Maintenance and management of urban nature

The San Rafael Park is an urban park and commemoration site built over former communal graves containing more than 2000 bodies of victims of the Spanish Civil War and the Franquista regime. The large project has had 4 phases, three of which have been completed, including the building of a Historical Memory Pantheon to commemorate the victims in the communal graves exhumed from the grounds where the park now stands. (ref 1) In these phases are numerous reforestation and water preservation plans (ref 1-7) including the gardening of more than 4,000m² of green area with 104 shade trees, 8 palm trees and more than 400 units of shrubs, in addition to covering the rest of the surface with perennials and meadows (ref 3).

Wildlife in the City is a project led by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, with Nottingham City Council, to promote, protect and celebrate the nature reserves, wildlife sites and green spaces across Nottingham City (ref. 2). Wildlife in the City is a project run by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was originally designed to raise awareness of the value of urban wildlife and to inspire people to get involved with caring for wildlife sites on their doorstep. The project aimed to engage people in their local green spaces and wildlife. Wildlife in the City ran lots of activities and events, volunteering opportunities, training opportunities and more (ref. 1). It began as a three-year project funded by Natural England through Access to Nature, as part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme. The project worked with local people to undertake vital habitat creation and management works throughout the city. It particularly worked in areas of Nottingham with previously little wildlife activity from the partners. These areas were Bestwood, Bulwell, Aspley/Broxtowe estate, Clifton, The Meadows, and Sneinton (ref. 6). After the funding for the project has ended, its objectives and the partnership between the City Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust remained and the Trust continues managing many of the Council's wildlife sites and using local volunteers to help out with essential tasks such as scrub management, gardening, litter picks and floral surveys (ref 2).

The community garden is located in the midst of a housing quarter and in the city district of Grünau, a former Plattenbau-area and forms part of a wider area redevelopment project which turns former brownfield (from the DDR era) into generationally mixed housing units with higher living standards. The idea for the garden arose among its residents, who determined its design and elements. It consists of multi-use zones for young and old residents: a central square, a pond with special flora, plant beds for gardening and harvesting, a wild meadow for recreation and picnics (2,3).

On November 5, 2019, the Committee for Urban Development and Technology passed the building decision for the riverside park Austraße - Neckarterrassen. To the north of Münster, the Neckar has cut deeply into the shell limestone and describes a wide arc on the Prallufer. There is little space between the cliff and the river - that is what makes this place so special. This is where the Austraße riverside park is being built with the elements Freienstein water playground (element 1), Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link (element 2) as well as Austraße, Neckarufer and Neckarstrand (element 3). The first component has already been implemented: children will find their favorite spot on the Freienstein water playground south of the Max-Eyth-Steg. Students from the Elise von König School in Münster contributed their ideas as part of a child participation program. With the second component and its sub-projects “Tapach-Link” and “Neckarterrassen”, there are beautiful prospects for Münster: Those who have overcome the relay to the Neckarterrassen can rest in the shade and let their eyes wander up and down the Neckar. The third component of the Austraße riverside park - in addition to the Freienstein water playground, Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link - focuses on the banks: podiums and platforms are planned on the river to linger while the freighters transport their goods on the water. Insects, small crabs and small fish find optimal living conditions on the renatured bank zones with stones and diverse flora. (1, 7).

The project provides some improvements in the first part of the itinerary of the Navile river. In particular, it focuses on the restoration of the green system and the recovery of historical-architectural components in the area stretching between the Park of Villa Angeletti, the ancient village of Corticella and the municipality of Castel Maggiore. Restoring the route along the canal is the first step in an ambitious retraining hypothesis that sees Navile and its rich cultural and environmental heritage as the privileged axis for the recovery and development of the adjacent urban area (1).

The revitalization of the Saski Garden in Lublin in 2013 restored this space of local heritage historic character and cultural significance. Revitalization works included: cleaning and maintenance of existing trees and plants, planting extensive greenery, ICCTV and open access to wi-fi in the area of a renovated amphitheatre, revitalization of walking paths and ponds, small architectural elements like benches and a playground, and rainwater sewage system and a fountain [1,3,7].

After more than one 100 trees were slaughtered in a few months upon order of the city in 2016, the association "Défenses des Arbres en Pays d'Aix" was created by multiple NGOs with the purpose of saving the plant heritage of Aix-en-Provence. Their main goal was to encourage the city's council to establish a "Charter for trees" dedicated to the city of Aix en Provence (Ref. 1). The work of the association was useful as the city decided to engage in a new charter, and prepare a new planting season with 64 trees (in 2016) (Ref. 4). The Charter was developed in 2017 (Ref. 6) and an environmental management plan for activities was developed in 2018 (Ref. 7).

“Balne Lane Fields are an area of land close to the city centre of Wakefield. The site comprises of an area of nine hectares, which includes a former landfill site that has been restored to open green space. Part of the site is within a flood zone (Balne Beck).” “The field is popular with the local population for informal recreation. The potential to improve the variety of recreational uses, ecological value and environmental quality together with its links to both local communities and strategic greenspaces make it an important piece of green infrastructure in the City of Wakefield.” (Ref. 1)

In response to floods that had been afflicting the Rhiwbina area of Cardiff, a capital scheme was promoted in order to develop an integrated Rhiwbina Flood Defence Scheme. First, a pond was built in the Caedlyn Park to capture peak flows during extreme rainfall (ref 2; ref 8). The City of Cardiff also built low walls alongside the brook that flows through the neighbourhood to better channel water while also removing debris and reinstating the banks that had eroded over time (ref 1; ref 2). Additionally, by realigning and widening the watercourse, establishing earth bunds and creating a large attenuation pond downstream that aligns with the drainage system (ref 7). Taken together, flood risk decreased for the area overall, assisting local residents.

The project involves the BBC Drama Village - a combination of studios and stores with associated offices and technical suites. It was the requirement for all buildings to achieve a BREEAM Excellent standard (ref 1). GreenBlue Urban structural RootCell systems were used for this development to create adequate tree root volumes, to ensure optimum tree establishment and growth in a demanding coastal location (ref 2). A Living Wall has been made which has a number of functions including the provision of a new home for solitary bees, lacewings and other invertebrates. A rainwater harvesting system has been installed (ref 1). Speaking generally, the studio, stores and office amounted to over 18,000 square meters and 900 new meters of HV, gas water drainage and telecoms (ref 1). Areas of eco-design include transportation, energy efficiency, water efficiency, materials, indoor environmental quality, waste reduction and biodiversity (ref 1).