Public local authority budget

The Polder Roof is a green roof originally installed on the top of the Old School Amsterdam, Gaasterlandstraat, Amsterdam with innovative controllable water storage and drainage system on which crops are grown, solar panels are installed and that provides space for recreation. (1,2) Thereby, it combines multiple benefits including the reduction of heat stress, noise reduction, sustainable energy provision, biodiversity, food production and climate change adaptation (2,7). The Polder Roof was a pilot project that won an innovation award and is viewed as an example for urban climate change adaptation solutions. (2).

In 2019, due to the renovation of the former Old School building, it was necessary to relocate the Polder roof to a different place. The Polder Roof is a completely de-mountable system, made up of crates with a sedum layer on top, thus it could be removed quite easily from the Old School roof and put somewhere else. In the name of circularity, the sustainable drainage system was moved to the roof of the South Food Bank building. (10,11,12) With the relocation of the Polder Roof system, however, the size of the green roof has decreased to 1200 sqm from 2010 sqm (2).

The project assumes planting roses and other flowery shrubs in the Szczecin's district of Kijewo. Characterized by heavy traffic, the area has benefited from 'rose gardens' along its main roads and neighbourhood squares as a way of mitigating the traffic noise. The rose gardens serve as natural acoustic screens for noise reduction. The initiative additionally aims to enhance the aesthetics of the area and the image of the Szczecin's city - in line with its long-term brand management strategy "Szczecin floating garden 2050". According to the initiators of the project, it refers to the tradition of roses, which would decorate the same neighbourhood in the past [1].

Due to the challenges caused by climate change, Hamburg decided to become greener and developed a comprehensive, pioneering green roof strategy. The strategy aims at creating 100 hectares of new green walls by 2019 by providing grants for building owners for greening roofs and offering them rain water fee reduction owing to the rain water retention of the green roofs. (Reference 1) The financial support offered until the end of 2019 is 3 million EUR. (Reference 2) The services offered by the city in this plan consist of four pillars: promotion (financial incentive), dialogue, regulation, and scientific support. (Reference 7)

Since the mid-eighties, several German cities like Karlsruhe have been implementing green tram tracks, followed by a period of decline due to incompatibility with technical and construction requirements (Ref. 2). Since around 2003, the city of Karlsruhe has re-introduced the greening of tram tracks with the main objectives of noise reduction and cloudburst infiltration (climate adaptation). Mostly in combination with urban redevelopment projects, several tram tracks across Karlsruhe have been renewed and greened in different forms by using continuously advancing technologies (Ref. 3, 6 and 7).

Manchester’s Stevenson Square was given a green makeover. In addition to securing funds from Manchester City Council, the project underwent a substantial crowd fundraising campaign to transform the square into an ‘urban oasis’ and provide street trees, permeable pavements and planters.The pavement was extended on one side of Stevenson Square which enabled street trees to be planted. More tree planting undertook on the central reservation and a green roof was designed to collect and store rainwater. Self-irrigating hanging baskets were installed on lamp posts (ref 4).

Wigan Flashes Project is encouraging natural re-colonisation to a site of very high conservation value and an enormous asset for recreation for the local community. The Wigan Flashes are a group of eight shallow wetlands, formed originally as a result of mining subsidence, which extend south from near Wigan's town centre. Over time, the industrial landscape has evolved in to a mixture of open water, reedbed, mossland, willow carr and fenland (ref 1).

An environmental improvement programme has helped to clean up a previously derelict plot of land on one of Belfast’s main thoroughfares, by transforming it into a community garden. A vegetable garden was officially launched in July 2009 at Walkway Community Association, on Finvoy Street in east Belfast. The scheme is part of Belfast City Council’s ongoing £150 million Investment Programme of work across the city. (Ref 1, Ref 5)

The city of Salford has experienced several floods and is at risk of flooding once every 100 years (Ref1). The majority of properties in the city that lie in a high-risk flood zone are in the floodplain of the Irwell. The UK's Environment Agency and the council, designed a flood prevention scheme which included temporary water storage areas which will store floodwater on the existing Castle Irwell playing fields and public open space, and double as sports area otherwise (Ref 5). It aimed to have its own wetland and wildlife habitat, and will help protect hundreds of homes and businesses (Ref 4).

Three London Plane trees were planted in a specially designed trench in Howard Street, Salford, Greater Manchester in 2015 with the aim of capturing the impact that trees had on both cleaning polluted water from road runoff and managing levels of surface water, which can lead to flooding when not properly managed (ref 1). This project in the City of Salford was created to study how trees can aid in the management of urban stormwater as a novel retrofitted street tree demonstration (ref 3). It was led by Manchester's City of Trees movement. (Ref 3)

Most of the open spaces around Munich are designated as green belt areas and are being used mostly for agricultural purposes. As a lead project of its green strategy, the city now aims to protect these areas and to upgrade their quality by cooperating with local farmers and promoting a shift to extensive and ecological farming, developing habitats, corridors as well as a network of cycle tracks and footpaths for recreation (Reference 3, 4). The city supports the farmers with advisory services, but also with the organization of the implementation of the ecological projects. The farmers are motivated to join by being able to use labels such as "Potatoes from the Greenbelt of Munich" on their products. (Reference 3) The initiative also includes herb gardens, provided by farmers and rented by citizens. (Reference 1) A further project included in the initiative is the "Münchner Ökokonto, a biodiversity offsetting principle by which the former low moor complex of the West of Munich is being renaturalized on 28 areas with a total area of 67 ha. (Reference 5)