Stuttgart, Germany
City population: 581386
Duration: 1998 – 2014
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Central Business District / City Centre
Last updated: October 2021

The Green Ventilation Corridors network in Stuttgart, Germany is an implemented nature-based solution coupled with regulatory policies and incentives. Within this initiative, Green ventilation corridors were created to enable fresh air to sweep down from hills surrounding the city (4).

Green Ventilation Corridors
Climate Adapt
https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/case-studies/stuttgart-combating-the-heat-island-effect-and-poor-air-quality-with-green-ventilation-corridors/#cost_benefit_anchor

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Alley and street greens
  • Railroad bank and track greens
  • Green parking lots
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Green corridors and green belts

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change mitigation
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Noise reduction
  • Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
  • Effective management
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for relaxation and recreation

Focus

Creation of new green areas

Project objectives

1. Preserve and channel cool air throughout the city (1) 2. Connecting rural areas with the city center (1) 3. Prevent urban heat island effect and poor air quality (2) 4. Enhance biodiversity (2) 5. Support health and wellbeing of citizens providing more recreational spaces (5)

Implementation activities

The following implementation activities have taken place; 1. Production of the urban climatic map 2. Introduction of new building regulations 3. Creation of the climate-relevant ventilation lanes, parks and green corridors (5, 7)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change mitigation:

  • Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
  • Improve carbon sequestration through selection of more adaptable species

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore ecological connectivity

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Dissemination of information and education

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Verband Region Stuttgart (the association of regional cities and municipalities) and the City of Stuttgart. The Section of Urban Climatology within the Office for Environmental Protection of the City of Stuttgart contributed with its specialist knowledge. The evaluation and processing of the data for drawing up of the basic material required to produce the maps were undertaken by an external specialist consultant. (1)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The Regional Plan of Stuttgart (1998) illustrated a system of open-space corridor that channel cooler air down preserved, undeveloped park areas on hillsides and through low-density developed areas, connecting rural areas and the city center. Within the city, shaded parks are connected to the air flow channels wherever possible, providing cooling for local neighborhoods (1). Land use within the green corridors and on the slopes is strictly regulated; the preferred width is a minimum of 100 m (1). )

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Direct funding or subsidy

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate, energy and emissions
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. DeKay. M. and Brown. G.Z. (2013) Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design Strategies. John Wiley & Sons.
2. (2017). ICLEI Briefing Sheet - Nature-based Solutions, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
3. UGEC Viewpoints. (2016). Structure and agency: The seeds of sustainability for 21st-century cities, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
4. ICLEI. (2017). HOW CITIES ARE USING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
5. Edward Ng and Chao Ren (no date) The Urban Climatic Map: A Methodology for Sustainable Urban Planning. Routledge, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
6. Danish Architecture Centre (2017). STUTTGART: COOL CITY. Dac&Cities, Available at: Source link
7. CIRCLE2 (2013). Urban Climate in Stuttgart Ventilation corridors and green in the city, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
8. German Federal Government (2008). German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
9. Oppla Case Study (2017). Stuttgart Region: Multifunctional Green Infrastructure for an Attractive Urban Region, Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
10. Liu Shuyu, Shen Jihuang. (2015). Urban Ventilation Corridor Planning Method Based on the Local Circulation – Taking Stuttgart,
Germany as an example [J]. Journal of Zhejiang University: engineering science edition, 2010, 44 (10): 1985-1991.
11. CEEWeb (2017). Stuttgart, Germany: green ventilation corridors. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 20th September, 2020.
13. Antony Mwangi Wambui (2012). Towards “Cool Urbanity”: Green Infrastructure and City Form Spatial Realignment for Natural Ventilation. Department of Landscape Architecture. College of Design. North Carolina State University.