Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Due to the growing population density and extreme climate events in Bangkok, Thailand, food security has become a more and more pressing issue for urban people. As a response, the Bangkok City Farm project was launched in 2010 by the Food and Nutrition Programme of the National Health Promotion Foundation. Implemented in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Foundation Thailand (SAFT), the project aims to encourage and enable people in urban areas to grow their own food. The project offers financial support to anyone who wishes to start their own urban agricultural project, as well as training courses, access to food markets and knowledge sharing platforms. The implementation sites of the farms varies from private house gardens, community gardens, areas in informal settlements, school gardens and institutional green areas (such as hospitals and factories).(Ref. 1,2) The Bangkok City Farm's role in promoting food self-reliance and food security grew further during the COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic, many people in Bangkok - especially from underprivileged communities lost their jobs and their livelihood and access to sufficient and health food was threatened. Thus, as part of the project, green areas on vacant sites of the city were also created to support the out-of-work people with enabling them for self cultivation of their food. (Ref.6) As of 2022, there are 165 farms in Bangkok created through the project. Given the success and importance of the project, the project was scaled up into a nation-wide initiative called ‘Thai City Farm’. 'Thai City Farm' expanded the network to five other cities in Thailand. (Ref. 1,2)

Odom Garden is a unique temporary pop-up public garden developed as a part of an ongoing real estate project (Ref 1). The garden was developed in 2020 to provide a green public space for people to connect with nature and with other citizens in a prime real-estate planned area for further construction in 2023 (Ref 1). Spread across 4000 sqm, the garden is developed by employing and upcycling the garden's native elements, such as large branches being converted into balancing paths and swing holders (Ref 3). The garden is a very popular green space in the city with Phnom Penh’s first dog park, a Japanese-inspired foot bath, and a central food and beverage area, as well as a children’s playground (Ref 2, 3). This green space has become a meeting place for families with opportunities for relaxation and recreation.

The park has been functioning since 2020 as a temporary site for the future Odom project. The area will be redeveloped to include a residential and commercial complex that includes a five-story layered park (Ref 1, 2). The project, when complete, is expected to increase the total green space area to 7000 sqm, i.e., 126% of the current Odom Garden. Of this, 80% of the green space will be accessible to the public. The Odom garden can thus be interpreted as a demonstration intervention, where the goal was to create s community-focused space and in which Phnom Penhers can experience the sense of community envisioned for the future completed project (Ref 1, 2). As of January of 2023, it has been announced that the Odom Garden is closing for the pre-construction of ODOM, with a "heartfelt: See You Soon" (Ref. 5).

Jakarta City in Indonesia deals with inundations during heavy rain periods (1,2). To overcome such flooding issues, the Central Jakarta City Government, through the Parks and Forests Sub-Department, planned and implemented four bioswales and one rain garden at five locations in Central Jakarta City (1,2,3,4). This project was aimed at saving groundwater through stormwater management and minimizing puddles around the site locations (1,4). The Head of Central Jakarta City Parks and Forests Sub-Department, Mila Ananda, conveyed this project completion in 2021 (1,2). After the successful implementation of this project, the Jakarta City Government further plans to identify similar more locations prone to inundation and implement such green infrastructure initiatives in other parts of the city (1,2,3).

In 2005, local farmers in the sub-urban area of Luang Prabang combined their lands and founded The Living Land Farm, a rice farming community that runs an organic farm and an educational centre. The farm comprises of rice fields, vegetable gardens, homestay, and a restaurant. The aim of the farm is to preserve traditional rice-growing techniques, practice organic farming while also adopting new ways of grain selection and planting, and share rice farming knowledge with others. The products from the farm have been used in the local restaurant and are distributed to hotels and other restaurants in Luang Prabang city. The farm also serves as a training site for students of the Northern College of Agriculture and it offers ‘Rice Experience’ package for anyone who would like to learn about rice growing and the local Laos culture. The homestay and restaurant are run by local people of the village nearby and they are open to the public. The farm supports various community projects, such as village improvement and teaching English for local children. (Ref. 1,2,3)

