Tuesday, May 3, 2022

“The Parisian High-Line” : The Petite-Ceinture

  Elsa Gautier                                     

                                         “The Parisian High-Line” : The Petite-Ceinture


The Petite-Ceinture is an old railway line of 32km, going around Paris and belonging to the SNCF (the public company of the railroads in France, “the French SNCB”).

The first trains ran on it in 1852 and the last ones in 1993. Built during the industrial revolution, the Petite-Ceinture contributed to the economic development of Paris by transporting both goods and passengers. Since the 90's, except for some sections, no more train has been circulating on the Petite-Ceinture, this space had no function and vegetation developed there. This green space located into the Parisian high density, is a strategic land and many promoters wanted to buy it. Since 2007, its owner (the SNCF) and the city hall of Paris have concluded a contract to transform almost the entire Petite-Ceinture into an urban park around Paris. This process, still in progress, is long, expensive and could be complicated depending on the location : in an open air at the ground’s level, under the ground’s level, or even in a tunnel.



For this process to benefit as many neighbourhoods as possible, the SNCF and the city of Paris have chosen to begin by opening several small sections throughout the city, and not just one large section in one neighbourhood. Gradually, former sections of the Petite-Ceinture that were closed to the public are being opened up and transformed into urban parks.

Whether open or closed sections, in both cases nature is present but not in the same way. Moreover, it is also important to be aware of the different social stakes that are hidden behind this very particular green space.

 

The public sections: transformed as urban parks

Today eleven sections are open to the public as a public park. Very few tourists visit the Petite-Ceinture, it is mainly parks for local residents who go there for a walk.

The sections of the Petite-Ceinture which are open to the public have been developed as a place for walking while taking into account certain specificities. A specific landscape treatment has been adopted to preserve the rails, for their historical value, and also to protect the fauna and flora.

In the way these sections have been landscaped everything has been done to have a large variety of naturally present plants and different natural environments: grassland, wooded slopes, shrubs, trees, walls, or rocks. Each of these environments hosts different animal species. According to a census of the fauna and flora conducted in 2016, each section hosts on average: 130 plant species and 110 animal species including about 20 birds.

The maintenance of this fragile ecosystem is also important to protect it. The entire Petite-Ceinture, (open and closed sections) are maintained by social and professional reintegration associations specialized in the ecological management of green spaces.

 

The private sections: reservoirs of biodiversity in the heart of the city

Officially, the only people authorized to visit the closed sections are the associations maintaining these spaces. These associations only do the minimum to maintain a passage and prevent the vegetation from invading everything.

Contrary to the sections open to the public, where nature has been recreated and is supervised by man, in the sections closed to the public nature has not been supervised. A wild and spontaneous vegetation has been developing there for thirty years. If for some people these spaces are seen as “abandoned spaces” or “urban wastelands”, these spaces without human beings and with numerous natural environments, both plant and mineral, represent sanctuaries for the reproduction of certain species of birds, reptiles and small mammals. These sections are real reservoirs of flora and fauna in an urban environment.

This richness is widely highlighted by experts: the linear configuration of the Petite-Ceinture and its proximity to woods, large parks and the Seine, allows the propagation of species. It has become an ecological corridor.


In addition to play a significant role for the urban bioiversity, many ecosystem services are realized thanks to the Petite-Ceinture: air filtering, micro climate regulation, noise reduction, and rainwater drainage.


The social effects of this nature into the city 

It is important to note that the Petite-Ceinture is crossing many neighbourhoods in Paris: the richest (to the west) as well as the poorest (to the north). Thus, the Petite-Ceinture is an opportunity to give access to green spaces to poor districts and very mineral areas of Paris. For example it happens that on some closed sections, neighbourhood associations create a "shared garden" with the support of the city hall.

As in New-York with the High Line, the presence of the Petite-Ceinture leads to green gentrification, the rent next to it increased a lot. Since the lockdown, the rent-gap has been even more accentuated.

Another phenomenon creates gentrification, mainly in the north of Paris, along the Petite-Ceinture: the opening of a bar or restaurant. As the Petite-Ceinture is a green, pleasant and atypical place, when a bar or restaurant opens on the Petite-Ceinture, it attracts many people often richer. This phenomenon contributes to the shift of a population in a district and leads to its gentrification.

