharmaBees team (ref 7). In association with Urban Buzz, a project run by BugLife, it renovated the Cardiff University’s Redwood Building by planting bee-friendly plants (ref 2), installed beehives and trained bee-keepers (ref 7). The efforts were then expanded to the Hayden Ellis building on Cardiff University's campus (ref 7).

In 2013, St Davids shopping centre, which has over 200 stores and restaurants (ref 5) completed the installation of a green roof, which included bird boxes and beehives and the centre is looking to expand its green roof further. The city shopping centre has become the home of a 60,000-strong colony of bees. A second green roof was developed in 2015 in the parking garage to expand educational programs (ref 4). School children from Cardiff were involved in the planting of seedlings to create pollinator habitats for bees, butterflies and other local wildlife around the ‘Hayes’ area (ref 3). The customers and local community, with the help of this project, have been taught about the value of adopting an eco-friendly approach to public space. (ref 1)