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reasonsforhope · 1 month

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"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterﬂy.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 4, 2024

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ai-dream · 14 days

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z428 · 8 months

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Green paths.

#outerworld #pixelfed365 #fediphoto365 #dresden #vegetation #city green

#dresden #Vegetation #outerworld #pixelfed365 #fediphoto365 #city green

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swagcasta · 8 months

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Garden Trellis – Why is it Best To Make the City Green?

Trellis fencing adds style and beauty to your garden design and boosts your property’s protection and seclusion. The tiny trellis shape is significantly less intimidating than a solid fence, making it an appealing, quirky alternative to conventional fencing. Read more

#garden #Garden Trellis #City Green #garden design

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lotusinjadewell · 11 months

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Saigon, Vietnam. Credit to laphanblog (Instagram).

#vietnam #vietnamese #culture #travel destinations #travel #saigon #ho chi minh #ho chi minh city #cafe #after the rain #green #greenery #urbanscape #urban landscape #urban photography #urban nature #urban life

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notebook91286 · 1 year

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106/365

#pic of the day #city park #Robinson Park #nature #City green #April #Spring #sicily #Italy #foto del giorno #Parco cittadino #Parco Robinson #Natura #Verde cittadino #aprile #Primavera #Patti #sicilia #Italia

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thegabitype · 2 years

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You know

#big city greens #bcg #amphibia #steven universe #su #cuphead #jellystone #bluey #family guy

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incorrectbatfam · 6 months

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If you could live in one DC city, which one would you choose? Star City? Central City? Metropolis? Gotham? Or a different one?

All of them have their pros and cons

Star City

- Pros: the Arrowfam

- Cons: Ollie's chili

Central City/Keystone

- Pros: more mentally stable Rogues gallery

- Cons: the Midwest

Metropolis

- Pros: not Gotham

- Cons: gotta buy a new car every week the way they get thrown through your office

Smallville

- Pros: Kon

- Cons: corn

Gotham

- Pros: grunge vibes

- Cons: Gotham

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awakefor48hours · 6 months

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I just want to know how much these audiences overlap

Please consider reblogging for a larger sample size.

*If you don't know what qualifies as "watching" (ie you're not done or have given up on the show), if you've watched season 1 to completion, then consider it as you’ve watched it.

Edit/clarification: If your definition of "watching" doesn't align with mine, that's fine. Use your own definition if you want, the definition I added was just for the people who I knew were going to comment under this with "OP, define 'watch'"

#my poll #poll #the owl house #steven universe #svtfoe #gravity falls #dead end paranormal park #she ra #centaurworld #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #carmen sandiego #trollhunters #infinity train #the dragon prince #miraculous ladybug #amphibia #avatar #big city greens #ghost and molly mcgee

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flowersforfrancis · 9 months

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splashtail · 7 months

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i love big city greens so much please give it a chance.

#splash clips #big city greens #ZENO ROBINSON KILLS IT AS REMY SOOO MUCH. theres other scenes i have clipped and want to post but this one killed me #disney tva

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itsbansheebitch · 16 days

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Rants at the Hairdresser

her, behind me trimming my hair: "it's so wild how big cars are. Seems a bit dangerous, ya know?"

me, enjoying the smell of the stuff she sprayed in my hair: "Yeah, apparently that's because it's cheaper to have a car classified as a 'light truck' since you can get past safety regulations and they have different frames."

her, who has paused working on my hair: "Wait, are you serious?"

me: "Yeah, apparently it's a lot cheaper for companies to do that. And it really sucks since driving one of those cars is super dangerous, but it's even more dangerous for other people, especially if they're in a smaller car. Since it would be more safe to be another driver if they ALSO have a 'light truck,' everyone is caught in a cycle of getting bigger and bigger cars. All of which are extremely dangerous and have made being a pedestrian even more dangerous."

her: deep in thought, silent.

me, happy that someone is letting me rant about this: "Oh, the new Cadillacs are the size of tanks. That's not an exaggeration, by the way."

her, stunned: ???? "what the actual hell???"

we're silent for a bit

her, hesitantly, since I look like white trash and she has at least 10 piercings and pink hair: "I feel like America has been that way for a while... ya know?"

me: "Oh yeah, I totally get what you're saying, like, putting profit over people's safety?"

her, assured now that she knows we're both too commie pilled for this kind of conversation with someone else: "Yes! Exactly! It really sucks, right?"

me: "God, tell me about it"

I was very happy with my haircut, btw. She's so good at her job. :D

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cartoonbudartz · 11 months

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Fifteen years ago, the tv animation world was changed forever when a little show about a sailor boy with an adventurous spirit premiered on CN. Although it’s run was short, the series led to a renaissance of animated shows, such as Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Regular Show, and more. So thanks, Flapjack, for being the godfather of 2010s animation.

#flapjack #the marvelous misadventures of flapjack #adventure time #regular show #the owl house #Amphibia #gravity falls #big city greens #hilda #infinity train #bee and puppycat #ok ko let's be heroes #craig of the creek #over the garden wall

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neon-wonderlands · 1 month

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