Public actor (e.g. municipality)

Rapid urbanization and a steep increase in population determined a loss of open spaces in Dhaka, the capital and the largest city of Bangladesh. To counteract these issues, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) (one of the two municipal corporations in Dhaka, a governmental unit responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city) has implemented the Green Dhaka Campaign. One of the initiatives under the Green Dhaka Campaign is the renovation of Justice Shahabuddin Park, located in a dense area of Dhaka. (1, 6)
The intervention was initiated in 2017 and consisted of revamping the park by revitalizing the existing pond, planting new trees, and providing amenities for the people living in the neighbourhood where the park is located. The design decisions were taken by prioritising the opinions of different user groups and in consultation with naturalists. The idea of the 9-acre park was to create a safe, "inclusive and accessible public space for all inhabitants, free of crime and violence". (2)
The renovation also consisted in retaining the majority of trees present in the park, as they offered a variety of species such as medicinal trees, fruit trees, and floral trees. This helped with preserving the biodiversity of the space as well as a healthy environment, lauded by the majority of visitors, making the park a favourite of the locals. Three distinct lanes are also made available in the park for jogging, walking, and cycling. (1,2,3,4)

To build "[a] airport in the forest, and [a] forest in the airport", a Jungle Broadwalk was created inside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) between 2004 and 2009. KLIA is one of the world's largest airport sites, spanning over 100 square kilometres of land, and it is located in the Malaysian state of Selangor. The Jungle Boardwalk is a miniature tropical rainforest, recreated inside the airport grounds between the main terminal building and the contact pier, and in the central garden in the centre of each satellite building. Though the airport is functioning since 1998, the Jungle Boardwalk was implemented only in 2004 and is home to 3,660 trees of more than 39 species, serving almost 14 mils. passengers every year. The mini forest is home to an impressive variety of trees such as the Medang, Kelat, Tukas and Penaga lilin trees that are indigenous to Malaysia.
The intervention provides many benefits such as a cooling temperature level inside the airport, a space for passengers to decompress, and an exploration of the relationship between nature and humans. This project creates a miniature Indonesian rainforest inside the airport to keep alive the heritage of the country's nature. The implementer had in mind "the vision to share a piece of Mother Nature’s tropical heritage with our passengers through the refreshing experience of walking through our natural forest reserve.” This and the fact that the airport is Green Globe Certified makes the intervention unique. (1,2,3,4)

In 2016 the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), one of the municipal local government authorities of Dhaka initiated a plan to revitalise 19 of the city’s parks and 12 playgrounds. One of them is Rasulbag Shishu Park, previously a derelict area surrounded by residential tower blocks, tiny shops and street market stalls. Besides reconditioning a derelict area, DSCC considered it of utmost importance to address some environmental and planning aspects. One of them is the fact that Dhaka is located in a region severely exposed to flooding during the rainy seasons. Poor planning of the city, with narrow alleyways, which have no proper drainage, contributes greatly to transforming streets into rivers. As such, in 2018 DSCC started redesigning the area, counting on a participatory approach throughout the community. No trees were taken down throughout the entire process; all other already-existing trees in the park were included in the design. Most of the native shrubs and trees make up the rows of orchards that line the park's perimeter, disguising its crumbling walls and softly merging them into its surroundings. To establish an environmentally friendly and aesthetically beautiful boundary, various plants, including flowers and fruit trees, have been planted around the park's furthest edges. It was expected that the intervention would revitalize a sense of community in an already failed public space. (Ref 1, 2, 6)

The Greater Iqbal Park is one of Lahore's largest and most beautiful parks and is located in the suburbs of the Walled City of Lahore. The park was built in 1971 and is named after the national poet of Pakistan, Allama Iqbal (7). The redevelopment of Greater Iqbal Park was approved in 2015 by the Government of Punjab. The project was developed under the supervision of the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA). The landscape plan was designed by the joint collaboration of national (NESPAK) and international (Sites International) consultants. The on-ground earthwork and construction were carried out by Habib Construction Services, a Pakistan-based engineering construction company (1, 5, 4, 11). The design idea of the project focused on revamping the area to create a welcoming environment in the environs of the city’s densely populated areas (6).

The project aimed to renovate and preserve Minar-i-Pakistan Monument and expand the area of the park to 125 acres. It features elaborate walkways and manicured gardens with state-of-the-art landscaping to boost tourism opportunities The project envisioned enhancing the cultural heritage by creating green spaces with various species of plants and trees along the park to ensure efficient facilities for the users. The 125-acre green oasis is surrounded almost entirely by the old city of Lahore (1, 3, 4, 11, 12).

The park was inaugurated in December 2016 with state-of-the-art facilities for users, whereas the overall project including the development of the National Museum was completed in 2018. The park has been designed in a manner that its aerial view resembles the national symbol of the star and the crescent. (3,11)

Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, is the second largest city in the country and is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. The city is located on the western bank of the Red River, the principal river of northern Vietnam. Throughout the centuries authorities in Hanoi built dykes to protect the city from the instability of the Red River. Though these dykes were built at a high altitude, the floods became more intense due to the huge amount of alluvium that rests in the middle of the river and that could not continue to consolidate on the banks and making water levels higher and more dangerous. Furthermore, outside the dykes, in the riverine zones (which play a role as green corridors to connect the city and the river) economically disadvantaged people built settlements contributing to soil erosion (caused by illegal construction and excessive sand exploitation), subpar soil quality, and poor waste management. (1,2)

