How Can We Create Accessible Green Spaces in Our Urban Areas?
The lockdown has left us yearning for greenery, so what will this mean for architecture and society?
Julia Bolotina
16 October 2020
International Associate Editor at Houzz
As one of the few places to where we can safely retreat, green spaces have gained a new significance during the pandemic. While some countries are already well ahead of the curve in ensuring that a minimum of green space is available to all, many people around the world have found themselves mired in concrete jungles with barely a tree in sight.
The problem lies at the junctures of urban planning and residential architecture, public and private space, home design and external amenities. Possible outcomes and solutions likewise run the gamut from windowsill herb gardens to massive demographic shifts. Will urban populations flock to the countryside? Do we need to build more public parks and green architecture or enhance the opportunities for private, domestic gardens? Are houseplants and living walls the answer?
Houzz asked professionals around the world for their vision for the future of urban green space, and what it means for us, our society and the environment.
The problem lies at the junctures of urban planning and residential architecture, public and private space, home design and external amenities. Possible outcomes and solutions likewise run the gamut from windowsill herb gardens to massive demographic shifts. Will urban populations flock to the countryside? Do we need to build more public parks and green architecture or enhance the opportunities for private, domestic gardens? Are houseplants and living walls the answer?
Houzz asked professionals around the world for their vision for the future of urban green space, and what it means for us, our society and the environment.
Moving to the countryside isn’t necessarily the answer
Spanish architect Moisés Royo of Muka Arquitectura doesn’t see rural living as a viable solution, even with the surge in remote working. “It seems the new social gurus predict there’ll be an exodus to rural areas, where [people] will enjoy their gardens and a more intense relationship with nature, but let’s not fool ourselves,” he says.
“Architecture in rural settings will be for people with a lot of purchasing power. Most of society will have to live in cities, whether we like it or not,” he continues. “[The need for] services, work, and so on, no matter how much remote working takes place, will [mean] families [will have] to continue living in cities.”
Spanish architect Moisés Royo of Muka Arquitectura doesn’t see rural living as a viable solution, even with the surge in remote working. “It seems the new social gurus predict there’ll be an exodus to rural areas, where [people] will enjoy their gardens and a more intense relationship with nature, but let’s not fool ourselves,” he says.
“Architecture in rural settings will be for people with a lot of purchasing power. Most of society will have to live in cities, whether we like it or not,” he continues. “[The need for] services, work, and so on, no matter how much remote working takes place, will [mean] families [will have] to continue living in cities.”
Nor is a mass exodus to the countryside necessarily desirable. “The planet needs to free up as much soil as possible if we want to continue living on a sustainable planet,” Royo says. “Human beings cannot be dispersed throughout the planet; environments must be protected.”
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Small-scale greenery has big potential
If we do stay in cities, how do we satisfy the drive for greenery in a way that’s beneficial for both ourselves and the environment? “Covid-19 has awakened in many of us the need to have a small terrace, a small garden where we can take in some air for at least a few minutes a day,” the Spanish architect notes.
Indeed, on the heels of a trend for house plants comes a renewed pull towards [other forms of] greenery in the home, such as living walls and planters filled with fruit and veg. This kind of local, small-scale greenery has multiple advantages, not least that this is something homeowners can implement themselves.
If we do stay in cities, how do we satisfy the drive for greenery in a way that’s beneficial for both ourselves and the environment? “Covid-19 has awakened in many of us the need to have a small terrace, a small garden where we can take in some air for at least a few minutes a day,” the Spanish architect notes.
Indeed, on the heels of a trend for house plants comes a renewed pull towards [other forms of] greenery in the home, such as living walls and planters filled with fruit and veg. This kind of local, small-scale greenery has multiple advantages, not least that this is something homeowners can implement themselves.
