Improving physical health

Appletree is an outdoor community resource, where people of all ages and from all walks of life, get together to grow e.g. fruit, and contribute to developing and maintaining the area. The growing space and garden are divided into different areas, offering a range of gardening experience. The community also contributes to their permaculture, wildlife and wildflower areas. The community is constantly planting and regenerating areas of the garden. (Ref. 1)

Manchester’s Stevenson Square was given a green makeover. In addition to securing funds from Manchester City Council, the project underwent a substantial crowd fundraising campaign to transform the square into an ‘urban oasis’ and provide street trees, permeable pavements and planters.The pavement was extended on one side of Stevenson Square which enabled street trees to be planted. More tree planting undertook on the central reservation and a green roof was designed to collect and store rainwater. Self-irrigating hanging baskets were installed on lamp posts (ref 4).

Wigan Flashes Project is encouraging natural re-colonisation to a site of very high conservation value and an enormous asset for recreation for the local community. The Wigan Flashes are a group of eight shallow wetlands, formed originally as a result of mining subsidence, which extend south from near Wigan's town centre. Over time, the industrial landscape has evolved in to a mixture of open water, reedbed, mossland, willow carr and fenland (ref 1).

The Environment Agency, Manchester City Council and the Irwell Rivers Trust had undertaken works to renaturalise a section of the River Medlock running through Manchester. The project had sought to return the river to its natural state by widening the channel and replacing the Victorian brick lining with gravel that provides a more natural-looking and fish-friendly section of the river and reduces flood risk at the same time (ref. 3). The project was also being seen as an EU exemplar of how to go about restoring an urban river (ref. 1, ref. 7).

Within the national park of Alta Murgia, a project was implemented since 2006 from a company which produces ecological products ("Fattoria della Mandorla"). They aimed at creating an ecovillage with allotment gardens by practising biological agriculture and promoting biodiversity for cultivated plants. In addition, the project aims at improving the contact of visitors with nature and give further value to the natural park. Moreover, the project wants to stimulate sustainable production and consumption of cultivated products. (Ref.1.)

The initiative promoted by the event “Primavera Mediterranea” (Mediterranean spring) transforms the central pedestrian area of via Argirio into an urban park. The project is aimed at rethinking the urban spaces in a green way, as urban gardens are built within the whole central area. The main benefit of the initiative is to give a green view of the city centre, a new dimension of the lived urban space. In addition, workshops and manifestations are organized within the area, to promote also the social and cultural value of the zone. (Ref.1.) The intervention is an initiative taking place every year since 2011, which lasts for days. Private shops, associations and consultancies work together to realise the urban gardens in the main street in Bari. (Ref.1.2.&3.)

Park Lužánky underwent extensive reconstruction between 1991-2012 through five phases (Ref 2) to restore a recreational hub of the city's largest park through ecologically sound design (Ref. 1; Ref. 2). Each phase worked restored different sections of the park. This included modification of green areas, landscaping (treatment of trees, planting new trees and perennial plants, restoration of grasslands), building a children's playground, a fitness park, and an artificial water element that imitates the former stream of the river Ponávka. (Ref. 1).

The city district Japigia in 2013 has proposed a project of a new park that links the necessity of housing, open spaces, urban sustainability. The park is centre of green spaces with a high level of accessibility, in a part of the city which was previously abandoned. The presence of hedges and trees guarantees the liveability of the area, while at the same time providing important ecosystem services such as mitigation of urban pollution and mediation of visual impact. The same can be said for the vertical gardens which will characterise the entrance of the park. (Ref.1.)

The Willem Alexander Park is the first roof park of Utrecht and is built on a highway tunnel (the A2 highway) and includes meeting areas, sports and activities and a community garden that contributes to social cohesion. It also allows for cultural development by creating spaces for art and culture and includes a sustainable drainage system (ref. 1, 2). In addition, the Willem Alexanderpark is the first park in which almost two hectares consists of prairie plantings (ref. 2).
The park is intersected by the roads between the City road and Leeuwenstein-North. Each segment between the roads has its own thematic program, appropriate to the size and location in the urban context. The themes are:
– connect & meet
– art & culture
– sports & games
– nature & education
– food & drinks (ref. 4)

The project relating to the waterfront of San Girolamo di Bari is an important piece of the mosaic that provides a new design for the entire city waterfront, from North to South: Santo Spirito, Palese, (precisely) San Girolamo, the connection between Bread and Tomato and Torre Quetta, temporary uses on the San Giorgio waterfront, up to the redevelopment of the South promenade. The project which is almost completed, regenerated the seaside part of Bari, making the seaside accessible and link the city with the coastal area by creating a multi-functional space where playgrounds, a cycling path and green open spaces were built to enhance the liveability of the area. In this way, what was previously considered just as an economic and working part of the city became a new center of social interaction by creating a new institutional green space. (Ref.1, Ref.6).