As the people move to the big cities that characterise our millennium, society is rediscovering its connection with nature: green spaces are transforming urban life, creating more resilient cities.
The 21st century marks an important point in urban development and urban environment innovation: pollution, social alienation, climate and social challenges are defining a new way to craft solutions for the sustainable development path in which cities are a symbol.
In fact, cities are starting to breathe again thanks to new green infrastructures. Parks, gardens and green rooftops have become essential tools able to shape a more sustainable urban space, fostering a virtuous example of positive development and representing a new paradigm in urban planning.
THE GOAL: REGENERATE
By integrating vegetation into architecture, cities were able to reduce heat islands, improve the air quality and enhance biodiversity, becoming the place in which animals, plants and humans can co-live.
Moreover, they provide psychological relief to citizens, emphasizing the importance of the relationship between people and nature.
Green infrastructures also act as climate buffers, managing stormwater and cooling urban microclimates.
When designed inclusively, they can become powerful instruments of equity, providing healthy environments for all citizens, regardless of income.
MILAN: SUSTAINABLE URBANISM AND BOSCO VERTICALE
The Bosco Verticale, located in the Isola neighborhood and designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, was built between 2007 and 2014. It is considered an icon of sustainable urbanism. With its two residential twin towers 110 and 76 meters tall covered by more than 20.000 carefully-selected plants and trees, this complex project stands for a 5-hectare wood, in which nature and humans live together.
The project crafted a new ecosystem, able to capture particulates and reduce temperature in the apartments and on the surfaces, improving the quality of life for both residents and Milan citizens. But beyond its ecological impact, it redefines aesthetics, showing that sustainability can be both beautiful and functional.
CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE: WHAT’S NEXT?
Challenges persist in this panorama. Urban greening must avoid becoming a tool for gentrification or an aesthetic gesture disconnected from its primary purpose: making cities breathe again. Also, green cities must integrate all the dimensions of sustainability, guaranteeing inclusion and participation, because sustainability must be accessible for everybody.
Cities must be resilient and adapt in order to be able to face the new challenges that are reshaping the way we live. Integrating green spaces within the urban spaces highlights the importance of cities in crafting a sustainable development, guaranteeing a better future for their citizens and the planet.
CIMO 