It isn’t just for our mental health that access to greenery is important. “The heat island effect is making the urban climate hotter and hotter every year,” Japanese garden designer Kazuyuki Ishihara says, referring to a phenomenon where the overabundance of hard surfaces in cities causes ambient temperatures to rise.
“Greenery in the city is not just something to look at – it creates much-needed shade. I think it’s also important to increase the amount of it, including through wall greening and greenery in buildings,” the garden designer says. “Urban greening will further reduce the heat island effect.”
“Greenery in the city is not just something to look at – it creates much-needed shade. I think it’s also important to increase the amount of it, including through wall greening and greenery in buildings,” the garden designer says. “Urban greening will further reduce the heat island effect.”
This kind of small-scale greening has a long history. In Japan, for example, tsuboniwa – small and carefully curated domestic courtyard gardens – are a traditional architectural form for bringing greenery and cross-breezes into small residential spaces.
“Creating a tsuboniwa in the centre of the building makes it possible to see greenery from every room. You can turn small, unused spaces into a tsuboniwa or use one as a kind of screen to avoid too much visibility from the neighbours,” Ishihara says.
Can tsuboniwa work outside of Japan? “I don’t think we need to divide it into Western or Japanese,” Ishihara says. “We can look at it as a way to make use of small, unused spaces, turning them into green spaces. We don’t need to use Japanese plants specifically, but rather local plants native to the region.”
Indeed, similar approaches to using courtyards – with varying amounts of greenery – appear in other architectural traditions around the world.
“Creating a tsuboniwa in the centre of the building makes it possible to see greenery from every room. You can turn small, unused spaces into a tsuboniwa or use one as a kind of screen to avoid too much visibility from the neighbours,” Ishihara says.
Can tsuboniwa work outside of Japan? “I don’t think we need to divide it into Western or Japanese,” Ishihara says. “We can look at it as a way to make use of small, unused spaces, turning them into green spaces. We don’t need to use Japanese plants specifically, but rather local plants native to the region.”
Indeed, similar approaches to using courtyards – with varying amounts of greenery – appear in other architectural traditions around the world.
According to Ishihara, this kind of ‘hortitecture’ is a great model for greenery in modern cities. “There’s a tendency for buildings and spaces to be smaller in cities. Creating a movable small garden using large planters and other equipment makes it possible for residents to enjoy greenery in their personal lives, even in rented homes” he says.
“Public spaces are also becoming smaller and it’s getting harder and harder to create a dynamic green space,” he continues. “Tsuboniwa gardens offer a way to increase the amount of visible greenery in public areas, even if each individual space may not be huge.”
“Public spaces are also becoming smaller and it’s getting harder and harder to create a dynamic green space,” he continues. “Tsuboniwa gardens offer a way to increase the amount of visible greenery in public areas, even if each individual space may not be huge.”
The opportunities afforded by even the smallest green spaces were highlighted by Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc at this year’s virtual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. In his talk, he welcomed viewers to his 4.5 x 3.5m balcony – “About the size of the planet of the Little Prince,” he noted – where he grows everything from edible flowers to herbs and potatoes in surprisingly small planters (not pictured).
“This little garden … gives me a lot of joy in terms of light, in terms of the plants I’ve grown,” he says. He also points out that it provides an additional environmental benefit – growing food as locally as possible to avoid the carbon cost of transportation.
“This little garden … gives me a lot of joy in terms of light, in terms of the plants I’ve grown,” he says. He also points out that it provides an additional environmental benefit – growing food as locally as possible to avoid the carbon cost of transportation.
Other models of small-space urban greening include living walls, green roofs, and the incorporation of greenery or garden areas into the architecture of high-rise buildings.
When done right, these offer many advantages. Green roofs, for example – another traditional form that’s been used around the world since Neolithic times – can reduce a building’s carbon footprint by enhancing heat insulation, and can contribute to urban biodiversity.
When done right, these offer many advantages. Green roofs, for example – another traditional form that’s been used around the world since Neolithic times – can reduce a building’s carbon footprint by enhancing heat insulation, and can contribute to urban biodiversity.
