POWER PLANTS

FLOURISHING BACKYARDS, BIODIVERSE ARCHITECTURE AND INSPIRING RENATURATION PROJECTS ARE CREATING GREEN HAVENS AMONG SKYSCRAPERS

- STORY BY MICHAEL MÖSER

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

IN Manhattan's East Village, a neighborhood home to many artists, the so-called Green Guerrillas made headlines in 1973. Their actions included throwing “seed bombs” over the fences of neglected lots to encourage the growth of plants and trees. The activists campaigned until the city agreed to lease them a plot of land for one dollar. Thus, the first official community garden was born. Over the years, this small success story has inspired similar initiatives. Today, there are approximately 550 similar types of gardens in New York.

"By implementing just a few measures, we can achieve great things and steer our coexistence with nature in a positive direction," says Dr. Wolfgang Weisser, chair of terrestrial ecology at the Technical University of Munich. "If we incorporate factors that positively influence biodiversity into urban planning, we can utilize their potential and thereby do not only nature a favor, but ourselves, as well." Through strategic planning that incorporates natural green spaces, green roofs or facades and interconnected green corridors, urban biodiversity can be increased, making cities more resilient to climate change and creating habitats that benefit both people and nature.

It no longer takes guerrilla tactics to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity in major cities. More and more homeowners, as well as urban planners and architects, are recognizing the opportunities that exist in large cities. This has given rise to the concept of vertical gardening, which involves expanding green spaces upward rather than outward.

WHAT DOES BIODIVERSITY MEAN? The diversity of all living organisms, habitats and ecosystems on land, in freshwater, and in the oceans.