By 2050, it is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the global population will live in cities. As these urban centres expand and increasing numbers move into already crowded spaces, city-dwellers are looking for ways to let nature back in. Answering the call are architects and innovators the world over who are sharing a vision for the future in which the natural and urban no-longer compete, but flourish side by side.
Check out Danielle Watt’s list of incredible urban green spaces below.
Check out Danielle Watt’s list of incredible urban green spaces below.
Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo
Native Brazilian woodlands, a series of lakes and swathes of greenery make Ibirapuera a calm oasis right in the heart of Brazil’s most populous city, São Paulo. This thundering metropolis is home to over 20 million “paulistanos”, and each and every one of them will attest to the beauty, tranquility and cultural importance of Ibirapuera.
It may come as a surprise to learn that this “natural” haven is in fact entirely man-made, reclaimed from marshland that was deemed unfit for development at the beginning of the 20th century. As well as offering a welcome respite from the city’s urban sprawl, Ibirapuera is also a prominent cultural space. First opened in 1954, the park now houses several important museums and exhibition spaces such as the Museu Afro Brasil and Museu de Arte Moderna, both designed by world-famous Brazilian architect Oscar Neimeyer. It also hosts unmissable cultural events such as the Bienal de São Paulo.
It may come as a surprise to learn that this “natural” haven is in fact entirely man-made, reclaimed from marshland that was deemed unfit for development at the beginning of the 20th century. As well as offering a welcome respite from the city’s urban sprawl, Ibirapuera is also a prominent cultural space. First opened in 1954, the park now houses several important museums and exhibition spaces such as the Museu Afro Brasil and Museu de Arte Moderna, both designed by world-famous Brazilian architect Oscar Neimeyer. It also hosts unmissable cultural events such as the Bienal de São Paulo.
DK Brazil
View BookPrinzessinnengarten, Berlin
Where most saw a desolate industrial wasteland, Marco Clausen and Robert Shaw saw an opportunity. In a bid to “sow the seeds for a better quality of life” these greenfingered entrepreneurs founded the Prinzessinnengarten in 2009, and with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers who shared their vision, Berlin’s urban farm and community garden was born.
The site in Kreuzberg soon became a thriving garden full of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Fortunately its founders also had the foresight to make the farm completely transportable. Produce is grown in pots, cartons and moveable containers, meaning that the whole garden can relocate should the land be sold by the city. Don’t miss the on-site organic café – it sells food made from the garden’s own ingredients and hosts workshops on beekeeping, gardening and environmental education.
The site in Kreuzberg soon became a thriving garden full of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Fortunately its founders also had the foresight to make the farm completely transportable. Produce is grown in pots, cartons and moveable containers, meaning that the whole garden can relocate should the land be sold by the city. Don’t miss the on-site organic café – it sells food made from the garden’s own ingredients and hosts workshops on beekeeping, gardening and environmental education.
DK Berlin
View BookThe High Line, New York City
Of course, we couldn’t NOT mention the Big Apple’s beloved greenway. Thanks to an ambitious urban renewal project that began in 1999, this once-abandoned railroad has been completely transformed into a 2.33 km (1.45 mile) long landscaped park that links Midtown, Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. Raised some 9 m (30 ft) above ground level, this linear park curves its way round apartment blocks and crosses the busy streets and avenues with ease.
The High Line's chief garden designer Piet Oudolf took inspiration from the plants and shrubs that grew wild here in the years after the trains stopped running. The result is a perfect synchronicity of wild and civic space in which art installations, water features, wild-flower beds, tall grasses and seating areas offer a moment of peace in this city that never sleeps.
The High Line's chief garden designer Piet Oudolf took inspiration from the plants and shrubs that grew wild here in the years after the trains stopped running. The result is a perfect synchronicity of wild and civic space in which art installations, water features, wild-flower beds, tall grasses and seating areas offer a moment of peace in this city that never sleeps.
DK New York City
View BookSky Garden, London
London is one of the greenest capitals in Europe. But it’s not all English rose gardens and Royal Parks. Even in the depths of the City, where sheer towers of glass and steel loom high above concrete streets, pockets of greenery bring a breath of fresh air to this concrete jungle. The trick is to look up. Forty-three stories up to be precise.
Nestled atop the famous “Walkie-Talkie" building (20 Fenchurch Street to those not in the know) is London’s rooftop Sky Garden. Here terraced palms and tropical ferns offer a blissful escape from the concrete jungle below. And thanks to wall-to-ceiling glass, there’s not a bad view in the house. Book in advance (free of charge) to secure your spot.
Nestled atop the famous “Walkie-Talkie" building (20 Fenchurch Street to those not in the know) is London’s rooftop Sky Garden. Here terraced palms and tropical ferns offer a blissful escape from the concrete jungle below. And thanks to wall-to-ceiling glass, there’s not a bad view in the house. Book in advance (free of charge) to secure your spot.
DK London
View BookJardines del Turia, Valencia
There is an unusual history to this urban greenway. On 15 October 1957, the Río Turia experienced its worst flood in history, resulting in 81 casualties and causing irreparable damage. In response to the disaster, the river was completely diverted out of the city. In its place is a 9 km (6 mile) strip of landscaped gardens and open green space that forms one of Spain’s largest parks.
Peppered with sports fields, water features and playgrounds, the gardens extend all the way from the Bioparc to the City of Arts and Sciences and on towards the sea. Urban planners had originally intended on building a new highway in the river’s wake, but thanks to a strong public campaign for more green space in the city, Turia was built instead. Now so integral to city life, it is hard to imagine Valencia without it.
Peppered with sports fields, water features and playgrounds, the gardens extend all the way from the Bioparc to the City of Arts and Sciences and on towards the sea. Urban planners had originally intended on building a new highway in the river’s wake, but thanks to a strong public campaign for more green space in the city, Turia was built instead. Now so integral to city life, it is hard to imagine Valencia without it.
DK Top 10 Valencia
View BookGardens by the Bay, Singapore
Singapore is the self-proclaimed Garden City. As this South-Asian Metropolis continues to grow at record speed, urban planners are making space for the natural world to thrive alongside cutting-edge urban developments in a bid to ensure this ever-expanding city is both liveable and sustainable.
Evidence of Singapore’s green agenda can be found all around, in city parks, rooftop forests, vertical green spaces and verdant gardens that cling to the sides of buildings. But the jewel in Singapore’s crown has to be its breathtaking Gardens by the Bay.
Home to over 1.5 million plants and occupying a vast area, Gardens by the Bay comprises three waterfront gardens – Bay East Garden, Bay Central Garden and the main attraction, Bay South Garden. The latter is home to the famous Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and hi-tech Supertree Grove, where colossal arboreal structures harvest solar energy to power light shows and soundscapes by night. This award-winning Singapore park totally reimagines what our future cityscapes could be, and plants the seed of environmental innovation for generations to come.
Evidence of Singapore’s green agenda can be found all around, in city parks, rooftop forests, vertical green spaces and verdant gardens that cling to the sides of buildings. But the jewel in Singapore’s crown has to be its breathtaking Gardens by the Bay.
Home to over 1.5 million plants and occupying a vast area, Gardens by the Bay comprises three waterfront gardens – Bay East Garden, Bay Central Garden and the main attraction, Bay South Garden. The latter is home to the famous Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and hi-tech Supertree Grove, where colossal arboreal structures harvest solar energy to power light shows and soundscapes by night. This award-winning Singapore park totally reimagines what our future cityscapes could be, and plants the seed of environmental innovation for generations to come.
DK Top 10 Singapore
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