Social interaction

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 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 Danube Eco-District project is Strasbourg's first eco-districy and is based on previous experimental designs in sustainable urban living (Ref. 27, 30). It is situated at the heart of the axis Deux Rives, and is thus a strategic point of the large Franco-German Deux Rives project (Ref. 28). The district will have the capacity for 20,000 residents, and will include green spaces, green roofs, insect hotels (Ref. 1), various water management facilities (ditches, swales... etc.), and composting facilities (Ref. 4). The project aims to improve biodiversity, social equality, ecology, reduce urban heating, and promote sustainable consumption (Ref. 30).

The medieval style Shared Garden Of Sainte-Madeleine Place development - situated in between two nearby schools - in 2009 was quickly claimed by the Association des Habitants Bourse Austerlitz Krutenau (Association of Inhabitants Bourse-Austerlitz-Krutenau) (AHBAK) neighborhood association because of its historic environment. The project turned the space into a shared garden, involving a collective composting area for organic waste, installing a rainwater recuperator, and planting local plant and vegetable species and new trees (Ref. 1, 2, 3).

The idea of ​​the project Redevelopment Of Place d'Austerlitz was to create an autonomous ecosystem, including plants and animals, with wild grasses and native trees that attract insects, mammals and birds (Ref. 4). The restructuring involved a whole mixture of paths, fauna, flora and riverside, all within a framework promoting urban ecology and biodiversity (Ref. 5). The project was conceived as "an archipelago of nature in the city" (Ref. 10, 12).

Preserved from urbanization, the square of Chalampé is a bubble of greenery in the heart of old Neudorf. The square had become aged, under-equipped and surrounded by a thin vegetated strip (Ref. 1). The project aims to revitalize Chalampé Square by removing invasive species, replanting vegetation that will remove the shady character of the square and by recreating the plant lines that line the square (Ref. 2).

This NBS is a part of the "Horta à Porta" (allotments at the door) programme which enhances the economic, environmental and social dynamics of the Porto region through the creation of community organic gardens and the promotion of active involvement which empowers local people and institutions. The program is led by the Greater Porto Metropolitan Waste Management Service, LIPOR. Implementation of vegetable gardens began in 2003. In the Metropolitan Region of Porto, there are 23 of these community gardens totalling four hectares, and the forecast is for a large-scale increase in the near future(1)

The Pré Muché garden is part of the AJONC, Amis des Jardins Ouverts et néanmoins clôturés. This is the community garden of the St-Maurice Pellevoisin neighbourhood. Located behind the church of St-Maurice des Champs and the new Maison de quartier, Pré Muché has been in existence since 2007 on the initiative of the inhabitants. The garden is arranged according to the principles of the natural garden, a space that combines a place of life, cultivated plots and more wild areas. Its maintenance is ecological. It is a living garden where the pond meets the flowered meadow and the regional shrubs (Ref 2).

The park of Dondaines is an agro-urban park of the city. This contrast is guaranteed by the ecological management of space that aims to promote biodiversity in this highly urbanized area. The Park of Dondaines is located in a strategic position, between the old and the new Lille, and creates a link between these two entities. The park hosts a pedagogical farm. It is a framework where the urban, the animals and the plants meet. It preserves plants and small animals by providing them with food and habitat. The cover of the periphery, planted with pines, ensures the continuity of the park with the new districts of Euralille(Ref 3).The place is a garden of representation, park of proximity, urban agriculture and food production space, pedagogical farm and event platform, and a place for sports and games (Ref 2, 5).

The Eco-District at the Banks of the Bohrie Ostwald is structured around water with the Bohren pond, the river Ostwaldergraben and the seasonal and permanent wetlands (Ref. 2). The project covers 50 hectares and was initiated by Strasbourg Eurométropole with 2 developers: CM CIC SAREST and Nexity-Foncier Conseil (Ref. 1, 7). The district will integrate its structures into the surrounding water land and vegetation to provide for agricultural water management and flood preventing procedures (Ref. 2). It will also have green roofs, public green spaces, (Ref. 4) vegetable gardens, (Ref. 7) and composting, while on-site vegetation will participate in the deployment of green infrastructure (Ref. 5). "An eco-district of 48 hectares (17 urbanized hectares) is being created" (Ref. 11).