Improving physical health

Tondiraba is a green urban area located in Lasnamäe, it is a valuable area with a diverse landscape which at the start of the initiative was severely overgrown and randomly used. The city planned to build an eco-golf course where the diverse and species-rich landscape and protected species are preserved. The architecture of the golf course is based on the advantages of the natural location and an ‘eco-golf course' concept. These landscapes and their flora were generated with landscape maintenance methods, which results in ‘micro-communities’ in which the ecosystems characteristic of the given area would start developing (ref 1, 5).

The main problem of Lake Ülemiste is high phytoplankton biomass, which increases the cost of water treatment (ref 1). Improving the water quality of Lake Ülemiste by biomanipulation has been considered as a management alternative. Lake Ülemiste was bio-remediated after reduction of external loading and the shifts in water quality were studied during the active-phase of the measure. (ref 1). Tallinn obtains 88% of the water it needs from Lake Ülemiste. Pine forest in the sanitary protection zone surrounding Lake Ülemiste offers several ecosystem services that help to improve the quality of the city’s drinking water (ref 4).

The abandoned fishing harbour in Tallinn is a derelict, privately owned but publicly used open space approximately 5 hectares in size and known as the former fishing harbour (Kalasadam). It is part of the old industrial waterfront belt waiting to be regenerated in the future. It is a piece of ‘urban wilderness’ (Ref. 1). The site is a green open space with high recreational values. Inserting a few pieces of equipment and taming the urban wilderness very slightly seems to lead to a significantly increased number of users than before these developments (Ref 2).
A research study has been done to determine whether an urban derelict site could be regarded as only empty and meaningless (ref 1 and 2)

The 100-hectare site that is situates in the socially disadvantaged neighbourhood and river island called Wilhelmsburg was designed for the IGS 2013 (International Garden Show) and was opened to the citizens of Hamburg in 2014. On the 9-hectare large area that was a former brownfield site, mostly free or inexpensive outdoor leisure facilities were planned. The new park, named “Island Park” aims to attract people of all ages to do sport, including recreational and professional sports outdoor. Among others, the park is equipped with a high-rope course, a climbing wall, a canoeing canal a running track, a boules pitch and a garden for meditating (Reference 1, 2). The park also offers additional services, such as workshops and hands-on activities for people who want to experience a sport under expert guidance. (Reference 3)

Opened in June 2006, the Jean-Baptiste Lebas Park, which occupies a space once used for illegal parking and marred by 11 lanes of traffic, is surrounded by the boulevard of the same name. This park plays an important role in creating an urban green space into a derelict grey area. The park helped to increase the biodiversity of the area. It has an area of 3-hectare (7-acre) and it contains a large lawn with flowerbeds, play areas for children and places for playing "boules" (Ref 1).

The restoration of Highfields Park was completed in Summer 2018 with path repairs and tree works to be carried out in winter 2018 to 2019. The five-year development journey of returning Highfields park to its former glory has included two rounds of public consultation. The views of park users and project partners such as the University of Nottingham, the UK's Environment Agency and the Highfields Park User Group identified a strong desire to see the park restored and improved (ref. 1), including improvements on heritage features such as historic walls, bridges and the old Boating Lake Ticket Office (ref. 2). In total, this project aimed to repair unused structures of the park including walled gardens, gardener’s cottages and historic halls and houses, converting them into volunteer and training centers, event spaces and community facilities (ref. 3). Highfields Park also provides valuable scrub and woodland habitat for breeding birds such as robin, sparrow and blue tit. The additional diversity of habitats provides important foraging and breeding opportunities for invertebrates and mammals. (Ref 4)

In 2016, the project facilitated the revitalization and development of green areas in Dąbie (by an urban part of the Vistula River) to create the Dąbie Park. The park had been a neglected vacant green space with randomly scattered former playground facilities. The initiative involved greenery management and creation (bushes, trees, flower meadows), building new sports facilities (running/cycling paths, a basketball field), new infrastructural solutions (new water drainage system, a viewpoint) and creating a safe and modern space for children in a playground surrounded by large trees which provide shadow. The modernization and revitalization of the park infrastructure and local greenery have made the green riverbank area accessible to the public [1,4,5].

A 21-kilometer regional cycle and footpath between the cities of Essen, Mülheim am der Ruhr and Duisburg was developed from the former unused railway route of the Rheinische Bahn. The path was landscaped to ensure the comfort of pedestrians and cyclists. Part of the route passes through Emscher Park and become a full-fledged part of the green infrastructure of Essen (Ref. 1).

The Newton and Arkwright roof, buildings of the Nottingham Trent University campus, holds one of the region’s largest sedum roofs, which spans its way 2,500m² across the building, creating a home for 13 varieties of sedum, insects, songbirds and a new colony of honey bees, creating a trio of hives over all campuses (ref. 1). A 150m2 bank surrounding the building is unmown in order to promote biodiversity and attract pollinating insects in the summer months. Green-walled gates was also part of the implementation activities of this project. (ref. 5).

It started with the “Let’s Plant for the Earth, Let’s Plant for Murcia” project, as Murcia’s committed to the United Nations Billion Trees Campaign. The city of Murcia committed itself in 2008 to plant 12 000 trees around the urban fabric through a series of action projects. The target was exceeded in 2010 with a total of 23 576 trees pledged and planted toward the campaign (Ref. 1).
In 2020, after having surpassed their 12,000 planted trees goal, Murcia has the new goal of planting 100,000 trees by 2030. It is a long-term project that the municipality committed itself to make (Ref. 5, 2020a).