Current greening solutions have their drawbacks
Yet many urban greening models come with their own caveats. Despite their manifold potential benefits, these forms are not an environmental panacea.
For example, house plants, while offering biophilic benefits for our mental health, contribute little to large-scale environmental problems. “Caring for plants and seeing them thrive can serve as an antidote to some of the environmental problems we face; however, we must be careful, because buying more indoor plants will not fight problems such as pollution or global warming,” says Julia Schoenfeld, founder and director of urban planting company Underleaf.
Likewise, while many commercially available green walls can act as insulators, provide biodiversity and address the urban heat island effect, they can also be difficult and expensive to maintain. They require intensive and regular upkeep, many rely on irrigation systems that use both water and electricity, and they often use plants that must be replaced within a year. They are even trickier in hot or cold climates.
Yet many urban greening models come with their own caveats. Despite their manifold potential benefits, these forms are not an environmental panacea.
For example, house plants, while offering biophilic benefits for our mental health, contribute little to large-scale environmental problems. “Caring for plants and seeing them thrive can serve as an antidote to some of the environmental problems we face; however, we must be careful, because buying more indoor plants will not fight problems such as pollution or global warming,” says Julia Schoenfeld, founder and director of urban planting company Underleaf.
Likewise, while many commercially available green walls can act as insulators, provide biodiversity and address the urban heat island effect, they can also be difficult and expensive to maintain. They require intensive and regular upkeep, many rely on irrigation systems that use both water and electricity, and they often use plants that must be replaced within a year. They are even trickier in hot or cold climates.
While high-rises that incorporate green space have been seen as breaking new ground in residential greening, they, too, come with environmental challenges. “Just think about the weight of the building. Vegetation of this size needs at least one metre of soil thickness. Do you know what a cubic metre of earth weighs? Almost the same as concrete! And as the earth is wet, it weighs even more,” Moisés Royo says.
“Doesn’t it seem absurd that we make buildings with such a high execution cost and such expensive materials in the structure to support that weight, that the tree we plant will never be enough to mitigate the ecological footprint of its construction?” he says.
That’s not to say these forms can’t be adopted in ways that make our lives better, and are environmentally friendly, too – it just takes some sustainable thinking. Russian architect Gleb Kalyuzhnyuk of OOO GeogGraffiti, for example, stresses the importance of alternative living wall models that work with local plants and conditions.
At a talk at the 2019 International Competition of Urban Landscape Design, Flower Jam, in Moscow, he discussed green wall models that use collected rainwater irrigation, and proposed the alternative of greening vertical surfaces with native mosses, which are better suited to the cold Russian climate than imported vines.
“Walls get filled with greenery on their own, completely naturally,” he says. “And why not try, as a working version, to use panels seeded with moss and a substrate that’s available for its growth.”
“Doesn’t it seem absurd that we make buildings with such a high execution cost and such expensive materials in the structure to support that weight, that the tree we plant will never be enough to mitigate the ecological footprint of its construction?” he says.
That’s not to say these forms can’t be adopted in ways that make our lives better, and are environmentally friendly, too – it just takes some sustainable thinking. Russian architect Gleb Kalyuzhnyuk of OOO GeogGraffiti, for example, stresses the importance of alternative living wall models that work with local plants and conditions.
At a talk at the 2019 International Competition of Urban Landscape Design, Flower Jam, in Moscow, he discussed green wall models that use collected rainwater irrigation, and proposed the alternative of greening vertical surfaces with native mosses, which are better suited to the cold Russian climate than imported vines.
“Walls get filled with greenery on their own, completely naturally,” he says. “And why not try, as a working version, to use panels seeded with moss and a substrate that’s available for its growth.”
We need to think big
These models may provide a biophilic answer to our yearning for greenery, but Moisés Royo believes a much larger shift is needed in the long term.
