Regional government

The Reconstruction of the Southern Bank of Schütt Island is the starting point of the regeneration of the Old City of Nurnberg. Within the project, the access to water and recreational functions of the river banks were improved. (1) The project was completed on an 1800 square meter large area, which includes open meadow areas, a 170-meter-long bank terrace, trees, and benches. (6) Public participation through co-planning and consultation was also involved in the planning process. (1)

Abandoibarra is an area of ​​the town of Bilbao, next to the Bilbao estuary, sizing ​​348,500 square meters. Abandoibarra has been the industrial zone of Bilbao, where shipyards and other companies related to the industrial sector were located. Building upon the 1997 master plan completed by Balmori Associates, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Aguinaga y Asociados, the area has been reinvented as an international cultural district and tourist destination. Two-thirds of the 30-hectare site is dedicated to parks and open spaces, creating a public oasis and grounds for a suite of buildings by master architects (Ref 1,2).

Zorrotzaurre is an artificial peninsula located within the Deusto district of Bilbao, Spain. It was formed during the 1950s and the 1960s, when a canal was built to facilitate navigation in the estuary of Bilbao. The Zorrotzaurre project is the latest major urban renewal project to commence in Bilbao. It is an integral and sustainable plan that recuperates a currently derelict site to convert it into a new quarter, and which also includes a flood protection system with water tanks to retain water and a flood protection barrier (Ref 1)

GIFT-T (Green Infrastructure For Tomorrow - Together!) is a four-year European project of which Medway was one of five case studies. In this project communities, businesses and governments were brought together to facilitate bottom up planning and implementation of green infrastructure (Ref 1). The product of this is a general business plan, and the planned intervention of focus here is the "Thames Terrace Invertebrates - corridors for wildlife" (Ref 2). Hoo Island already has areas that serve well to sustain invertebra species, but as of yet also has underutilised potential in this respect. This intervention addresses the latter.

Milton Common is the second stage of the multi-million-pound Flooding and Coastal Erosion Risk Management scheme being developed across the north of Portsea Island, from Mountbatten Centre round to Milton Common. The overall project will reduce the risk of coastal flooding and erosion and provide the critical infrastructure the city will need over the next 100 years (6).
As the second phase, Milton Common included the instalment of a new rock revetment as a plans defence, the creation of a coastal path and three new earth bunds with new footpaths (6). The work has also included the demolition of Great Salterns Quay and restoration of the natural mudflat habitat (2,4).
The fully completed scheme will significantly reduce the risk of coastal flooding to Milton Common and the local area over the next 100 years; it will offer protection against a 1 in 500-year flood event providing one of the highest standards of flood protection in the UK outside of London (6).

This project is studying seagrass to learn more about the distribution and health of seagrass in the waters of the Solent. By learning about where seagrass exists it can be better protected. The Wildlife Trust have been visiting local seagrass sites including the harbour in Portsmouth (1). Measures that can be employed to help protect Zostera beds include Boat mooring management - a program of awareness to relieve pressure on seagrass in areas of high boating activity, such as the Solent (3) and restoration through seeding or transplanting seagrass and Improving habitat conditions to encourage natural regeneration and colonisation (3).

Forest of Bere has been identified as one of the key project areas of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) Green Infrastructure Strategy. The goal is to allow urban populations of south Hampshire to have better access to quality green space. (1) Part of the forest, called Portsdown Hill, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is on the boundary of urban Portsmouth and supports extensive areas of calcareous grassland where a wide diversity of typical chalk grassland plants and insects can be found. The last twenty years have seen extensive areas of scrub being removed and restored to open grassland. The project aims to restore the once flourishing natural habitat of the forest while providing more recreational opportunities to the growing number of residents in the surrounding areas, was well as improving the ecological connectivity of separate woodlands (1,2,4,5).

Based on an urban regeneration project in the city district of Arrenberg, an association called “Awakening of the Arrenberg” formed in 2008, consisting of citizens, entrepreneurs and real estate owners seeking to transform their district. Under the umbrella of the project “climate quarter Arrenberg” initiated in 2014, whose goal is to make the district CO2 neutral by 2030, the development of a city farm covering 60,000 sqm on former railway premises - a Europe-wide unique project in urban farming – is one of their most important plans that make up their vision of becoming carbon neutral. (Ref. 1, 2 and 3). The goal of the farm is to produce healthy and locally produced food, while creating employment opportunities and remaining carbon-neutral, using power only from the sustainable power plant that will be installed for the project. (Ref. 2) In February 2020, the implementation has not yet started, but the “Awakening of the Arrenberg” association says the vision of the urban farm is stronger than ever before and that the project has received funding approval, with experts now working on feasibility studies. (Ref. 8).

From 1850 to 1956 the area Eskesberg was a limestone mine, after that up until 1972 it served as a landfill. When taken over by the city of Wuppertal, groundwater contamination and outgassing required a large remediation to remove toxic substances and recover the area according to nature conservation guidelines. (Ref. 8) Since 2005, it has been turned into a nature conservation area covering 8.5 ha where several rare plants and animals have resettled and thus the area also serves as an important recreational space for residents (Ref. 1, 2, and 3). The project was initiated by the local government, who also collaborate with different partners for maintaining the nature conservation area, such as the biological station, which organizes excursions, performs monitoring on the terrain and sets up bee hives. Also, residents apart from visiting the area can actively participate in its maintenance as volunteers, guided by the city of Wuppertal and the NGO Biologische Station Mittlere Wupper. Furthermore, the nature conservation association of Wuppertal and scientists from the university of Cologne are involved in the intervention by conducting research on the terrain (Ref. 1, 2, 3 and 6).

On the territory of the former train station Vohwinkel (including the train tracks) a brownfield site of 15 ha was turned into a commercial urban area which was created as an economic driver for Wuppertal. However, the site was inhabited by the highly endangered sand lizard, which is why a species conservation island was created as the commercial park was being built. As a habitat of the endangered sand lizard species, the conservation area in the South-West of the commercial park remained free from construction development, and an adequate conservation concept was elaborated and implemented. The nature conservation area is maintained by the environmental protection department of the city. (Ref. 1 and 6). The project succeeded in its goal of creating a commercial area on the former Vohwinkel marshalling yard while simultaneously paying attention to the protection of the endangered sand lizard. (Ref. 2) Additionally to the conservation area within and around the commercial zone, lizards have also been relocated beyond the city limits as a biodiversity offsetting measure. (Ref. 8) Furthermore, the dried out Krutscheider stream, forming part of an important biotope system with its gravel surfaces, was dug out again to serve as a green corridor for compensation against the habitat loss. (Ref. 1, 4 and 6)