Concerning the closed sections, it is also interesting to see how some Parisians informally appropriate this hidden nature in the city. Despite the fact that these spaces are closed to the public, people with various sociological profiles can be found there: homeless people "living" there, many graffiti artists come, people walk there out of curiosity for the first time, and local residents go there very often. Some people living along the Petite-Ceinture have included these hidden areas of nature in their daily life as a garden: the children of the neighbourhood meet there to play, and people garden or organize BBQs.  

             

The Petite-Ceinture is one of the few places where you can find such a rich biodiversity in the middle of Paris. In order to continue to enjoy its many ecosystem services, it is important to be aware of it to preserve it.


Do not hesitate to visit it if one day you are in Paris!


Two maps detailing the public sections and their entrances :

-          https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5f6117a6e60fe6618ef80230/60e2b94a3c407cae2eb62bd3_Promeneurs Petite Ceinture - Carte guide %5BWEB%5D.pdf

-          https://petiteceinture.org/acceder-a-la-petite-ceinture/

 

 

Sitography :

-          https://www.paris.fr/pages/la-petite-ceinture-2537

-          https://www.paris.fr/pages/la-petite-ceinture-et-ses-promenades-ecologiques-7855

-          https://petiteceinture.org/

-          https://www.promeneurs-petiteceinture.paris/le-guide

 

 

 

 




Greening the city by cleaning the Canal? The vision and mission of Canal it Up

In this blog we investigate the vision and mission of the Brussels organisation Canal it Up. We read into the organisation, reached out to go kayaking and to have an interview (which will both take place later in May), and also went deeper into the subject by doing two field trips: one to the Canal itself and one to the sewer museum.

The brussels canal is infamous among its inhabitants. The waterway running through the city can be described as lifeless, polluted, and dirty. This however is not a surprise given its history. Since the construction of the canal in the 15th century, it only had an economic purpose. When during the seventies the deindustrialization process also took hold in Brussels, its canal zone was subjected to neglect and abandonment. Today, we can witness a renewed interest in the canal zone from the government, developers, and certain groups of citizens. Governmental projects like The Canal Plan portray the canal zone as a place for urban integrated economic activity, housing, public space… As such, the Canal zone experiences increasing gentrification pressures. However, the canal itself stays lifeless, polluted, and dirty.

One day a group of young people were sitting beside the canal, when they saw a pile of garbage flowing by. They decided to buy a kayak to clean the water themselves, and soon they were organising kayak trips for others to clean the canal and create awareness of the problem. Today the organisation grew out to a respected organisation that aims to solve three mayor's issues in the canal: floating garbage, too little biodiversity, and bad water quality. It does this through awareness activities, research, and proactively engaging with relevant actors like the Port Of Brussels and coming up with solutions. Canal it up sees the canal as a place where nature can be introduced into the city, the canal as a place for biodiversity and enjoyment of its aesthetics.

The first problem Canal It Up addresses is the garbage in the water. It is the most visible problem which origins are diverse. We went to look if we ourselves could indeed spot much garbage in the water, and that didn’t seem a problem at all, as much and different garbage was floating about. Canal it Up has thought up two solutions, the most ambitious being the implementation of a country-wide implementation of a deposit on cans. That would, according to Canal it Up, decrease the litter by 40% in the whole of Belgium. With 15.000 signatures they can propose this new law to the federal parliament. A second solution is a more practical barrier in the canal, which would block and remove litter from the water. At this moment the port authority is looking into the feasibility of this solution.

Plastic bottles, cans, footballs and bags floating around in the Canal. Own pictures (2022).

The organisation identifies a second problem, namely the lack of biodiversity in the canal. When walking past it, you can indeed see that the canal certainly does not look like a healthy river, and there is not much life going on in and around it. It is very obvious this is a man-made canal made for more practical reasons. Canal it Up wants this to change and as a solution, soon 210 m² of vegetated islands will make the canal more “green”. If this is a success, next year 400 m² more will be added. The purpose is to filter the water and create a habitat for plants, fish, birds & insects. Furthermore, if the surface is big enough, the plants could help counter for instance the heat effect of the city.

A simulation of the vegetated islands. Canal it Up (2021).

The third problem, according to Canal it Up, is the bad quality of the water. This has amongst others to do with the fact that sewer overflows go directly into the Canal or the Zenne. Canal it Up has done research regarding the water quality, and it didn’t look that good. For a solution to this problem, severe works have to be carried out in the sewage system. Currently Canal it Up is creating awareness with an open letter to the Minister of the Environment to take this problem seriously, as well as with a more accessible video to explain the problem.

