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Green cities - tips, ideas and examples

Green cities - About the connection between city and nature

What are green cities and how can we combine city and nature in the most sensible way possible? If you're asking yourself these very questions, you've come to the right place!

Big cities offer a wide range of cultural activities, a large number of interesting employers, an excellent infrastructure and the opportunity to network with people from different cultures and professional backgrounds. Young people in particular are drawn to big cities to take advantage of these benefits. However, anyone who has ever lived in a big city for a longer period of time will have long since noticed what is too easily neglected there: the proximity to nature.

In this article, you will find out why proximity to nature is so important in urban areas, why it has long been secondary in large cities and which cities have already successfully reversed this gray principle. Let's go!

  1. Urban nature meaning
  2. Disappearance of the trees
  3. Soil sealing due to building development
  4. Space for cars
  5. Rethinking
  6. Design options
  7. Green cities
  8. Closing words

Why is nature so important in the city?

The list of reasons why green spaces make sense, especially in the city, is as long as it is obvious. First of all, there is the climatic aspect. Green spaces not only purify the air and produce valuable oxygen, but are also responsible for regulating the temperature, filtering drinking water and providing a habitat for many different animal species. For example, they counteract climate change, the air pollution and the species extinction against.

But nature also serves man as a Retreat. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, residents can find peace and relaxation and recharge their batteries. Nevertheless, nature has been increasingly pushed out of urban areas in recent decades. Yet the city and nature are not opposites, but benefit from each other in many ways. For large cities in particular, there are many concepts for Integrating nature into the city in a meaningful way can. Because reconciling these two factors is of high importance.

Tip: You can also find an article about this at CareElite, Why you should spend as much time as possible in nature. Certainly a nice addition 🙂

Trees are vital for humans

Making cities greener and more environmentally friendly

The term "green lung" is actually used as a synonym for the rainforest. The forests produce the oxygen without which humans could not live on this planet. They also bind vast amounts of carbon dioxide. In cities, the term tends to refer to meadows and parks. But the principle is the same.

Trees contribute to this like no other plant, clean the air of the big city. With their leaves, they filter dust and particles such as traffic and industrial emissions from the air. Through photosynthesis, trees convert carbon dioxide into nutrients for their own use. As a by-product of this process, they release Oxygen free that we breathe.

The trees also provide shade in summer and have a cooling effect due to the evaporation of water through the leaves. They thus reduce the heat load in the cities and serve as air conditioning for the conurbations, so to speak. They are also a habitat for many different creatures such as birds, squirrels and a variety of insects.

During the Rainforest cut down to make room for monocultures and factory farming, the trees in the city have had to give way in order to provide people with the Development of living space to make this possible. Ultimately - and in the truest sense of the word - we are sawing on the branch we are sitting on.

Sealed soils have long-term ecological consequences

Due to the steadily growing world population and the increasing rural exodus, more and more space has become available in large cities for the development of new housing sacrificed. Not only did many green spaces disappear as a result: many Floors were also sealed.

When surfaces are completely or partially sealed with asphalt, concrete, paving stones or other materials, this has several consequences. Ecological effects:

  • The soil can absorb less rainwater and feed it into the groundwater.
  • Areas that previously acted as a filter for the seeping groundwater in combination with the root system of the plants are no longer needed.
  • The risk of flooding increases, as the sewer system can no longer contain the surface water runoff.
  • The gas exchange between soil and atmosphere is inhibited. 
  • Sealed floors cannot evaporate water and therefore do not contribute to cooling.

In addition, the soil fauna Sustained damage when it is separated from oxygen and water for long periods of time. Although the fertility of a sealed soil is not permanently destroyed, restoring it is very complex, time-consuming and therefore very expensive. It is also almost impossible to prevent foreign substances such as concrete or plastic from remaining in the soil. This is another reason why it is important to preserve nature in the city from the outset.

The car is displacing nature and people

Another reason for the disappearance of green spaces is the Car. After the end of the Second World War, the destruction of the cities was used to to be planned and redesigned. The separation of living, working, shopping and traffic were the basis of the new vision: the car-friendly city.

The city centers in particular needed to be more accessible by car. Wide roads and large parking areas were needed and for this Green spaces sacrificed. As a result, even more floors were sealed. 

The architects of the time did not stop at demolishing historic buildings that had been spared from the bombs in order to make room for mobility. In Hanover, for example, the Flusswasserkunst on the River Leine and the Friederikenschlösschen fell victim to this way of thinking.

Cars have not only displaced nature, but also people. Children in particular felt this impact. Until after the end of the war, they mainly played on the streets. However, due to the increasing number of cars, there were more and more fatalities. 

