Environmental quality

The project regards the creation of a natural park close to the Orteto river, which crosses the city of Palermo. The problems of the area mainly concern the housing development, which was increasing during the years without considering the potential negative environmental impact. The creation of the park is expected to be a solution to face the challenges created by the unsustainable development of the area. It would be an opportunity to regenerate an area where intervention is needed, providing additional ecosystem services such as coastal protection, and improving air quality. (Ref.1.)

One of the largest green roof building sites in Switzerland, the new dispatch building at Kloten International Airport is Dock E. Previously known as Dock Midfield the building is situated between take-off runways and landing strips. The roof is sporting an extensive green roof measuring 4,000 m2 (43,056 sf). Dock Midfield represents a perfect example how green space can be regained on roofs. Completed in November 2002 after years of detailed discussions, the planning group decided to install ZinCo green roof systems. (Ref 1)

The Development of the Garden of the Schloessel project is part of the Natural Urban Park project undertaken by the City Council in consultation with the Strasbourg Urban Community (Ref. 3). The project aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the area by installing and redeveloping green spaces in the garden as well as providing the site with stormwater management infiltration (Ref. 1).

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).

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).

Baubotanik Tower is a test and demonstration building in Wald-Ruhestetten, approx. 150km south of Stuttgart. It exemplifies new engineering possibilities with living plants and visualizes the architectural and ecological potential of Baubotanik. Baubotanik or Living Plant Constructions is a technology of building with living trees, advanced by Stuttgart architect Ferdinand Ludwig. Baubotanik shapes living tree branches, stems and roots of trees into buildings to use qualities of forest in a dense city. For this purpose, living and non-living structural details are joined in a way they can grow together into a botanical and technical compound structure (ref 1, 2, 5).

The project of Nature Oasis Auwiesen is creating new habitats for animals and plants in Stuttgart. The project is one of a total of six “Neckar pearls” that are to be completed by 2022 as part of the Neckar Landscape Park master plan in Stuttgart. In the project with a predominantly ecological focus, grassland in the Neckaraue near the Aubrücke is to be transformed into a near‐natural, ecologically valuable wetland biotope. In the course of straightening the Neckar, the wet and floodplain biotopes that were typical and widespread in the floodplains have been lost. The aim of the project is to restore these habitats for animals and plants, which have become very rare today. A network of marshes, water surfaces, islands, and bushes is to be created in the district of Hofen. On an area previously used as grassland, new habitats will be created for rare animals and plants, which are dependent on water areas. Initially, the planned implementation time was 2016-2022, but now it has been delayed and is expected to start by the end of 2021. (2, 7).

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 winners of Smogathon 2016 suggested building a large green wall in the centre of Kraków. Based on the modern technologies the artificially placed wall made of metal and moss would clean local air, lower the temperature, retain water, increase biodiversity and serve as a decoration for the city centre [1,2]. The project was not completed due to lack of scientific data on its effectiveness and the weak price and outcomes balance; the city is still searching for more economical and practical solutions [6].

Landscape Park Neckar is a multi-place NBS intervention that is being realized along the banks of the river Neckar in 27 cities, including Stuttgart. Along the river axis, the free spaces between the dwelling buildings, industrial areas, and transport terminals are identified to be transformed into green areas, parks, and new recreational facilities. With this step-by-step approach, it succeeds in regenerating green areas for natural and social functions and helps drawing attention to the diverse benefits of Green Infrastructure. There are now eight master plans for the different landscape areas, which fit together like pieces of a puzzle to form the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park. Each sub-concept is tailored to the characteristic conditions. Since 2005 the Verband Region Stuttgart has been calling on cities and municipalities to submit project ideas. From this, the projects are selected in a competition in which the region pays up to 50 per cent of the costs. In this way, total investments in the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park of around 45 million euros have been triggered in recent years and around 200 projects have been co-financed by the region. The redevelopment of the landscape is in the ongoing phase. (ref. 1, 2, 7).