We went to the Sewer Museum in Brussels to get more knowledge about the functioning of the Brussels sewer system. Whilst visiting the very interesting museum we got many insights into the importance and complexity of the sewer system. Regarding the wateroverfloats, so-called “wateroverlaten” are simple holes at the top of pipelines through which water can escape when it's too high (e.g. with stormy weather). In the museum, it is only mentioned that the sewer overload goes to the Zenne, whilst Canal It Up showed in a video how it also gets loosened in the Canal.

The Zenne underneath the Boulevard du Midi as you can see it in the Sewer Museum, and a small explanation on how the water flows to the Zenne with so-called “wateroverlaten” in the same museum. Own pictures (2022).

By doing these field visits and reaching out to Canal it Up, we found out that the Canal has a lot of potentials that could be exploited much better. As we prepare for an interview with the organisation, questions about the social consequences and how this fits in Brussels (gentrifying?) Kanaalplan remains in place.

By Anton Driesen, Rebecca Wyn Bernage, Igor Vervoort

The Geographical Arboretum of Tervuren

 



Pooja Thomas and Larissa Gennadyevna Gorbatikh

Monday, May 2, 2022

Champs-Elysees by 2030


By Matthew McCarthy 

The Avenues des Champs-Elysees in Paris is a bit like Times Square in New York: it’s a top destination spot for tourists, yet few people who live in these respective cities actually go to these places, unless they have to. A recent study found that out of every 100 people who walk on the scenic Paris avenue, 56 are tourists from other countries, 12 are tourists from France, and the rest either work or live nearby the avenue. Use from locals in this area has been declining for decades and, with the increasing traffic, air pollution, and worn down infrastructure in the streets, the avenue has become less and less appealing for Parisians to go to.

The study was conducted by PCA, a private architectural firm, who has become the lead for a project which is set to transform Champs Elysees over the next eight years. The project started two years ago and is one of the most ambitious greening plans in Europe to transform a celebrated landmark. At the start of its conception, the project received over 250 million euro in funding to completely renovate the area. Two years in, it is still looking at how to make it an entirely different place by 2030.



Figure 1, Champs Elysees 2016

Just by looking at Figure 1, it's easy to spot how car centric the avenue was in 2016. Figure 2, which is the proposed plan, offers a much more multi modal and sustainable picture. In total the proposed goal is to “cut the amount of car space in half.” But more than merely taking away cars, the plan hopes to offer “planted living rooms” which can allow Parisians to walk and explore the avenue at ease, improve biodiversity in the area, and invite citizens back to this historic place. In total, the firm has outlined five specific areas of action: nature, infrastructure, mobility, uses, and the built environment. These five action areas lead to four specific values, which are: reducing the impact of urban mobilities, rethinking nature as an ecosystem, inventing new uses, and utilizing data. Apart from these broad aims and values, two important factors stuck out in this overall plan.


Urban Metabolism 


PCA notes that their research is built on the concept of the “urban metabolism.” Widely used when discussing urban ecology, the metaphor is quite simple: a city uses resources and produces waste. Under this simplified lens, the city itself is viewed like an organism; even though the concept was first introduced by Wolman in 1965,  Jane Jacobs seminal book The Death and Life of Great American cities undoubtedly provided a foundation for this ‘city as organism’ metaphor. As such, the concept not only encourages a more mindful approach to how resources are used but also how the many parts of a city work together in order to create a sense of homeostasis. 


Figure 2- Urban Metabolism


But even though this concept might be the most appropriate to tackle the challenges of the anthropocene, it is not entirely clear whether or not the city should be viewed as one coherent ‘metabolism’. Nonetheless it can be a helpful metaphor: what kind of resources does a city (or part of a city) use, and what kind of waste does it produce? Such a notion is perhaps entirely appropriate for a project where environmental stewardship was voted to be the number one concern.


Figure 3- Proposed project for Champs Elysees
Figure 3: Champs Elysees proposed project

Figure 4: Roundabout

Figure 5: Sidewalks
Interdisciplinary

 

 

Green space in urban areas has a long history of uses, ranging from food production, to leisure, to improved ecology. It is quite clear that the desired outcome is meant to have a broad number of positive effects: beautification, economic benefits, community building, leisure, and even the improved mental health of Parisians. Measuring the many benefits in this context is quite difficult, but the 250 million euro financing gives one and idea as to how exactly these benefits might be calculated in a more specific context. 

