Amman, Jordan
City population: 4008000
Duration: 2020 – 2021
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Residental
Last updated: March 2023

The Urban Micro-Lungs is an Urban Living Lab project in the East of Amman, Jordan that applies the Miyawaki methodology for afforestation to create new green spaces. As part of the project special urban forests were created with the aim to improve the quality of life in dense and deprived urban areas, tackle climate change caused problems such as the urban heat island effect while also supporting local biodiversity. The project was initiated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the Greater Amman Municipality, TAYYUN Research Studio (1,3,4). While the project was just completed in 2021, "the Urban Living Lab has shown the feasibility of creating green spaces even in adverse conditions characterised by dense construction, high degree of surface sealing and lack of open spaces." (1)

Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Source: c40.org

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promotion of naturalistic urban landscape design
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social justice and equity
  • Environmental education

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Transformation of previously derelict areas, Knowledge creation and awareness raising

Project objectives

- Improvement of the quality of life in dense and deprived urban areas by creating new green spaces (1) - Adaptation to extreme weather events such as seasonal heavy rains as a result of climate change (1) - Improve the air quality in the city (1) - Contribution to the decreasing of the heat island effect in the city (1) - Support of the stormwater management and water retention system in the urban area (1)

Implementation activities

- Selection and design of 2 sites where the urban micro lungs were created (1) -Plantation of dense forests on the two selected sites according to the Miyawaki Method. The Miyawaki Method included soil engineering, building biomass, plantation of selected plants that fit the area's climate (1,3,4) - Capacity building workshops and training for municipality staff about the management and maintenance of the Urban Micro Lungs Project sites (1,4) - Training for the partner organisations to enable them to create other urban micro lungs in the city (1,6) - Walks and site activation workshops for residents about the importance of green infrastructure (1)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement solutions to capture/store water to increase its availability and prevent shortages from droughts
  • Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
  • Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Researchers/university
  • Multilateral organisation

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning
  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys)
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Citizen monitoring and review

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The Urban Micro Lung Project was initiated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)’s “Improving Living Conditions in disadvantaged areas in Amman (ILCA)” project (1,4) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, the Greater Amman Municipality and TAYYUN Research Studio. (1,6)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Financing

Total cost

€100,000 - €500,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget
  • Public national budget
  • Research organisation / University

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding or subsidy

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate, energy and emissions
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Improved soil quality
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conversion of degraded land or soil
  • Increased number of species present
  • Restoration of derelict areas

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1) GIZ. (2021). Cities Challenge: 20230 Agenda Meets Urban Climate Action. Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Accessed on November 14, 2021. Source link
2) AECOM (2021.) Amman Green City Action Plan. AECOM Limited. Accessed on November 14, 2021.
Source link
3) GIZ. (2021). The Urban-Micro Lungs Initiative in Amman, Jordan. Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Accessed on November 14, 2021. Source link
4) Assaf, Deema. (2020.) Urban Micro-Lungs: Mini-Forests for Climate, Biodiversity & Wellbeing. Urbanet. Accessed on November 14, 2021. Source link
5) Midorization. (n.a.) Making of Amman Urban Forest. Accessed on November 14, 2021. Source link
6) GIZ. (n.a.) Improving green infrastructure in Amman. Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Accessed on November 14, 2021. Source link
Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Source: c40.org
Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Amman_Urban Micro Lungs
Source: c40.org
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the UNA global extension project funded by the British Academy.