SM Sky Garden
The green roof development forms a 400-meter-long floating green ribbon above the SM North EDSA mall in Quezon City, Philippines. [3] It boasts a 15000m2 area filled with 55 species of native trees, bushes, and flowers that thrive in the local climate, and it relies on stored rainwater runoff to sustain its plant life. Visitors can access the mall via entrances located within the garden's openings and tunnels leading to shops and cafes nestled beneath the botanical landscape. A meandering pathway guides visitors through the space, which features various entertainment options. The garden provides a unique and innovative space for mall-goers and city dwellers to relax and interact with nature. [1,2]
Pollution Mitigation at the Altynalmas Goldmines
The Sustainable Kazakhstan Research Institute (SKRI) at Narxoz University has developed "phytocapture," an innovative solution to deal with airborne dust. A phytocapture barrier is a chain of green spaces around a plant or mine, precisely calculated in height and width, to capture dust and organic compounds from production. This solution can capture 40% of particulate matter, including fine particulate matter, which otherwise settle in people's lungs, causing pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. (1,6) To demonstrate the solution's applicability, SKRI proposed a phytobarrier project to AK Altynalmas JSC for the Aksu Goldmine. The Aksu field was founded in 1939, and soon the miners' settlement was formed around it. The formation of the tailings pond is closely connected with the production process, which began in 1951 and until now is produced by feeding through the pulp line the pulp from the gold concentration plant of the mill. The existing measures to reduce the negative impacts of tailing management facilities, such as irrigation of technological roads of the tailing management facility, as well as compliance with the above-ground stockpiles in the sections, do not fully solve this problem (5). To tackle this issue, the proposed phytocapture project utilized 3D computer modelling and digital technology to design a vegetation barrier near the tailing dump on both sides and resulted in the plantation of 1,400 seedlings of elm, silver sucker, and maple at a distance of 1.5 kilometers. The project was implemented at two production sites of the company in 2022 and is also being implemented in other projects. In 2022, the joint project was recognized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) as a best practice (1,6).
Ayala Triangle Gardens
The 2-hectares public garden is located in Makati Central Business District of Metro Manila between the main arteries of Makati - Paseo de Roxas, Makati Avenue and Ayala Avenue - that form a triangle in the backyard of business towers. [2, 4]. The Garden was opened to the public in 2009 and showcases various trees and other plant species alongside numerous public artworks created by local artists [2]. The park provides habitat for hundreds of various trees of types, including rain trees, golden palms, fire trees, orange jasmines, and podocarpus. Two Filipino artists, Ovvian Castrillo-Hill and Ral Arrogante have created public art pieces scattered throughout the park [2,4]. The garden is also paved with verdant patches, providing a space for office workers to unwind and destress. In addition to serving as a place of recreation, the Ayala Triangle Gardens also hosts the yearly Festival of Lights as well as various music festivals. The Ayala Triangle Park is the first urban park to be built in Manila and the lush gardens are now considered a refuge for the residents of Makati [1,2,3].
Evozone Rain Garden
Spanning over 32000 square meters and featuring a landscaped rainwater catchment basin [5], the Rain Garden was created in 2014 in the Nuvali district of Santa Rosa. The garden offers an example of eco-friendly urban planning in the Philippines, as the Nuvali district is an eco-city itself with residential, business and commercial areas. Besides the Evozone Rain Garden, Nuvali also has various nature amenities, including a multi-functional lake, cycling and hiking paths, a wildlife and bird sanctuary and camping grounds. The Evozone Rain Garden was established in a commercial development area and it includes spacious open areas and cycling paths, along with the footbridge and view deck and adjacent to the manmade lake in Nuvali [2]. The Rain garden also serves as a rainwater catchment basin, rainwater harvesting system, and fire reserve, providing recycled water for landscaping, irrigation and other non-potable water uses [1]. In addition, the garden has been developed to serve as a habitat for various bamboo varieties and birds [4], also making the garden an ideal birdwatching spot [3]. The EvoZone Rain garden is free and open to the public [2].
A Green Workspace- Karupannya Factory
As an industrial development practice that involves a symbiotic connection between materials, energy, natural systems and local communities, the concept of green industry has become a point of focus for a factory in Rangapur, Karupannya Rangpur Ltd., designed by Architect Bayejid Mahbub Khondker and his team. The factory has become a pioneering example in the "green industry" initiatives in Bangladesh (2).