But the Champs Elysees project is also importantly interdisciplinary in another aspect. When it comes to large scale urban greening projects, it requires the coordination from a number of stakeholders- both public and private. Even though PCA is spearheading the project, government agencies, non profit agencies, business owners, and Parisians themselves are essential to the fruition of this project. Large scale greening projects necessarily involve the active engagement of a number of people, organizations, and researchers.

 

These kinds of projects- and this kind of coordination- is an increasingly necessary step for cities to take in the next few years. 


References

Jacobs, Jane. Death and Life of Great American Cities. The Bodley Head, 2020. 

Feng, Yuanqiu, and Puay Yok Tan. “Imperatives for Greening Cities: A Historical Perspective.” Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements, 2017, pp. 41–70., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4113-6_3.  

“The ‘Champs-Élysées - History & Perspectives’ Study • Projects.” STREAM, https://www.pca-stream.com/en/projects/champs-elysees-study-48. 

 “'It's a Little Worn out': Parisians Unveil Plan for €250m Champs-Élysées Makeover.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Dec. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/18/its-a-little-worn-paris-champs-elysees-in-line-for-250m-make-over.

Wolman, Abel. “The Metabolism of Cities.” Scientific American, vol. 213, no. 3, 1965, pp. 178–190., https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0965-178.

 



Too much greenery? Seeking purpose for abundant green spaces in Soviet-era housing estate districts

Authors: Alicja Wójcik & Martin Pavlović

On average, more than 20% of inhabitants in post-soviet countries live in Soviet-era housing estates – or as they are called in Polish – blokowiska. They may not be the fanciest places to live, but their residents often stress how much they appreciate the number of green spaces. However, if you took a walk in such a district, you would often find that the state of this greenery is rather desolate – often embodied by empty dried lawns intertwined with desire paths, filled with parked cars or even worse, garbage and dog litter. So how come their promise of fine green infrastructure didn’t quite work out? What potential do these green spaces’ have for creating socially and environmentally sustainable neighbourhoods and cities? And is it possible that there is simply too much greenery?


What shaped blokowiska?

Blokowiska have certain characteristics that are central to understanding the context in which they were built. Designers of the most emblematic socialist residential areas adhered to the rules of modernist architecture and urban planning. Solitary, mostly high-rise and strictly divided per function buildings are scattered throughout the space, surrounded by arterial roads and filled with small streets, walkable paths and yes – large open green spaces. In essence, blokowiska can be seen as a radicalization of the modernist garden city idea, with the initial idea being creating a city with a continuous flow of green spaces connecting different neighbourhoods, be it parks, little squares or (in most cases) big lawns between the blocks.


From a noble idea to the harsh reality of green spaces in Soviet-era housing estates
(Source: Prague Institute of Planning and Development)

However, these ideas were further shaped by turbulent political circumstances. During the Soviet rule, when the majority of these districts were constructed, everything was centrally planned with 5 or 7-year quotas that had to be fulfilled and ideally exceeded no matter what. In order to cope with these goals, the planning processes were often rushed, not to mention the question of competence of those involved, as political preferences were much more important criteria than actual skills. As a result, many of these normalization era housing estates were laid out in irregular and not well thought-through patterns, leaving abundant empty spaces with undefined roles and functions.


Scene from a Polish movie Poszukiwany/Poszukiwana that problematizes central planning of cities. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dld75W1ikwU)

Adapting the Soviet-era urban landscape to the needs of today

Such spaces remain omnipresent in blokowiska until today. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, blokowiska – a symbol of a now foregone era of totalitarian rule – were heavily neglected. Therefore, the vast majority of these spaces remain empty until these days, with even the modest furniture they have once been equipped with now falling apart. 

Nonetheless, with the demands on public space quality soaring, alongside rent prices and demand for urban housing, blokowiska, notably in the context of their future development, are an increasingly common subject of debate on both academic and public levels. However, the debt in the maintenance and development of blokowiska has been accumulating for decades. And given the proportion of these large green spaces, it’s not a small one. So how to combine environmental, social and economic sustainability when adapting these spaces to the needs of today?


