Welcome to the Atlas

Tram lines that are trespassing a neighborhood in Bucharest were covered with turf, creating green spaces alongside the lines and improving air quality (1) The neighborhood is dubbed "the greenest neighborhood" of Bucharest.

The environmental NGO Dodo started their Guerilla Gardening projects in 2009 with a garden on the wasteland by the main railroad tracks in Helsinki, Pasila. The key idea was to make use of temporary derelict spaces. Raised beds were constructed from old pallets and filled with donated soil. Crops were grown by local citizens and provided both food and aesthetic beauty on the otherwise unused area.
In 2012 the project developed into "Turn Table - The Urban Garden", as the garden was supplemented by a small pop-up restaurant and café in a movable greenhouse (Ref 1, 2, 7). The Turn Table garden space was organized to promote awareness and discussion on the ecological and social aspects of food. The urban garden project included not just the greenhouse, but also an apiary, cultivation beds, a summer café with a terrace, and a market (ref. 4).

Two River Urban Park is a public space located towards the confluence of the Liesbeek and Black Rivers and is one of the largest urban green lungs in the City of Cape Town. It is approximately 240 hectares in extent. The Park comprises sensitive ecological systems and habitats, extensive open space areas, institutions, historical buildings and cultural landscapes (2). The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Province own significant proportions of the park and in 2011, the Western Cape Government started considering the sustainable redevelopment of the TRU Park into a mixed-used urban green area including housing development, heritage protection, the rehabilitation of the degraded environment and recreation opportunity creation (1). Since 2016, the project has been on hold due to the modification of the planning law Local Spatial Development Framework that affects the redevelopment plans of the Two Rivers Urban Park (1).

The green infrastructure master plan of Udon Thani aims to prepare the city for the future development challenges by offering a new infrastructure network that can mitigate flood and drought while enhancing community and public space within the municipality. Udon Thani is an important economic city in the northeastern part of Thailand and is growing rapidly. With urbanization and climate change trends, the city is experiencing water supply and flood challenges. The masterplan consists of four main design strategies including canal restoration, green streets, retention parks and wetland areas. All four mains strategies create multi-functional spaces that promote environmental and social benefits together. Aside from slowing water flow which allow infiltration and retaining water, these spaces act as park and community garden which offer passive and active recreational activities. In total, 14 sub-projects were proposed together with cost-benefit analysis. (Ref. 1,2,3,4) Currently, the first project is under construction, which is a canal restoration (Huay Mak Khaeng). The construction is expected to finish in 2024. (Ref. 6,7,8)

The "Urban Forest" project focused on the establishment of the Mongolian-Korean Friendship Forest on a 40-hectare land in Dambadarjaa, Sukhbaatar district of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. Previously known as the Forest Research and Development Center Arboretum Park, this area has a river running through it. The project, with a total cost of over 8 million EUR, was designed specifically to reduce air pollution in the capital, to create a healthy eco-environment for Ulaanbaatar residents to spend their leisure time and to raise awareness of the importance of forests and the benefits of trees in Mongolia. In total, 55,000 trees and shrubs of 36 different species were planted so far and the park boasts five different types of coniferous trees that thrive in Mongolia, including larch, pine, abies, cedar, and spruce, as well as deciduous trees such as birch, aspen, willow, lilac, and maple. The Urban Forest park also includes several facilities, such as a visitor information center, a playground, sport facilities, a natural arboretum and a ground fountain. The park will be operational and accessible to the public in 2023. The project was implemented between 2017 and 2022, as the second phase of the Korea-Mongolia Greenbelt Reforestation Initiative jointly developed by the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and the Korea Forest Service (KFS). The Green Belt initiative was created with the overall aims to mitigate desertification, combat climate change, and reduce yellow dust and sandstorms in Mongolia.
(Ref. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

The ‘University Park Essen’ is developed on a former railway site in the inner city of Essen, that had been a wasteland for almost 30 years. By revitalizing this about the 13-hectare large plot, an urban green quarter for residential and commercial use is created. The centricity of the park within the new quarter between the city center, shopping mall Limbecker Square and the university campus is the first visible component of the development and therefore shapes the new identity of the quarter (Ref. 4).

Taru Leading Edge initiated a lake conservation project in Indore with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and Indore Municipal Corporation as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN).
Urbanisation and the increase of impermeable surfaces reduced the capacity for groundwater recharge. The climate change risks indicate increasing rainfall variability and more intense and/or more frequent storms as well as an increase in dry periods. With less permeable soils the city needs to optimally use existing lakes to capture runoff, creating buffer supplies and helping to increase groundwater recharge. The main objective of this project was “ensuring availability of local water resources during emergencies”, through developing a replicable model for peri-urban lake rejuvenation and conservation. The expected outcomes of the project include a stakeholder-managed process for stabilising/improving the water quality of the restored lakes and generating interest among multiple stakeholders to conserve urban lakes. TARU has restored and worked on 2 water bodies, demonstrating methods and processes required to revive lakes that have co-benefits of groundwater recharge, aesthetic enhancement of the area, cool microclimate and possible livelihood restoration. The names of the lakes restored are Khajrana talab and Lasudiya Mori talab. [2, 4]

Newcastle City Council’s Bee Strategy has been created to promote the importance of bees. The bee populations had been declining for some time (in the UK) due to various factors including loss of habitat, disease and use of pesticides. Newcastle City Council is working with schools, universities, allotment holders, beekeepers to increase the habitat of bees and to raise awareness of their important work in pollination (1, 2, 5)

Cardiff City Council and Urban Buzz brought together local organizations, community groups supporting wildlife, to create environments to encourage more bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other insects. (ref 1). One project inspired by Urban Buzz is Pharma Bee, a project housed and run by Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, that worked to create a bee-friendly campus through their PharmaBees team (ref 7). In association with Urban Buzz, a project run by BugLife, it renovated the Cardiff University’s Redwood Building by planting bee-friendly plants (ref 2), installed beehives and trained bee-keepers (ref 7). The efforts were then expanded to the Hayden Ellis building on Cardiff University's campus (ref 7).

New Bolton Woods Ltd is a development partnership between the regeneration company Urbo and Bradford Council (ref5). This project aims to create a new sustainable urban neighbourhood, linked to the existing Bolton Woods. As the majority of the proposed development is situated on land which falls within Flood Zone, a range of measures including the raising of ground floor levels, and incorporation of sustainable drainage techniques will be used to manage runoff.
The project intends to provide a series of well landscaped, high-quality open areas and parks for the community. There is potential for a long term phased canal restoration (ref. 1). The second stage,145 houses are currently under construction on the slopes off Poplars Park Avenue, overlooking Canal Road, and are due to be completed by 2021 (ref 6). West Yorkshire Ecological Service raised concerns that the development would lead to a loss of woodland (ref 6).