Environmental quality

The 18 km long Rheindorfer stream flowing into the Rhine has faced increased urbanization, industrial activity and surface sealing over the last decades of the 20th century. As a result, numerous interventions were made to its original structure, such as the creation of a concrete bed for the stream and the straightening of the stream course. Meanwhile, an increasing amount of pressure was put on its water carrying capacity. In order to improve the flood retention capacity of the stream, the renaturalization project of the stream was executed in some parts of the water body. The project aims were 1) to restore the natural course of the stream and the state of the riverbeds, thus enhancing the stream's capacity to buffer floods, 2) restore the natural biodiversity of the floodplain and 3) to create a recreational area for locals (1,2).

The present intervention is about the rehabilitation of the freedom square (Námestie hraničiarov) (formerly Gottwald square) in the city district of Petržalka of the city of Bratislava (9, 11). The area of the intervention is about 1 ha. The pavement was replaced by grass areas, trees, and flower beds in the square’s alleys. A water capturing and irrigation system was also installed to ensure resilience to drought. The project was implemented by the city district of Petržalka, which is - with 100,000 inhabitants - one of the larger and most densely populated districts of Bratislava. (1)

The intervention was planned to revitalize and clean a derelict area close to the university hospital in Blato. Before the project was implemented, the area was an informal waste disposal site for the locals. The area was neglected for more than 30 years. Initially, Mayor Milan Bandić planned a large urban park with a thermal spa in the spot. The area was cleaned and some of the constructions had begun, but later it stopped due to some political hurdles (Ref 1, 2).
The first phase, cleaning the shrubs and waste from the area has been completed in 2015, but the use of the area has not been determined yet, therefore the project has not been completed (Ref 1).

The rooftop garden of Nádor 15 was implemented as part of the sustainable campus development strategy of the Central European University. It contains a community garden that is managed by the CEU community, intensive green roofs and green walls as well. The rooftop garden also collects water for it's automatic irrigation system and supports biodiversity with bat shelters, bee hotels and birdhouses. (Reference 1)

The curtain forest at the end of the city is a project that was initiated by the Timisoara's Municipality in 2001 by planting different tree species and creating a barrier for high-temperature summers. It's 60 m high and it was designed to stand in front of very strong winds especially since Timisoara is a city located in a very plain area. Now, it comprises 23 hectares and the municipality aims at 50. (2)

The 53 square meters large green wall can be found in an office building in the center of Budapest. (Reference 9) It helps to balance the humidity indoors, cleans the air and provides a comfortable work environment. The project includes rainwater collection for the irrigation of the green wall. (Reference 6) The building itself was the first one in Central-Eastern Europe to gain the double environmental certification of BREEAM Very Good and LEED Gold. (Reference 9) The focus of the NBS are the indoor green walls, but the building itself also features vegetation on multiple terraces and sun collectors. (Reference 10)

Sofielund invests in a sustainable area. Carpool/joint recycling centre were some of the proposals discussed when property owners, Malmö city and some experts discussed how Sofielund could become more sustainable in the future. The idea is that the environmental days in Malmö (e.g. a workshop) will lead to an action plan to make Sofielund greener. Property owners Sofielund has been at the forefront of a local sustainability work that can be a model for the rest of the country. In February 2017, a memorandum of understanding was signed about concrete efforts to strengthen the Sofielund area (Ref. 1, 2). There is a strong political support for the work that is being done in Sofielund and the BID concept is now upscaled to a sixth project area called Case Sofielund. (Ref. 6).

With its parking areas, ponds, the Lutter stream, playground facilities, walking and jogging paths, the green corridor of Bielefeld, called Luttergrünzug offers recreation opportunity to around 36, 000 people, living in the surrounding areas. As a link between the eastern city center and the district of Heepen, it also enables walking and cycling routes for commuting and shopping away from the busy streets of the city (7). However, the green corridor has been showing some structural and functional defects such as the silting up of the ponds, conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists and the increasing overgrowth of the green belt (8). In order to solve these problems, the renovation and redesign of the Green Corridor was proposed. The regeneration project addresses different needs and requirements of the municipality, namely providing the comfortable infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, and the increase of attractiveness of the neighbouring residential areas. In the planning process, special attention was paid to the improvement of the draining system and the reservoirs of the area that will protect the Belt from flooding. (8)

Two regeneration plans were developed with citizens' involvement and presented to the political committee. In 2017, the implementation of the "smaller" variant was voted for, which was already presented in the first citizens' workshop (1, 4).

CityTree is a four-meter high freestanding installation that is able to purify city air of harmful pollutants by using a special moss culture. (Reference 1) The local government of the 3rd district tested the technology under a 6 month trial from September 2017 to March 2018. The CityTree pilot project in Budapest was concluded, once the district administration decided not to continue the project further due to technical reasons. The irrigation system started to malfunction very early in the trial period, which caused the mosses to dry out and thus producing no quantifiable results. (Reference 9)

Developer company Helix plant systems built a facade for the restaurant at the Kasselbrink pavilion located at one of the central squares of Bielefeld. According to the preliminary expectations, the green facade will release 760 kg of oxygen per year and absorb 1070 kg of CO2, having a positive effect on the ecosystem, reduce the building's energy use for heating and cooling while also has aesthetic value by breaking the grey tone of the square (Ref. 1, 7, 8).