Many approaches, many goals

The possibilities to develop such residual green spaces are almost endless. Possibly the most generally accepted is to simply transform them into better green spaces. Some can be equipped to provide opportunities for active recreation – fitted with playgrounds, outdoor gyms and sport grounds, or for more laid-out relaxation through seating furniture and perhaps even little cafés. The renovated central square of Bohnice district, home to more than 30 000 laying in the north of Prague, has been transformed in a way that provides opportunities for all age groups, while also serving an environmental purpose, with diverse vegetation supported by an underground water management system.

Albeit with some issues, the central square of the Bohnice district in Prague is a good example of a revitalized green space that serves both environmental and social functions (Source: Rusina Frei Architects)

In other cases, the potential of addressing environmental issues can be facilitated even further. Sometimes, simply planting new trees and plants, ideally with biodiversity being taken into account, is the best way there is. But these lots can even be repurposed to facilitate community gardening and/or urban agricultural functions, thus not only increasing overall sustainability but also enabling local residents to take part in shaping their surroundings. In post-soviet cities, this is becoming an emerging trend, although so far mostly endorsed by local communities rather than municipalities – one particular case to mind is the Őrmező district in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

Őrmező district in Budapest is among the many blokowiska where residents discovered the beauty of communal gardening
(Source)

Densification: A swear word or a great idea?

Of course, the pressure of the housing market often results in plans to transform these into building lots, and given that the density of an average blokowisko is actually lower than that of a traditional compact city, this is not necessarily a wrong idea. However, it needs to be done in a way that is respectful to the surroundings, ideally benefiting them in some way, such as through providing mixed-use development that blokowiska so desperately lack. Such ideas often spur local resistance, but in the big picture, densification may help make these districts more livable while preventing urban sprawl, thus actually decreasing the pressure on the environment. Slightly decreasing the area of green spaces might not be the wrong thing if those are better maintained, equipped and diverse in functions.

And last but not least is the issue of mobility. Many of these green areas are used for cycling and walking, however, once outside of them, residents often suddenly find themselves among hoards of parked cars and highway-like roads. Commercial and service buildings in blokowiska are typically laid out to ensure accessibility of basic amenities within 10 minutes of walking for every resident – almost as if socialist planners foresaw the trendy idea of a 15-minute city. Interconnecting the green areas to provide a safe environment for sustainable transport while ensuring that services remain accessible, e.g. preventing converting vacant lots into shopping malls with huge parking lots, can greatly benefit the environment – both locally and generally.

Like with most recipes, this one also doesn’t consist of just one ingredient. A well-balanced mixture of approaches is the key to achieving the socially, environmentally and economically feasible transformation of blokowiska. And let’s not forget that many green spaces in blokowiska are perfectly fine as they stand.

Sources:

  1. Community in the making: how to build communities in socialist. (2021, April 12). URBACT. https://urbact.eu/community-making-how-build-communities-socialist-housing-estates

  2. Leetmaa, K., Holvandus, J., Mägi, K., & Kährik, A. (2018). Population Shifts and Urban Policies in Housing Estates of Tallinn, Estonia. Housing Estates in Europe, 389–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92813-5_17

  3. Ouředníček, M., & Kopecká, Z. (2021). Towards ordinary quarters: the development of housing estates in Prague after transformation. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-021-09891-4

  4. Prague Institute of Planning and Development. (2015). Koncepce rozvoje veřejných prostranství pražských sídlišť. https://iprpraha.cz/uploads/assets/dokumenty/obecne/krvps_formulace%20zakladniho%20pristupu_male.pdf

  5. Vrabcová, A. (2019, August 12). Anketa: Mají se zahušťovat panelová sídliště? ASB Portal. https://www.asb-portal.cz/aktualne/nazory-a-rozhovory/anketa-maji-se-zahustovat-panelova-sidliste

  6. Szynkarczuk, A. (2015). Behind the Iron Gate Housing Estate. Theory and Praxis of green-space creation before and after the end of the modern movement. http://aeawa.pb.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Architektura-4-2015-Artykul-V.pdf 





Exploring Madrid's Rio Manzanares

 


Video created by Lucia Aizpiri, Rylan Shewmaker, and Leoni Vollmann

Green Walls, mummified plants and social justice- are green walls anything except performative?

