1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Murcia
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Parques Integrados de Alcantarilla (Pulmon Verde)
Short description of the intervention
The municipality aimed to establish a zone in Murcia that worked as a "green lung" for the city while making it its engine for economic, social and cultural development (Ref 2). For this, the municipality planned and implemented the project of "Integrated Alcantarilla Parks". It includes several parks, with the priority of creating one in the surroundings of the Ethnological Orchards Murcia's Museum (Ref 1). The project is called integrated as it is based on the integral values of sustainability where the environment, the economic development and the socio-cultural needs are compatible (Ref 2). For this, there will be sustainable architecture, recovery of the natural environment, as well as incorporating the historical heritage in the public green areas of a specific zone (Ref 3). There are many parks that are part of this project, the last one was the Ibarra de Murcia Park in 2020 (Ref 7 and 8).
Address

Av. del Príncipe, s/n
30820 Alcantarilla, Murcia
Spain

Total area
50000.00m²
NBS area
50000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
Ethnology Museum of Murcia's Vegetable Plots
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2008
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2008
End date of the intervention
2010
Present stage of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
There are four main goals (Ref 2):
- Recover the degraded surroundings and create a green area.
- Energize employment and economic activity.
- Promote professional training and new technologies.
- Incentivize the touristic promotion and the historic heritage recovery.
Rehabilitation and conditioning of abandoned historical sites. (ref 2)
Quantitative targets
The goals have been divided in two zones of the focus area.
The quantitative targets are (Ref 2):
Green rehabilitation of an area of 40 000 m2;
Will benefit around 26 500 inhabitants of the region.
Monitoring indicators defined
unknown
Climate change mitigation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Implementation activities
There are mainly four implementation activities which divide themselves in even more particular activities (Ref 2):
- Construction and endowment of the Local Development Agency.
- Rehabilitation of the physical surroundings of the "Ethnological Orchards Murcia's Museum".
- Construction and endowment of the Tourism Office and the Room of Nature.
- Constructions and endowment of the Stakeholder Participation Center.