The Project 'JIWA Community Garden' is a place to gather, garden, and learn and is located in Canggu, closer to Denpasar City in Bali (1,2,3). The project was founded in 2020 by three friends (citizens) and was developed on about 4500m2 of previously unused land (1,2,3). Jiwa Community Garden has set an example of how unused land can be turned into a fully functional composting facility, productive organic gardens, and a learning center for Permaculture gardening practices, all under one roof (1,2,3). It also welcomes all workawayer/volunteers and other local groups and expats to participate and contribute to activities for community engagement and learning (1,2,3). This project has created a positive impact, and still further plans to develop sub-projects like Permaculture gardening schools and a co-working space cafe open to the public (2,4).

IKEA opened its doors in Budapest in 1990. This was the very first store in Hungary. Twelve years later, the store announced that it would install a green roof. The main purpose of the green roof was to compensate the locals for the loss of green space. The green roof was intended to create a biologically active surface that fits in aesthetically into the suburban landscape and provide a home for animals such as pollinators. The green roof, built in 2002, was covered with a Sedum carpet. In 2014, when the original Sedum vegetation died out, the green roof was completely removed. Then, during the autumn 2014 planting, four types of Sedum shoots were seeded. This was followed in the spring of 2015 by the seeding of herbaceous dicots seed mixes, which contained seeds of roughly 50 plant species. The vegetation is regularly monitored by ecologists: in 2021, more than 160 different taxa were recorded, including spontaneously occurring species. The green roof is closed, not accessible to the public, however tours are occasionally organized for professionals [3] [6] [8] [9] [10] [11].

The extensive Rain Garden Project underneath the Begumpet flyover was carried out in Hyderabad City of Telangana State in India as a beautification project, creating a wetland system banked by lush vegetation (1,2, 4). The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) developed this project to restore, conserve and regenerate the environment of stormwater drains (locally named as open 'Nalas') (1,2,3,6). This project is located at the intersection of Kukatpally Nala and Yousufguda Nala and stretches over 2 hectares and runs for 400 meters (1,2). The project was created for a more natural flow of stormwater to allow it to soak into the ground as well as reduce mosquito breeding on Nala (1,2). It was completed in 2018, creating a positive impact, through which the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) further decided to develop more such projects in other parts of the city (4). Hyderabad City was also awarded for this project under the green and clean city category - Smart Cities India (SCI) Awards (5).

Banyuwangi International Airport in East Java is the first green airport in Indonesia and was recognized with an award from the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) in 2021-22, the world's oldest and most prestigious architecture awards (1,2,3,4). This project was designed and implemented by Architect Andra Matin in 2018 as a corporate social responsibility project for the Banyuwangi Regional Government, Java, Indonesia (1,2,4). The project building was extensively inspired by the houses of the local Osing tribe (1,2). The project aimed to embody a highly efficient passive design, with its remarking green roof feature of a total area of 4765m2 that is planted with grass and routinely maintained (1,2,3,5,6). The green roofs act like a sponge for heat, light and water and conserve energy by maintaining a constant temperature inside the building, and as a result, the airport does not require air conditioning in the main area (5). The green roof of the airport improves air quality as it captures airborne pollutants and atmospheric deposition, and the plants on green roofs also filter noxious gases (5). The eco-friendly airport terminal construction utilizes 'Fast Flow Siphonic System', especially for conventional roof drainage (5). The regional government declared a 10 km radius 'No Development Zone' around the project, protecting the existing paddy fields and villages, which is an exceptional move given the general tendency to exploit land around airports commercially (1,2). The current airport site caters to around 300,000 passengers annually and allows for future expansion to accommodate up to 3 million passengers without encroaching on the No Development Zone (2).