By Ana Pastore, Mary Wuhlar, & Olena Kuzhym

Image 1: Original image- Sony, sourced via (https://collider.com/a-knights-tale-soundtrack-marie-antoinette/), Author’s own edits

Green walls are vertical installations, often installed within a building to create a sense of nature. They are also known as living walls or vertical green walls (Mustonen, 2017) and were made extremely popular by one of the pioneers, Patrick Blanc.

Image 2: Patrick Blanc. Sourced via Greenroofs.com (https://www.greenroofs.com/2022/02/14/the-vertical-gardens-of-patrick-blanc/)


Green walls differ from green facades in that they aren’t a structural component of the building itself, rather an added element- generally applied to the interior and used to beautify a space. The additive nature of green walls leads us to question whether they have potential to act as a Nature Based Solution (NbS), or whether they are simply greenwashing, applied in the offices of startup companies spelling out their logo on the wall, in a nod to their corporate social responsibility and “sustainable” practices. 
 
We are curious about whether green walls are a reflection of or even enhance social inequities, whether there is any possibility of using green walls as NbS’s, and whether these green walls are even “natural”, “green” or sustainable at all.
Image 3: Diagram of key green wall actors and case studies used. Author’s own

In conceptualising whether green walls are anything but performative, we drew inspiration from gamification techniques as a methodology to stimulate engagement and discussions, based on research and the selection of keywords. 

This approach is inspired by IUCN and Luc Hoffman institutes approaches to applying gamification into conservation efforts, using them as a tool to stimulate funding & engagement in conservation. 

We’ve developed a bingo game, stemming from key words and phrases captured within our study! This is a starting point- play a game, then explore more about the concepts and phrases contained on the bingo sheet. You’ll find more information about green walls, equity, social justice and access- is the beauty of a green wall only skin-deep? Who are they helping? Are they “natural”? 

Image 4: Bingo. Author’s own, template via Canva


Brussels Case Studies: 

The first case we focused on is ‘Greenmood’, a supplier of green walls for interior design. The company designs and produces as they call it “0% maintenance preserved plants”. If you wonder how can plants require no care, the answer is easy, they are simply not alive. Two of Greenmood’s suppliers, one in Kenya, and another in Spain, grow the plants in their natural aerial, cut them and then mummify them with help of glycerine. Positioning itself as a seemingly sustainable brand, the company reveals the obvious duality through its communication. Focus on such benefits of green design solutions as employees’ productivity and aesthetics can rather be associated with the exploitation of the workforce and consumerism rather than the positive environmental impact. Meanwhile, the supply chain that includes Kenya without any clear justification clearly does not seem optimal for carbon footprint minimization. The interview with Greenmood’s CEO helped us to uncover the questionable inclusivity of the services and products of the firm. The target clientage mostly includes businesses from wealthy European and Northern American countries since those are the ones who can afford the products. Interestingly enough, Mr Alekperov (CEO) explained the fact that Europeans constitute the majority of the client base since they share the same ‘values’ as the company and are ready to pay more for ‘greener’ products…

Greenmood Interview snippets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOikIA2CKTY

The desk research we performed showed that among the customers of green walls, the hospitality sector is widely represented. Green walls are used for a multi-purpose marketing strategy that focuses on sustainability, aesthetics and clients’ mental and physical well-being. The most prominent example we popped into was the newly-renovated Indigo hotel, where marketing was heavily based on the green pillar. The hotel emphasises its uniqueness as its green facade forms a strong contrast to the background of the ‘sea of glass and steel office buildings’ it is surrounded by. Buzzwords like ‘botanical atmosphere’, ‘reminder of the pastoral era’, ‘cultural fusion of horticulture and urban life’ and ‘green dining experience’ appear as the first indications of greenwashing. Not only green walls are used to boost the consumerist-oriented nature of hospitality, but also the marketing narratives seem to merely focus on the aesthetical aspect rather than the functional aspect of this NbS. Moreover, they served as a valid excuse to increase the provided services’ prices making them ‘exclusive’ not only in a sense of the uniqueness of experience but also the financial affordability.