“We have to think now that the city of the future will be vertical – hybrid buildings that are communities, with all services, with mixed uses and functions,” he says. “It will take a real revolution in the city that’s more than just each neighbour having their own little terrace to plant organic tomatoes. It’s a revolution that has not yet occurred in a city anywhere on the planet.”
He sees existing ‘hortitectural’ models as just a first step and, as he puts it, a “wake-up call to society” rather than viable final models for urban ecology. Moreover, any plan for integrating green space into cities would also have to address social factors.
“Cities with the largest populations, such as in China, are not solving the problem either,” he says. “Cities are solved with towers of homes –cells – but there’s no community identity.”
These models may provide a biophilic answer to our yearning for greenery, but Moisés Royo believes a much larger shift is needed in the long term.
“We have to think now that the city of the future will be vertical – hybrid buildings that are communities, with all services, with mixed uses and functions,” he says. “It will take a real revolution in the city that’s more than just each neighbour having their own little terrace to plant organic tomatoes. It’s a revolution that has not yet occurred in a city anywhere on the planet.”
He sees existing ‘hortitectural’ models as just a first step and, as he puts it, a “wake-up call to society” rather than viable final models for urban ecology. Moreover, any plan for integrating green space into cities would also have to address social factors.
“Cities with the largest populations, such as in China, are not solving the problem either,” he says. “Cities are solved with towers of homes –cells – but there’s no community identity.”
Itai Palti, director of behavioural neuroscience-informed architectural practice Hume, seconds this emphasis on the social aspects. For him, calls for urban greenery are a symptom of a wider problem. “Covid-19 has [exacerbated] many of the already existing issues that urban populations face: loneliness, lack of social cohesion and resilience, lack of physical activity. Green spaces, if designed to foster healthy social interactions and encourage engagement, should be considered as inseparable from the design of the urban landscape,” he says.
“Distribution and dosage are key. We must move away from the accepted model of investment in parks, and towards an integrative approach that doesn’t require people to allot time to nature, but rather experience it in their day-to-day,” he continues. “It makes a lot of sense to create a policy that ensures nature is integrated throughout the city rather than treating it as a destination. Many urban parks aren’t visited often or at all by residents because access is either limited or it’s impractical due to lack of integration with parts of the city that we interact with in our daily routines.”
“Distribution and dosage are key. We must move away from the accepted model of investment in parks, and towards an integrative approach that doesn’t require people to allot time to nature, but rather experience it in their day-to-day,” he continues. “It makes a lot of sense to create a policy that ensures nature is integrated throughout the city rather than treating it as a destination. Many urban parks aren’t visited often or at all by residents because access is either limited or it’s impractical due to lack of integration with parts of the city that we interact with in our daily routines.”
A public access area within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
The potential of this kind of integration of green space is illustrated by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park development in London. The Athletes’ Village from the 2012 London Olympics has been turned into East Village, a residential complex with 2,818 homes, 49% of which are affordable housing. The area will also include cultural features such as a school, a clinic, and branches of University College London, the Victoria & Albert Museum and Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
Both the residential and public buildings are embedded in revitalised green space that encourages biodiversity through a variety of settings, from ornamental gardens to wetland habitats.
Speaking about the development in her talk at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, landscape designer Charlotte Harris said, “What I love about what they’ve done with these new neighbourhoods is that they’ve kept these amazing pocket parks all the way through it. They’ve understood that trees and wildlife and greening have such a positive benefit to everyone who lives here.”
There’s ongoing debate around this new development’s ultimate social impact, but it shows how physical space can be reorganised to incorporate both green space and social and community aims.
The potential of this kind of integration of green space is illustrated by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park development in London. The Athletes’ Village from the 2012 London Olympics has been turned into East Village, a residential complex with 2,818 homes, 49% of which are affordable housing. The area will also include cultural features such as a school, a clinic, and branches of University College London, the Victoria & Albert Museum and Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
Both the residential and public buildings are embedded in revitalised green space that encourages biodiversity through a variety of settings, from ornamental gardens to wetland habitats.
