Maintenance and management of urban nature

A citizen initiative to transform a derelict urban area into a park. From 1987 the park's construction was left abandoned until in 1993 when over 80 citizen committees from the area organized themselves to start cleaning and reforestation activities in the park (ref 5,7). The sum of their efforts included reforestation, the creation of a community garden, and the redesign of watering systems for the park. (ref 5,6,7)

“Central Stockholm has around 12,000 planted trees in its street environment. During the second half of the 20th century, the circumstances for the city’s trees changed dramatically as competition for land increased. Concrete and asphalt were laid closer and closer to the tree trunks. This project aimed to improve conditions for trees in the city’s urban environment as they are very important to the cityscape and the air environment. They also bring residents joy and a sense of well-being. Moreover, this is a way of increasing biological diversity.” The intervention is part of the 'Environmental Billion project'. (Ref. 1, 2).

No new data found for this project in 2020. Many similar initiatives have been taken up in the city in other parts, but it is unclear whether they are part of the same project or are separate projects.

“The Guadalquivir River offers some of the best landscape, ecological and environmental values. There is an exceptional variety of flora and fauna and the river is considered as one of the main lungs of the city and as a privileged area for the residents”. (Ref. 12) The river is an essential element of Cordoba, having been declared a natural monument in 2001. (Ref 3, p.4) There are ongoing efforts to maintain and restore the river as a natural and cultural heritage site (Ref. 1,2,5,8,9) and a space for recreational activities (Ref. 12).

Oslo municipality is underway with the large-scale project of opening up rivers that previously were running in underground pipes. Alna Environmental Park is a part of this project and includes major transformation and environmental upgrade of the river Alna. The Environmental Park runs along the river and has transformed grey structures to accessible parks and recreation areas and now acts as an important resource for Oslo's citizens. Central aims of the project are to improve the self-cleaning ability of Alna, while maintaining biodiversity in the region and to inspire future urban development. (Ref. 1, 3)

The area of Neuschönefeld where the park is located was built in the 1970s. With residents continuously leaving the area, housing fell vacant and the quality of the area decreased. Therefore, it was identified as a major regeneration area of Leipzig. The expansion and redevelopment of the Rabet park between Volkmarsdorf and Neustadt-Neuschönefeld was aimed at creating important impulses for leisure and recreation and develop a central “green switch” which contributes to sustainable urban development that also extends beyond the district (2, 3, 6).