Image 5: Keywords compiled from case studies. Background: Still from GreenMood promotional video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAj2CVOKBvs) Edits: Author’s own

Imagined and realised best practices:

Image 6: Green wall “best practices". Author’s own

Controlled studies testing just how effective green walls can be as a NbS (Azkorra et al, 2015), (Cameron et al, 2014), Teotónio et al, 2021) confirm that a multitude of benefits can be gained. These benefits include reducing the thermal load on buildings, energy savings (such as reducing the usage of air conditioning), noise reduction and biodiversity support. BUT particular design strategies must be taken into account: placement of the green wall (exterior vs interior, size, position), species chosen (some species are more purifying, cooling, shading), and assemblage techniques (particularly for acoustic noise reduction). 

Unfortunately, green walls have become a gadget for performative corporate social/sustainable responsibility - favouring anthropocentric aesthetic benefits over environmental/ecological benefits. This is mainly due to cost, maintenance, and visual appeal. The case study of Greenmood revealed that interior zero maintenance models are the most popular of their products, where species are chosen based on their ability to be “mummified” and aesthetic appeal is priority, going as far as dying moss for brighter colours. It is evident that potentials realised in academia are not commonly translated into practice by suppliers. 

Implications with the IUCN/NbS:

In applying the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Framework for NbS (IUCN, 2020) against the case studies of this blog post, it is clear that the green walls we have explored do not meet the definition nor framework of a NbS, however they may have some impact upon human wellbeing. This analysis against the global framework has shown that green walls are generally used as an additive feature of spaces, focused on aesthetics rather than climate change adaptation or ecological contributions to the broader urban context. Within exterior green facades, there could be broader potential for conservation, however the case studies we explored did not allow for this to be analysed further.

Image 7: IUCN Framework for NbS: Green walls. Author’s own

Implications with social justice:
We can see parallels between the accessibility of green walls and the accessibility of green neighbourhoods in cities. Both are only accessible to those who can afford the installation and maintenance costs. In both cases, those who can afford greenery commonly opt for techniques that favour aesthetics over ecological factors: upper class neighbourhoods prefer manicured lawns and gardens, just as the corporate/hospitality worlds prefer interior, heavily curated green walls. The point here is not to have green walls accessible to all, but rather to address that the costs allocated to mere greenwashed aesthetics could be used for more sustainable options.

Conclusion:
Green walls as a green washed NbS for those who can afford to install, maintain and “enjoy”.
The nature contained within the green wall’s we’ve explored here are ironic- a synthetic allusion to nature in the environments that are as far from “natural” as possible- transient spaces like airports, hotels and offices. The places these green walls exist are generally the most exclusive places, places where affluence and success is shown through an ability to afford the monthly subscription to a “green” desk divider, but almost absurdly unable to imagine connecting the people within these spaces to actual nature, to participate in conservation efforts beyond corporate responsibility, and to share this equity beyond the walls of the office, into a broader, interconnected effort to sustain and nurture the natural world. Even if green wall suppliers took academic studies for best practices into consideration, do these green walls provide substantial potential for broader change.


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Azkorra, Z., Pérez, G., Coma, J., Cabeza, L.F., Bures, S., Álvaro, J.E, Erkoreka, A., Urrestarazu, M. (2015). Evaluation of green walls as a passive acoustic insulation system for buildings. Applied Acoustics. 89, 46-56. ISSN 0003-682X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.09.010. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003682X14002333)

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Cameron, R. W. F., Taylor, J. E., Emmett, M. R. (2014), What's “cool” in the world of green façades? How plant choice influences the cooling properties of green walls Building Environment. 73, 198-207, 10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.12.005

Dellecker, A. (2020, December 17). How gamification could revolutionise conservation. Luc Hoffmann Institute. https://luchoffmanninstitute.org/how-gamification-could-revolutionise-conservation/

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IUCN (2020). Guidance for using the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. A user-friendly framework for the verification, design and scaling up of Nature-based Solutions. First edition. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Luc Hoffman Institute. (2020, December 17). How gamification could revolutionise conservation. Luc Hoffmann Institute. https://luchoffmanninstitute.org/how-gamification-could-revolutionise-conservation/

Mustonen, T. (2017). What are Green Walls—The definition, benefits, design and greenery.    https://www.naava.io/editorial/what-are-green-walls

Teotónio, I., Silva, M. S., Cruz, C. O. (2021). Economics of green roofs and green walls: A literature review. Sustainable Cities and Society. 69. ISSN 2210-6707, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102781. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670721000731

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We developed a lot of ideas and brainstorms around this blog post via Miro, which we are happy to share with you- just send an email!


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