Earmarked public budget

Wertach Vital is a project to reconstitute the Wertach river between the southern Augsburg limits and its confluence with the river Lech. Starting from the south, the flood protection has been improved, the depth of the river bottom has been halted, the river bed has been expanded and the banks have been upgraded as a recreational area. A major part of the measures has been completed. The project is supported by the Free State of Bavaria and the City of Augsburg, co-financed by the EU (Ref. 1).

The Lolli-Malaspina area of the central station intervention aims to replace the current urban space and to replace it with a system that can complete and integrate the existing one, and generate a new centrality, transforming the current laceration into an urban seam. There are new gardens outside the central station, which link the different areas of the railway, and it has been implemented because the area of the central station is a strategical node for the city which has to be reinforced with new green areas. (Ref.1.)

The park was reconstructed by the municipality of Sofia in order to improve the local living environment and provide suitable conditions for rest, recreation, and sport. Actions included restoring the lake by reconstructing the bank, restoring flower gardens by adding 80 000 new flowers, and restoring green areas.
(Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)

Instead of expanding the Ring of Antwerp to improve mobility, the municipality of Antwerp decided to use the space to create a Green Ring of 13 kilometers consisting of a wide range of projects (Ref. 3). This large city plan contains green spaces along the Ring, green corridors between those green spaces and with existing parks, a new green park, neighborhood green spaces, restoring the historical city wall and so on (Ref. 3). The plan also contains measures to improve water storing capacity (Ref. 4).

The creation of a new park in Augsburg within the reconstruction project of the Königsplatz (Konig square). The project combined two main goals: modern mobility in harmony with a new quality of life, accessibility of the natural environment inside the urban inner city. Formerly a traffic area, today it is a car-free habitat and green oasis for humans and nature (Ref. 1).

The ‘Mountain Forest Initiative’ was launched in 2009 by the Bavarian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry to restore the protective function of the vulnerable alpine forest in light of climate change, and was ongoing until 2014. To create a general sense of ownership in the process, the Mountain Forest Initiative sought the involvement of different stakeholders at the local level (e.g., private forest owners, land-use related authorities, hunters, nature conservationists, and tourism associations) (Ref. 1).

In 2017, one of Gdynia’s squares was renovated to provide a friendly green public area with aesthetic and social functions. The terrain was regulated by restoring its slope and providing more soil to protect the protruding roots, alleys were reconstructed, lawns created and new vegetation planted [1,3].

The Hofgarten is a green area in the old town of Augsburg. It is part of the former prince-bishop's residence rebuilt in the 18th century and was built between 1739 and 1744 by Johann Caspar Bagnato (Ref. 1). The park was reconstructed in 2006 providing a barrier-free access to the park for disabled people (Ref. 2).

The Sea Heroes Garden is a community garden that was initiated by citizens on an empty lot with the goal to create a garden in which children can play, fruit and vegetables are grown organically and social activities are organized.(1) In the garden, multiple measures allow for storm water retention and the vegetation provides habitat for a broad variety of species. (5).

The aim of ReWaM was to show ways how different forms of use of water bodies can be reconciled with their protection in order to sustainably maintain the diversity and efficiency of the different water ecosystems. This applies to both rural, suburban and urban regions (ref. 8). Increased sealing of urban surfaces and combined sewer systems for rain- and wastewater pose major challenges for urban water management. Therefore, the university of applied sciences and the city of Münster participated in a research project as one of three pilot cities running from 2015 to 2018 concerning improved rainwater management and the development of respective planning instruments. Several green roofs at the university campus were used as test spaces to explore and monitor rainwater infiltration efficiency and feasible green roof compositions. Also, different permeable surface coatings were tested at the urban depot (Ref. 1 and 4).