Climate change adaptation

The park will have a surface of 100.000 sqm. It is designed to be the beating heart between municipality offices, fashion and culture related buildings, vital train connections and residential areas. The paths generate a mosaic of irregular plots. Each with specific groups of plant species, grasses or lawn. Circular tree groupings are superimposed on these plots, and together they will form a botanic library. The vegetal patches alternate with water and hard materials, thus creating a series of public spaces that house cultural and recreational program (1).

Bjerkedalen is a recently constructed park around the Hovin creek in Bjerke District. It is situated in the middle of a settlement block, which used to have few public spaces. The park now acts as a recreational area with lots of green space, a river and several facilities for outdoor activities. The construction of Bjerkedalen park incorporated the installment of several important blue-green structures and features such as planting native trees and plants along the river, providing open grassy areas as well as reopening the Hovin river from underground pipes, with the aim of improved water quality and flood prevention.(Ref. 2)

This large urban and peri-urban corridor crosses the area of Sevilla and connects the city to neighbouring towns. It is 68 km long, starting at the Bridge of the V Centenario it continues to five end points in the area. (Santiponce, Los Palacios, Dos Hermanas, Parque del Alamillo, Parque de La Corchuela) (Ref 1)

In 2010, about 300 people participated in the planting program for the “350” project and under the “Verde por el Clima” program (Green for the climate) organized by the Department of Environment, Cordoba city council (Concejalía de Medio Ambiente). (Ref. 3)

The project addresses a current issue: the integration between cities and the countryside, and the relationship between the urban and the agricultural context. The NBS focuses on enhancing the west peri-urban area of Bologna through the promotion, recovery and valorisation of old rural settlements as new nodes of the productive-fruit network (4). The intervention is extended over 50 ha of municipal property and focuses on natural restoration of the rural landscape and the infrastructure in proximity of it in order to improve local agricultural businesses and recreational activities. As of July 2020, the project is still in full force.

This project was the first green roof in the city of Bologna, and it has been carried out by the University of Bologna in collaboration with the Columbia University of New York with the aim to prove more evidence on green roof stormwater performance. For the Engineering School of Bologna University the existing roofs had a load capacity that was able to host only an extensive roof, without the costly need of being reinforced. In the extensive roof type the vegetation is usually very drought resistant and plants can adapt to difficult environmental conditions, therefore sedum was chosen (1).

The project aimed to tackle two environmental problems through an integrated policy: climate change (both the mitigation and adaptation effects of urban forestation) and air quality. The project foresaw the dissemination of public-private partnership tools, developed within the framework of corporate social responsibility experiences, and the distribution of specific guidelines. Specifically, the project planned to develop a public-private partnership model for urban forestation through the adoption of the ‘green areas inner-city agreement’ (GAIA). This was expected to include three specific protocols for green urban areas covering management, monitoring and mapping resulting in 3000 trees planted across Bologna (1).

This NBS is part of the new Porta Nuova area, an extended urban transformation of a neglected area of Milan. It consists of two residential towers of 110 and 76 m height hosting 800 trees and over 20,000 plants from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants distributed according to the sun exposure of the facade. On flat land, each Vertical Forest equals, in amount of trees, an area of 20,000 square meters of forest. In terms of urban densification it is the equivalent of an area of a single family dwelling of nearly 75,000 sq.m (3).

A 40 m2 vertical garden installed on one of the clinic's walls in 2012. It was the first vertical garden to be constructed in a hospital in Europe. It aimed to create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for visitors and patients at the clinic, improve the air quality and humidity of the complex and beautify the space of the hospital. (Ref 1) Over 1400 plants with over 40 species were included in the vertical garden (Ref 2).

The ‘Art Natura’ design was a submission to an ‘Ideas Competition’ for the Headquarters of the College of Architects of Córdoba. The design plan aimed to include nature in public spaces, through the use of a vegetal facade with a low irrigation system to transform the enclosure into a skin capable of compensating the differences of temperature and humidity in the different building planes. (Ref. 2)