The Red River Zoning Plan (RRZP) came as a solution to address the issues before mentioned and has been promoted by the Hanoi People’s Committee. The plan is encompassing an area of about 11,000 hectares in 13 districts. The plan was approved by the Hanoi People's Committee in March 2022 at a size of 1/5000 section from Hong Ha Bridge to Me So Bridge. (1,4)

According to the concept, a 40-kilometre-long new metropolitan area would be created on both banks of the Red River. This urban space would be a flood drainage area for downtown. It will be designed with a green landscape including public spaces for cultural and tourism purposes. For this, the city would invest in a network of transport and technical infrastructure to bolster connectivity in terms of roads and waterways with neighbouring areas. Particularly, the RRZP is building three types of new parks near the riverbanks, including a nature conservation park, an agricultural park, and an urban park to improve climate change adaptation and bring more natural elements to the city. (1, 4)

The Upper Kinta River Basin covers an area of about 31,470 hectares above Ipoh City, and it is the main water catchment resource for the residents of the city and its surrounding areas. The Kinta river basin is now threatened by land erosion, land development, improper sewage treatment and irresponsible waste discharges (Ref 1). In 2021, a pilot project was implemented near the city of Ipoh along the SimpangPulai Highway and experimented with river bio-engineering techniques to reduce soil erosion and subsequently prevent sedimentation downstream (Ref 3). The pilot site was established as part of the Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation into River Management project, which focused on applying nature-based solutions for mainstreaming biodiversity into riverine landscape planning and watershed management in Malaysia. To provide seedlings for the bio-engineering project and also other related initiatives, a nursery was established in the indigenous Pawong Orang Asli Village. The nursery also provided additional income for communities (Ref 4). The pilot was developed with the expectation to be upscaled and replicated in other parts of the UKB, especially along the SimpangPulai Highway. (Ref. 6)

Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), as a part of its annual development programme, has been leading the coastal afforestation programme to stabilize Bangladesh’s coastline and create green belt. In order to establish mangrove forests in coastal areas, specifically chars in the southern coastal zone, the Forest Department undertook an afforestation project in the new deltas developed in the Bay. Afforestation is being used in vulnerable coastal areas, where the initiative brought mangrove species to the region in order to act as shelters for the exposed coastal communities subject to powerful cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion, and other disasters. In terms of the severity of the effects of climate change, Bangladesh is at the forefront, especially for coastal populations, as their livelihoods are wrecked by storms. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are emerging as significant instruments for coping with climate change, while traditional methods of prevention, such as hard flood defence, have proven to be impractical and unsustainable. Additionally, the project includes greening of the whole coastal regions including creation of strip gardens and home gardens to improve the biodiversity of the area and to stabilize the newly found land. Furthermore, the coastal afforestation project will also help to develop newly accreted land of an island (char) in the Bay of Bengal, which is being included with Bangladesh's mainland from 2021. [Ref 1,3,4,6]

As early as 2010, the then authorities of Malaysia announced plans to transform certain Malaysian cities into green cities. Motivations behind these actions focused on addressing environmental challenges such as carbon emissions, high temperatures, and a reconnection with nature. One of the cities where green ideas were to be implemented was Putrajaya, located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur (Ref 3). As this is a very complex project, the initiative was being led by the Perbadanan Putrajaya (PPJ), which is a local authority that administers the Federal Territory of Putrajaya and is under the Federal Territories Ministry of Malaysia. In transforming Putrajaya into a green city, PPJ undertook 38% of its area to be developed into parks, lakes, and wetlands while the rest is reserved for government offices, commercial and residential development, public utilities, and amenities (Ref 1). Green actions involved the creation of a wetland (the largest constructed freshwater in Southeast Asia), the implementation of an Urban Farming Programme and Rooftop Farming programmes, as well as large-scale tree planting (Ref 2, 3). PPJ aims to transform Putrajaya into a green city by 2025 including Putrajaya Inter-Parks Ride, Pedestrian Walkways and Bicycle Lanes. Putrajaya’s efforts in the implementation of these green initiatives have received numerous awards & recognitions (Ref 3).

The Adopt-a-Park project is an urban re-greening and renewal program. The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), working together with the 17 Metro Manila local government units (LGUs), has launched the initiative to address rapid urbanization and urban decay by creating new green areas and renovating existing but underutilized or derelict neighbourhood spaces [4]. The project is part of the "I ♡ Metro Manila" advocacy program of the MMDA, which was launched to "uplift the spirits of the residents recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to strengthen initiatives on urban renewal that aims to transform the metropolis to be a more livable, greener, and resilient region"[1].

APEC Park is located on the banks of the Han River, in Binh Hien Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City. At first in 2017, the APEC Park was constructed as a cultural work preserving the unique cultural features of 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. In 2020, The Danang local government decided to expand the park as an effort of the city to increase trees and green space in public parks and residential areas to achieve the “green and smart city” goal by 2030 (1,4).
The new APEC Park comprises a public park, a stroll garden associated with an existing sculpture garden, a main stage, a water fountain, a stage for organising cultural events, a playground for children, green areas, a parking space, a lake and underground public toilets ( 1,4). The park is built in an area of more than 8,600 m2, next to the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture. The brickyard and footpath have 25% of the area (752 sqm), and the rest of the land is planted with green trees, grass and statues representing 21 economies of APEC 2017 members in Vietnam (2,4).
Since its inauguration in January 2022 until now, the APEC site has become an ideal place to organize many cultural, artistic and other activities in the Hai Chau district (2).