Grass

The construction of a new main bus station inaugurated in 2014, is part of a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage users to favor bus routes (Ref. 1). Part of this construction project, a vegetal wall of 210 meters long and 8 meters high has been implemented in order to act on noise (-20 decibels) and visual pollution, and improve air quality. It will be the largest public vegetal wall in France. (Ref. 4, page 26)

The project introduces an urban park in the place of a formerly derelict area and a landfill, located by the river valley of Bystrzyca. The park would increase access to the green recreational area in the city, which is a part of a longer-term plan to make the river’s banks citizen-friendly and easily accessible. The initiative includes: clearing the land and planting greenery, construction of the 'sensory' garden for the youngest users, building walking and cycling paths and infrastructure adjusted to people with disabilities, as well as installation of the nesting boxes, feeders and insect hotels [1].

"Anglers Country Park (and a local nature reserve) is dominated by a lake, surrounded by grassland, woodland and a wetland area." "This originally farmed landscape was dramatically changed when it became one of the deepest opencast mines in Europe, reaching a depth of 250 feet." Restoration work began after the mine closed, creating the country park. (Ref. 1, 2)

PopinnPark claimed to be the first indoor park of Europe and was created in an abandoned store, aiming at improving the quality of the neighbourhood and bringing nature closer to people. It became a meeting spot for communities, artists, businesses and citizens for exchanging knowledge on social/sustainability issues or for recreation. Popinn Park contained plants that improved air quality, local businesses that provide fair foods and drinks and nature-based art. (1)
After running for two years, Popinn Park closed and was transformed into an art gallery under the name of Popinn Art. Since 2018, Popinnart is an artist-run nomadic collective with over 25 contemporary artists. The art on offer is varied and qualitatively and conceptually challenging. There is a choice of spatial work, figurative and abstract, collages, photography, paintings, drawings, textiles and video. (5)

A number of studies were carried out since 1984 to determine a suitable flood prevention scheme for the White Cart Water and its tributary to provide protection up to the 1 in 200 years event (corresponding to protection up to 1 in 100 years event by 2050s, according to considered climate change projections). In 2002 the development of the scheme began with the help of consulting engineers. The resulting White Cart Water Flood Prevention Scheme, the largest flood protection scheme in Scotland, was published in November 2004 and approved by the Scottish Government in 2006 (Ref 1). Phases 1 and 2 of the White Cart Water Flood Prevention Scheme were completed by late 2011 as part of Glasgow City Council's strategy, working with other key stakeholders, to reduce flood risk to residents and businesses in the south side of Glasgow. In 2017, Glasgow City Council secured funding to enable the completion of the third and final phase of the scheme. This phase involves the construction of 9 sections of flood defence - a combination of flood defence walls and embankments which will provide direct flood defence along sections of both the White Cart Water and Auldhouse Burn. Through 2017 the project team has been finalising the design and undertaking surveys etc. The project is currently ongoing (Ref 3).

In 2008, a green wall of more than 500 m^2 using a hydroponic watering system was developed on the side of the Max Juvenal bridge. Designed by Patrick Blanc, french botanist and pioneer in the development of green walls, it is considered an "authentic work of art, which evolves over time and the seasons and contributes to "renaturing" the urban space" (Ref. 4, page 7). The wall is intended to illustrate the benefits that green walls can bring to the environment, such as the reduction of heat islands in urban areas and their contribution to cleaner air due to the production of oxygen and the reduction of CO2 rate by photosynthesis (Ref. 1).

Wakefield Council is "responsible for managing over 2650 acres of grass in parks and countryside areas across the Wakefield district (this includes cutting the grass)". Since 2015, there are small areas where "the grass is being left to grow" naturally for environmental benefits. (Ref. 1) The objective of the project by leaving derelict some grass areas are that "the environmental benefits of leaving some grass to grow naturally include encouraging wild flowers to grow which will support bees and other insects, and aiding drainage to reduce flood risk" (Ref 1).

It is the most extensive green roof in Lublin, designed to cover 16,700 square meters rooftop area of the shopping mall 'Castle Terraces' (Tarasy Zamkowe). Its purpose is to serve as a green recreational area for relaxation and public events, as well as an ecological solution for heat mitigation and water retention. The roof is divided into two parts: 1) an area accessible to the public with flower meadows, walking paths, viewing points from which the visitors can see Lublin’s old town 2) ‘intensive cultivation area’ with endemic trees, bushes and succulents which are not directly accessible to the public [1,2,3,8].

Due to the challenges caused by climate change, Hamburg decided to become greener and developed a comprehensive, pioneering green roof strategy. The strategy aims at creating 100 hectares of new green walls by 2019 by providing grants for building owners for greening roofs and offering them rain water fee reduction owing to the rain water retention of the green roofs. (Reference 1) The financial support offered until the end of 2019 is 3 million EUR. (Reference 2) The services offered by the city in this plan consist of four pillars: promotion (financial incentive), dialogue, regulation, and scientific support. (Reference 7)

Since the mid-eighties, several German cities like Karlsruhe have been implementing green tram tracks, followed by a period of decline due to incompatibility with technical and construction requirements (Ref. 2). Since around 2003, the city of Karlsruhe has re-introduced the greening of tram tracks with the main objectives of noise reduction and cloudburst infiltration (climate adaptation). Mostly in combination with urban redevelopment projects, several tram tracks across Karlsruhe have been renewed and greened in different forms by using continuously advancing technologies (Ref. 3, 6 and 7).