The consequence of this was that children had to be kept off the streets, which from then on belonged to cars. So the first Playgrounds as shelters for children and to relieve drivers. 

TheNumber of cars registered continues to increase today. 48.2 million cars are registered in Germany. More than half of Germans have a commute of less than 10 kilometers. Only 13 percent use public transportation.

Tip: How you live as car-free as possible you can find out in the linked article.

Reversing the trend from car city to green city

Big city with road network at night
Many large cities are criss-crossed by wide road networks that have had to make way for green spaces. Image 2: stockadobe.com, © eyetronic - 113155288

Gradually, people realized that it was necessary to follow the Counteract overexploitation had to be carried out by urban planners and architects after the end of the war with what was then considered modern urban planning. This created, at least in parts, a Rethinking.

For example, the demolition of historic buildings after the war was counteracted. In 1980, the city of Hildesheim rebuilt the historic market square with the Knochenhaueramtshaus after it had fallen victim to urban planning in the 1950s. 

From the state side there are more and more Incentives for decision-makers, to reverse the former trend. Competitions like the Federal Urban Green Award are intended to motivate people to bring nature back into the cities. 

Design options for near-natural spaces

Green cities - utility beds in an urban housing development
Planting vegetable patches in residential complexes creates green spaces that can also be used to grow vegetables. Image 3: stockadobe.com, © vejaa - 250116661

There are many innovative ideas to connect the city and nature. The approach of the Urban Gardenings uses areas in residential areas or pedestrian zones, for example, to create small flower meadows in planters that can serve as new habitats for insects.

Rooftops can be greened or converted into small gardens. This not only has a climatic effect, the roof gardens also offer a near-natural environment. Retreat in the middle of the city. They also give people the opportunity to be at least partially self-sufficient in food. 

Kindergartens and schools have the option of transforming the schoolyard into garden-like green spaces. These are then not only used as Habitat for animalsbut also used as an adventure space for children. This allows them to experience nature up close and play an active role in shaping it, giving them access to the plant and animal world at an early stage of their development, which in turn provides them with a fundamental understanding of nature. Environmental awareness creates.

Innovative, green cities

A well-known example of the integration of green spaces in the big city is New York with its green lung, Central Park. It serves as a retreat and recreation area for city dwellers and plays its part in improving air quality.

Here you will find the world's greenest cities in the overview:

  • Copenhagen (Denmark)
  • Vienna (Austria)
  • Charlotte (USA)
  • Durban (South Africa)
  • Vancouver (Canada)
  • Singapore
  • Vilnius (Lithuania)
  • Curitiba (Brazil)
  • Cape Town (South Africa)
  • Madrid (Spain)

Which cities in Germany are exemplary green?

But countless German cities are also innovating the Path to a green future. The city of Hagen, for example, is the greenest city in North Rhine-Westphalia. Almost half of the city's area is green. The entire urban area is covered by 24 Nature reserveswhich serve as a recreational area for the residents and are also home to an impressively large variety of species.

Bremen has also developed into a prime example of a green city. These are spread across the entire city area and can therefore be reached from almost anywhere on foot. The Rhododendron Park in the north-east is also the Second largest rhododendron collection in the world.

Hanover also shines with its large proportion of urban greenery. With over 40 parks in the urban area, the city has the highest parking density in Germany. These include numerous bodies of water such as the Altwarmbüchener See, the Ricklinger Kiesteiche, the Maschsee and the riverside promenades along the Leine.

Can you think of any other green cities? In Germany, for example, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Würzburg, Heidelberg and Hamburg also score very well in terms of urban nature!

The cities of the future are green!

So there is also reason to hope that life in Germany's cities will become more liveable and closer to nature in the future. Under no circumstances should we move any further away from nature - because we are just as much a part of it as all life on this planet - and not a superior species.

I hope that with this article I have been able to encourage you a little for the future and give you an understanding of the advantages and ideas of an environmentally friendly, green city. Do you have any questions, tips or suggestions? Then I look forward to your comment!

Stay sustainable,

Christoph from CareElite - Plastic-free living

PS.: Do you already know the The concept of soft mobility? In the linked article you can now find out how it can make life in cities more sustainable and pleasant. Have fun!

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* Links with asterisks are so-called Affiliate linksIf you click on it and buy something, you automatically and actively support my work with CareElite.de, as I receive a small share of the proceeds - and of course nothing changes in the product price. Many thanks for your support and best regards, Christoph!

Christoph Schulz

Christoph Schulz

I'm Christoph, an environmental scientist and author - and here at CareElite I'm campaigning against plastic waste in the environment, climate change and all the other major environmental problems of our time. Together with other environmentally conscious bloggers, I want to give you tips & tricks for a naturally healthy, sustainable life as well as your personal development.

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