The factory has a green façade of climbing plants, as well as a green rooftop and integrated green elements, designed specifically to incorporate a once extinct industry, the Shataranji (weaving style). The intervention was designed to respond to human and enviornmental needs (2,7). From a human perspective, the intervention responds by improving work conditions for the workers by introducing green spaces that help with local temperatures and relaxation. From an environmental perspective, the project responds to challenges related to energy efficency (3,4).
The factory architecture incorporates cultural and indigenous knowledge with the utilization of natural light, wind, water, and flora while maximizing the use of natural elements and the idea of "Reuse and Recycle." The factory's roof features the Nandini Park, where employees can relax and eat lunch. The Nandini Park is surrounded by flowering plants and vegetation. (1, 2, 4, 6)
The factory has a green façade of climbing plants, as well as a green rooftop and integrated green elements, designed specifically to incorporate a once extinct industry, the Shataranji (weaving style). The intervention was designed to respond to human and enviornmental needs (2,7). From a human perspective, the intervention responds by improving work conditions for the workers by introducing green spaces that help with local temperatures and relaxation. From an environmental perspective, the project responds to challenges related to energy efficency (3,4).
The factory architecture incorporates cultural and indigenous knowledge with the utilization of natural light, wind, water, and flora while maximizing the use of natural elements and the idea of "Reuse and Recycle." The factory's roof features the Nandini Park, where employees can relax and eat lunch. The Nandini Park is surrounded by flowering plants and vegetation. (1, 2, 4, 6)
Urban Farm Office in Ho Chi Minh City
The Urban Farm Office building, is a concrete-framed structure covered in a "vertical farm" of vegetables, fruits and herbs. The building was constructed by the Vietnamese architectural firm Vo Trong Nghia (VTN) Architects in early 2022 as its own headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. It aims to promote the production of safe food while reintroducing green space to the city with a façade covered in vegetation. Furthermore, the project also seeks to address the absence of green space that contributes to a number of socioeconomic issues, including air pollution, flooding, and the heat island effect. VTN Architects' idea for the Urban Farming Office includes the area of space-efficient food production in cities through vertical urban farming in addition to the core objective of restoring vegetation to urban structures. (1, 3)
House for Trees
Asia is one of the fastest economic growing regions and so are many cities on the Asian continent. Economic growth brings forward many challenges including intensive urban development, loss of natural features, increased urbanization, and high levels of air pollution, just to name a few. One of these cities is Ho Chi Minh where it was assessed that only 0,25% of its area is covered with vegetation, and in addition to this, there is traffic congestion and air pollution (3).
In an effort to rectify some of these transgressions, a private initiative developed a house called the House of Trees, located in Tan Binh district, one of the most densely populated residential areas in Ho Chi Minh City, where many small houses are crowded together (2).
The green features of the house include five roofs that function as gardens thanks to a layer of earth substratum, from which tall tropical trees grow (3). The aim of the project is to bring green space back into the city, accommodating high-density dwellings with big tropical trees. Five concrete boxes are designed as "pots" to plant trees on their tops. With a thick soil layer, these pots also function as storm-water basins for detention and retention, hence contributing to reducing the risk of flooding in the city. The project has been conducted by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a leading Vietnamese firm in building green architecture in urban Vietnam. (1)
In an effort to rectify some of these transgressions, a private initiative developed a house called the House of Trees, located in Tan Binh district, one of the most densely populated residential areas in Ho Chi Minh City, where many small houses are crowded together (2).
The green features of the house include five roofs that function as gardens thanks to a layer of earth substratum, from which tall tropical trees grow (3). The aim of the project is to bring green space back into the city, accommodating high-density dwellings with big tropical trees. Five concrete boxes are designed as "pots" to plant trees on their tops. With a thick soil layer, these pots also function as storm-water basins for detention and retention, hence contributing to reducing the risk of flooding in the city. The project has been conducted by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a leading Vietnamese firm in building green architecture in urban Vietnam. (1)
Yangon’s Alley Gardens Project
Doh Eain, which means “Our Home” in the Burmese language, is a community-centred design firm that converts trash alleys in Yangon into gardens, composting stations, street markets, playgrounds, and art galleries, where community members can make memories and positive change.
