Grass

Located in a former German village, Freidorf, which became a quarter of the city of Timisoara in the twentieth century, the Lămâiţa Pond is a recreation blue area, initially a dumpster, surrounded by building blocks built in the communist period. Through this intervention, the municipality aims at reducing the size of the pond, cleaning it, creating a beneficial area for different types of vegetation and fish. Also, its goals are to give a recreational space to the community that lives by and to also establish a rainwater management centre for the neighbourhood. (1)

Together with citizens, municipality, NGOs and urban green space developers and managers, GREEN SURGE contributed to the improvement of Ljubljana’s urban green spaces in the LivadaLAB initiative. This project combined research insights with the expertise of the youth NGO Zavod Bob, University of Ljubljana, the Institute for Sustainable Development, construction company LAVCO, urban management company TISA, and a number of local businesses. Together, they implemented a project which successfully integrates youth and environmental policy goals for the City of Ljubljana. It engaged over 30 young citizens in developing a multifunctional open public green space with the aim to further promote, support and foster the active role of citizens, especially marginalized groups, in improving the quality of urban green spaces in Ljubljana. This project is one of the initiatives under the overarching Uran Learning Labs (ULLs) project by Green Surge, which was applied to 20 European cities. (1, 4 and 5)

Opened in 1987, Lo Morant Park is located in the northern part of the city of Alicante. Its flat surface of 12 hectares is ideal for walking among its vegetated spaces and for the development of multiple activities focused on the neighborhood (Ref. 1). An educational environmental tour of the park is in place for learning and discovering the fauna and flora. The park offers different social activities and facilities (sports facilities, leisure). (Ref. 1). It is the largest park in Alicante with a dimension of twelve hectares, and has a great diversity of plant species and sports and cultural spaces. (Ref. 3)

The Festival Park Liverpool project involves the transformation of the former International Garden Festival site into an internationally recognized riverside suburb with strong neighbourhood connections and leisure facilities. The 36-hectare site is split into three different zones namely 1) Development Zone 2)Southern Grasslands and 3) Festival Gardens. The project masterplan was created by K2 Architects and was launched by the Liverpool City Mayor Joe Anderson. (Reference 1, 4, 7).
The Festival Park Liverpool masterplan consists of 1) a mixed-use housing including residential zone, primary school, medical centre and a culture hub 2) social heart of the residential area with hotels, bars and restaurants 3) a beachfront neighbourhood with residential apartments, pavement cafes, restaurants and bars, designed around an ‘Amsterdam’ styled canal frontage 4) festival gardens 5) grasslands to be remodelled into a natural habitat for wildlife and leisure activities (Reference 1).
In 2017, a set of land surveys and environmental assessments, along with the first phase of site mediation, were carried out. A consent to develop 1380 residential units were provided with validity until December 2022 (Reference 1). Detailed site investigations have been undertaken in the Development Zone and now underway on the Gardens and Southern Grasslands (Reference1, 8). A 9.9M pound remediation programmed funded by a grant from Homes England will begin in Spring 2020 in order to prepare the site to deliver 1,500 homes with supporting retail leisure and community uses. Liverpool City Council has started to engage prospective investors, developers and operators in discussions for bringing forward the project. It has opened opportunities for investor involvement which includes equity partners, co-investment or development funding, offering a potential for a long-term relationship with a public sector partner or investor. The project will be built in several phases commencing in Summer 2021 (Reference 9).

The River Alt Restoration Project at Stonebridge started in 2013 with an initial goal to remove culverts in order to create re-naturalised watercourses and maintain watercourses easier. It also involved the removal of rubbish and other obstructions to reduce the risk of flooding in the wider catchment (Reference 2). The project then evolved with a bigger goal to divert River Alt into a new 900-meter long linear park named Alt Meadows. Relevant engineering works were employed in the area. In addition, accessible paths and meadow, wetland and woodland habitats were created. The park was also linked into surrounding areas (like housing, shops, schools, etc.). The project benefits include the expected increase in wildlife biodiversity and improved water quality and flood protection (Reference 1, 3).
The project was led The Cass Foundation, in partnership with the Community Forest Trust, with funding from DEFRA’s Catchment Restoration Fund (via Environmental Agency) and Liverpool City Council. The Foundation remains responsible for maintaining Alt Meadows on behalf of the city council (Reference 3).

The Park Jose Antonio Labordeta is the most extensive park in all of Zaragoza, consisting of municipal nurseries, botanical gardens, and areas for leisure and recreation. (Ref. 4) From 2006 to 2007 a process of citizen participation was started to collect ideas for the improvement of the park on its 75th anniversary. (Ref. 1) In 2010, the City Council of Zaragoza developed a Master Plan to document these ideas and to guide future management of the park. (Ref. 1) The interventions in the Master Plan include landscape improvement, park management, agronomic improvements, among others. (Ref. 1)

Revitalization of Rakova Jelša includes cleaning of the informal waste area and renovating it in a park which connects the city with the Marsh Landscape Park. In two phases, the park area was arranged together with the children's playground and the footbridge over Lahov graben. The possibility of regulated urban self-sufficient agriculture or gardens in the immediate vicinity of the city center means the added value of this area. (1)

Recognizing that wilderness areas in cities are getting scarcer and neglected, the Biological Station Bonn Rhein-Erft conducted a city-wide project, in cooperation with the municipality of Bonn, funded by the Regional Rhineland Association, whose goal was to assess, map, evaluate and redevelop wilderness patches in Bonn. These contain roadside meadows, flower strips, hedges and small green patches growing on concrete walls or fences and pavement cracks. 10 of these "Wild corners" were designated as micro-wilderness areas, information signs were installed and an informative city walk conceptualized (1,4,10).

The recreational and educational centre (RIC) area along the Sava river stretches from Tomačevo to Sneberje and totals 144,618 sqm. The area is intended for children, people with disabilities and other residents of the region, visitors and tourists. The intervention made this once degraded, illegal dumping area attractive for those seeking recreation, visitors and tourists, also in the evening as street lighting was installed along the path powered by photovoltaics. A large children's playground offers free socializing and children can develop their basic motor skills, which is exceptionally important in life's early years. (1)

"After decades of abandonment and deterioration, Zaragoza took advantage of the opportunity of the Expo 2008, to form a new relationship with the Ebro River, transforming empty, inaccessible, degraded and unsafe banks into places of encounter and representation. Public works on the Ebro were designed as structures with various functions." (Ref.3)