In 2011, the construction of the intervention elements has been delayed by years due to a delay in the disbursement of European Union Feder funds. (ref 6)
In 2020, they made an opening of a new park. This shows that this project is still running, even though the locations to continue with the idea have changed. (ref 7).
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Institutional green space
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Vegetation Type
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Regulating services
Air quality regulation
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Please specify other local relevant strategy
Sustainable Development
Governance
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The project has been drawn up by Alcantarilla Municipality as the entity responsible for the management of the municipality, but it has an open character in which business organizations, other public administrations and, above all, citizens participate. (ref 2)
The Retes Architects firm received the commission for the project. (ref 4)
Key actors - initiating organization
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
EU body
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Business association or network
Citizens or community group
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
The project is part of the Strategic Sustainable Development Plan of the municipality. (ref 1)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The intervention is part of ‘Alcantarilla Grows in Green’ (Alcantarilla Crece ne Verde) is a municipal plan for green infrastructure and development in the municipality. (ref 1)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
The project is part of the strategy "Alcantarilla Crece en Verde", which is part of the "Stategic Plan of Sustainable Development" of Murcia (Ref 1), as well as in the "Director Plan" for the zone.
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Please specify other vegetation type
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The project plans mention that the site would also serve the purpose of a trial area to mitigate the effects of climate change, the use of bioclimatic architecture, alternative energies, water savings, public transport without emissions. (ref 4)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
City partially funding the intervention and use of the EU ERDF. (ref 2)
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Financing
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The initiative New Integrated Parks of Alcantarilla has a budget of 5 000 000 euros co-financed by European Feder Funds, the Council of Public Works (Consejeria de Obras Publicas) and the Consistory of the Municipality. The Feder Funds provide 80% of the financing, while the Municipality’s bodies provide the remaining 20% (ref 2).
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Type of innovation
Please specify system innovation
“The innovative character of the project is based on the transformation of an environmentally degraded area, which is generating a territorial and social division in the development of the city. It is a matter of integrating cultural heritage and a natural place within the urban fabric, so that the area of ​​action becomes the new engine of economic, social, environmental, cultural and tourist development of the municipality.” In its scope the project will affect over 26 500 inhabitants of the area, creating new shared spaces for them as it addresses urban development issues in the neighborhoods. Thus, the open contest for the selection of the project, which specified its technological aspects, make it a system innovation. (ref 2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Although the intervention plans cite it as a project to serve as an example for sustainable development and construction, no project sit has influenced are listed. (ref 1 and 2)
Impacts, benefits
Description of environmental benefits
Improves the environmental quality of the region by the rehabilitation of the ecosystem area with an increasing amount of trees and reconfiguration of the zone(Ref 1 and 2).
Description of economic benefits
The project expected to have an impact on the incentive of employment and economic activity, as well as the development of tourism investment in the region (Ref 2).
Description of social and cultural benefits
The project expected to create a zone where the surrounding neighbourhoods can gain access to nature, help in the recovery of cultural heritage due to the promotion of cultural tourism and rehabilitation of the Ethnological Orchards Museum. An involve locals in stakeholder participation efforts in order to increase knowledge of the locality (Ref 2).
Type of reported impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
Yes
Please specify the negative impacts
Showed the negative effects of sustainability when there are crisis, meaning that environmental projects such as this are postponed (ref 6).
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown (15/July/2020)
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
Yes
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
The selection of the implemented project was done via a public contest, with citizen input collected as part of the participation platform. (re 2)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Agenda Verde (529.97 KB) 529.97 KB
List of references
1. Murcia en Clave. (n.d.). LA COMUNIDAD COLABORA CON EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE ALCANTARILLA EN LA CREACIÓN DE UN GRAN PULMÓN VERDE PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE DEL MUNICIPIO. Murcia: Agenda Verde, issue 17, p5. Available at: http://www.murciaenclaveambiental.es/ftp/agenda_verde/agendaverde17.pdf (Accessed 15/July/2020)
2. Tomas Martinez, Carmen Maria. (2013). Alicante: Parques Integrados de Alcantarilla. We Are the City Heroes. 31st January. Available at: https://wearethecityheroes.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/parques-integrados-de-alcantarilla/ (Accessed 15/July/2020)
3. La Verdad. (2008). Una Gran area verde y de servicios ayudara a regenerar el entorno del Museo de la Huerta. Murcia: La Verdad. Available at: http://www.laverdad.es/murcia/20080710/comarcas/alcantarilla-gran-area-verde-20080710.html (Accessed 15/July/2020)
4. Ecoproyecta. (n.d.). Parques Integrados Alcantarillas. : Murcia: Ecoproyecta. Available at: http://ecoproyecta.es/parques-integrados-alcantarilla/ (Accessed 15/July/2020)
5. Franco Sanchez, Isabel. (2011). La Crisis y el retraso de los fondos europeos ‘ahogan’ el pulmon verde. Available at: http://www.isabelfranco.es/la-crisis-y-el-retraso-de-los-fondos-europeos-ahogan-el-pulmon-verde/ (Accessed 15/July/2020)
6. La Opinión de Murcia. (2008). Comunidad impulsa pulmón verde alcantarilla. Murcia: La Opinión de Murcia. Available at: https://www.laopiniondemurcia.es/municipios/2008/07/10/comunidad-impulsa-pulmon-verde-alcantarilla/116790.html (Accessed 15/July/2020)
7. C’Mon Murcia (2020). El nuevo Jardín Maestro Ibarra de Murcia, un nuevo pulmón verde dedicado al deporte. Murcia: C’Mon Murcia. 19th may. Available at : https://cmonmurcia.com/el-nuevo-jardin-maestro-ibarra-de-murcia-un-nuevo-pulmon-verde-dedicado-al-deporte/(Accessed 15/July/2020)
8.GEA (2020) Plan Director de Parques Integrados de Alcantarilla. Murcia: Gea 21 – Grupo de Estudios y Alternativas. Available at : https://www.gea21.com/archivo/pr-plan-director-de-parques-integrados-de-alcantarilla-murcia/ (Assessed 15/July/2020).
Comments and notes
Public Images
Image
Urban ecosystem, microclimate and water management
Urban ecosystem, microclimate and water management
Source: Ref. 2