As Yangon has one of the lowest public space-per-person ratios in South East Asia, Doh Eain saw a role for a social enterprise to preserve and improve heritage and urban landscapes directly with the people and communities who inhabit them. Doh Eain’s vision is to collectively make cities more vibrant, inclusive and sustainable places to live, work, and enjoy by maintaining the city's unique characteristics and creating an urban environment that enables people and society to thrive. Their mission is to preserve heritage, improve public spaces, and organise activities that connect people with places, employing a user-centred and participatory approach. In doing this, they aim to inspire and enable people to participate in reshaping their city while retaining cultural heritage (1).
The Yangon's alley gardens project started when a group of young, local and expatriate residents in Yangon decided to set up a small permaculture garden, however, they could not find a suitable plot of land for it (2). As a consequence they had to change the focus and transplant green pots filled with vegetation and vegetables into the back alleys. The implementer used an innovative technique by using bokashi composting of food waste, with around 80 households signing up to take part in the initiative. (5)
The initiative was quite successful as it helped break the cycle of throwing trash out the window into alleyways and built several elevated garden beds. (6)
As Yangon has one of the lowest public space-per-person ratios in South East Asia, Doh Eain saw a role for a social enterprise to preserve and improve heritage and urban landscapes directly with the people and communities who inhabit them. Doh Eain’s vision is to collectively make cities more vibrant, inclusive and sustainable places to live, work, and enjoy by maintaining the city's unique characteristics and creating an urban environment that enables people and society to thrive. Their mission is to preserve heritage, improve public spaces, and organise activities that connect people with places, employing a user-centred and participatory approach. In doing this, they aim to inspire and enable people to participate in reshaping their city while retaining cultural heritage (1).
The Yangon's alley gardens project started when a group of young, local and expatriate residents in Yangon decided to set up a small permaculture garden, however, they could not find a suitable plot of land for it (2). As a consequence they had to change the focus and transplant green pots filled with vegetation and vegetables into the back alleys. The implementer used an innovative technique by using bokashi composting of food waste, with around 80 households signing up to take part in the initiative. (5)
The initiative was quite successful as it helped break the cycle of throwing trash out the window into alleyways and built several elevated garden beds. (6)
Mue Yen Mueng Yen (Cool Hands Cool City)
Mue Yen Mueng Yen (Cool Hands Cool City) is the name of a green community as well as their first project that aims to plant more trees in Chiangmai city, Thailand. Volunteers of Mue Yen Mueng Yen are concerned about the pollution and extreme climate issues in the city. They gathered around the belief that healthy green space can help mitigate these issues and make their city more livable. (Ref. 1,2,3,4)
The first phase of the Mue Yen Mueng Yen project consists of three main activities. The first one is a tree-planting challenge: when 1 person plants a tree, they challenge 3 other friends to do the same. The second activity is offering 5,000 native saplings to anyone interested in planting trees for free. The third one is to plant 800 trees around the old moat in Chiangmai inner city as a green corridor. (Ref. 1,2,3,4)
Besides this initial project, the Mue Yen Mueng Yen community also works on various environmental projects. For example, spreading the tree-planting challenge to other parts of the country, and organising workshops about tree planting, maintenance techniques, native species and on rice growing (Ref. 6 ).
The first phase of the Mue Yen Mueng Yen project consists of three main activities. The first one is a tree-planting challenge: when 1 person plants a tree, they challenge 3 other friends to do the same. The second activity is offering 5,000 native saplings to anyone interested in planting trees for free. The third one is to plant 800 trees around the old moat in Chiangmai inner city as a green corridor. (Ref. 1,2,3,4)
Besides this initial project, the Mue Yen Mueng Yen community also works on various environmental projects. For example, spreading the tree-planting challenge to other parts of the country, and organising workshops about tree planting, maintenance techniques, native species and on rice growing (Ref. 6 ).
Jin Wellbeing
Jin wellbeing is a senior-oriented lifestyle complex in Bangkok, Thailand, which comprises residences, commercial units and hospitals. The first phase of the development has been completed in 2020. This phase included five residential buildings with senior hospitals, wellness centres and green spaces that cover over 40% of the site. The project aims to create a sustainable living environment while enhancing both the physical and mental health of the people through nature with the “Community of Revine Forest” concept. The main interventions include an urban forest, a therapeutic garden, a community farm, an outdoor exercise area, and a multipurpose area. Ecologically sustainable design has been integrated into the planting strategies and water management to create a resilient ecosystem, mitigate flood and improve water retention capabilities of the area for irrigation purposes. (Ref. 1,2,3,4,5)