Speaking about the development in her talk at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, landscape designer Charlotte Harris said, “What I love about what they’ve done with these new neighbourhoods is that they’ve kept these amazing pocket parks all the way through it. They’ve understood that trees and wildlife and greening have such a positive benefit to everyone who lives here.”
There’s ongoing debate around this new development’s ultimate social impact, but it shows how physical space can be reorganised to incorporate both green space and social and community aims.
Troll Kaptajn Nalle from Thomas Dambo’s Journey to the Giant Troll Folk Festival Project in Denmark. Photo from Thomas Dambo.
Other cities have sought to remind people of the greenery that’s already there. One initiative is The Journey to the Giant Troll Folk Festival, spearheaded by artist Thomas Dambo. Dambo installs massive statues of the mythical creatures made out of recycled materials in lesser-known public spaces around Copenhagen, elsewhere in Denmark, and around the world.
Set up like a scavenger hunt, the project hopes to encourage people to explore green areas near them that they may not have been aware of. “It’s a kind of treasure hunt, a gift for families in Denmark. The trolls help remind us that there are these beautiful places practically in our backyards,” Dambo said in an interview with National Geographic.
Other cities have sought to remind people of the greenery that’s already there. One initiative is The Journey to the Giant Troll Folk Festival, spearheaded by artist Thomas Dambo. Dambo installs massive statues of the mythical creatures made out of recycled materials in lesser-known public spaces around Copenhagen, elsewhere in Denmark, and around the world.
Set up like a scavenger hunt, the project hopes to encourage people to explore green areas near them that they may not have been aware of. “It’s a kind of treasure hunt, a gift for families in Denmark. The trolls help remind us that there are these beautiful places practically in our backyards,” Dambo said in an interview with National Geographic.
It seems we’ve finally learned to seek out nature for its own sake, for the pleasure of tasting a potato grown on one’s own balcony or indulging in the magic of a troll fishing in a river that was always there, just beyond our usual field of vision or attention span.
“My ideal city is one that doesn’t revolve around efficiency and understands the range of human needs beyond productivity. The re-incorporation of nature into the built spaces can be part of that effort to reshape the urban experience,” Palti says. “We have over-engineered our streets with a mechanical approach to what a city should offer, and that’s one of the reasons we ‘escape’ the city to answer our need for discovery, exploration, and perspective.”
Tell us…
Share your thoughts on urban greening in the Comments.
“My ideal city is one that doesn’t revolve around efficiency and understands the range of human needs beyond productivity. The re-incorporation of nature into the built spaces can be part of that effort to reshape the urban experience,” Palti says. “We have over-engineered our streets with a mechanical approach to what a city should offer, and that’s one of the reasons we ‘escape’ the city to answer our need for discovery, exploration, and perspective.”
Tell us…
Share your thoughts on urban greening in the Comments.
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The UK is one of the most ecologically depleted countries in the world. That takes some doing. How can we convince our governments to consider soil and trees and green space when hideous concrete developments are given the easy go-ahead? Sometimes I despair ...
Good article and some excellent comments (Russian) above... People crave green stuff - to see it, to walk in it/through it yet the 'current plan' is to drive people off the land, herd them into cities where they can be controlled and get hooked on pharmaceutical drugs from the resulting depression, lack of sunshine, the deprivation of trees etc and the social isolation that comes with dense housing and the concrete that surrounds them. How lucky am I to have this from my bedroom window...
The world is changing rapidly and tactical urbanism has become one of the methods of present and future gardening.
It's a way to quickly transform space with a limited investment.
It is used when you need to create a point of attraction for people in a short time.
Cheap materials, temporary structures, potted plants are tools for changing urban space.
One example of the tactical urbanism is the summer city flower festivals.