Latest news with #urban greening
The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘Why would you take away a parking place?': the city where anyone can build an urban oasis
In a quiet corner of Vienna's well-to-do 18th district, Jana is explaining how her assembly of wooden decking and planters is bringing a bit of greenery to the area. 'There's not a single tree on this whole street – it's just parking spaces on both sides.' This is a grätzloase (neighbourhood-oasis), a miniature park tucked into the side of the road. With the blessing of the city hall, more than 100 of them have sprung up across Vienna. The scheme has been growing since 2015, and its proponents say it's struck a rare balance for urban projects: cheap, community-driven and appreciated by local people. In theory, anyone in Vienna can build one. A city-funded organisation, Local Agenda 21, provides grants of up to €5,000 to cover construction costs and helps with the admin. Jana first heard about the scheme at a party in 2019 from someone who had recently put a parklet together. 'A few weeks later I just went by and looked at it and thought: 'This is so cool,'' she recalls. But it took until the winter of 2020 for Jana and her flatmates to consider building one themselves. 'It's kind of complicated; you need to fill in a lot of paperwork,' she says. This involved three different departments of city government, and her group needed to cost everything up before they started. But she had a couple of things on her side. First, she lived with a carpenter, who could handle the nitty-gritty of actually building it. Second, the organisation told her there was another parklet being taken down on the other side of town that they could pick up and reassemble. The final hurdle was getting the street on board, with some residents pushing back against the idea. 'While we were building it, I remember there were a few people looking at it very weirdly. A few days later, we had neighbours say: 'Why would you take away a parking space?'' Jana says. But they seem to have come around. This spring the grätzloase saw more construction as they installed a retractable sunroof. 'We had a weekend of building together. Everybody that walked by said: 'Oh! This is so nice.'' The parklet is a huge source of pride for Jana, but it comes with certain challenges. In winter she has to deal with clearing snow from the decking, and during the summer the plants need watering every day. The grätzloase also includes a box where neighbours can exchange their unwanted things. 'Sometimes people just leave trash there, and it's up to me to figure out how to get rid of it,' Jana says. And as the person responsible for putting together the parklet, she's also responsible for taking it down – should she ever move, she'll need to find a new custodian or be forced to deconstruct it. Vienna consistently scores highly on environmental and livability rankings – even if its quality-of-life crown was nicked by Copenhagen in June. But these accolades obscure the fact that some districts are distinctly lacking in greenery, particularly in the centre-west of the city. 'Vienna has more journeys by car than 26 cities in Europe, including London, Paris and Berlin,' says Rafael Prieto-Curiel, a researcher at the Complexity Science Hub in the city's third district. He has collated mobility data from hundreds of places around the world. Despite its excellent public transport network, a quarter of journeys in Vienna are still taken by private vehicles – a figure that ought to be a lot lower, he argues. Removing parking spaces could be one way of encouraging this. 'Asphalt gets super hot – so if you have less asphalt, the city is more livable,' Prieto-Curiel adds. Research shows Vienna saw nearly 50 days of extreme heat last year, a number that's been on the rise. He would like the city to go further and commit to tearing out paving en masse, as Paris has done recently. Building parklets could be one way of warming people up to the idea. Sabrina Halkic, the managing director of Local Agenda 21, describes them as an example of 'tactical urbanism' – low-cost, often citizen-led improvements to the built environment. She sees the grätzloasen as a gateway to further changes. 'Once people see that something can be done to make the situation better, they develop this bigger vision,' she says. In 2021, her organisation built a grätzloase in collaboration with a school: 'We had [a parklet on] these four parking spaces. After those were a success, they said: 'Why don't we change the whole street?'' Last year they convinced the city to pedestrianise the entire road. Jana and Sabrina agree one of the scheme's biggest pluses is it creates new places to hang out. In a city sometimes characterised – perhaps unfairly – as grumpy and unwelcoming, more communal space means a chance to chat to people you wouldn't speak to otherwise. One Friday evening a group of friends is braving the drizzle to drink cocktails and catch up at the grätzloase. Even later on, at a time when some neighbours may start complaining about noise, it's nothing but smiles and 'good evenings' from people passing by. Jana compares her parklet with the fate of a restaurant one block over. It closed down a decade ago, with its chestnut tree-lined garden paved over to make way for new apartments. The grätzloase – a place where friends can meet for the sake of meeting – is showing that things can be different.
Yahoo
27-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Free cash for thousands of Aussies making simple backyard change
Tens of thousands of Australians are expected to cash in over the next four years by making a simple change in their own backyards. Two separate initiatives will kick off this week, offering cash rebates of up to $150 for simply planting native trees in their gardens. Over the next four years, West Australians can access the "treebate" program, a $6.9 million initiative open to all residents over 18 years old in the state. It comes as authorities scramble to recover tree canopies after an invasive pest known as the polyphagous shot-hole borer caused over 4,500 trees in Perth to be destroyed. "Everything we can do to enhance and plant more trees across Perth, and our entire state, will unlock a range of social, economic and environmental benefits for the entire community," WA Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said on Saturday. "The planting of thousands of trees under these two programs will build on the State Government's urban greening initiatives, creating communities that are greener, healthier and more liveable." What are the two initiatives for Aussie gardeners? There are two separate initiatives that Aussies can get involved in to access the $150 in funding. The first is the "Treebate Program", a $6.9 million initiative that is open to all residents in the state, aimed at boosting the state's tree canopy and improving native biodiversity in the region. The second is known as the WA Tree Recovery Program, which is aimed at residents who lost trees to the invasive beetle in the state. Eligible landowners can claim up to $150 for every tree removed under the authorisation of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development because of PSHB. "All these measures will help increase urban canopy, protect biodiversity and cool our suburbs," Planning and Lands Minister John Carey said. Both rebates can be claimed via the ServiceWA app from Monday, 28 July. 🪴 Warning over common garden product as destructive threat spreads across Aussie city 🌳 Gardening photos highlight tiny sign trees are riddled with invasive species 🪲 Entire Aussie city quarantined as billion-dollar threat spreads Why is the invasive shot-hole borer so destructive? The shot-hole borer is regarded as one of the worst-known tree killers on the planet, due to its unique biology, ability to spread rapidly, and its devastating impact on both urban and natural ecosystems. In June, the federal government admitted it had lost the multimillion-dollar battle to eliminate the bug in Western Australia. The tiny beetle, which originally stems from Southeast Asia, was detected in Australia for the first time just four years ago. So far, it's infested over 4,500 trees in Perth, including 20 historic figs that were turned to mulch. While the beetle doesn't eat the wood, it introduces a type of fungus that it feeds on. The fungus blocks the tree's vascular system, causing dieback and often death. It can destroy over 100 different types of trees — including many Australian natives and popular trees like avocados, figs and maples. So far, the shot-hole borer has only been detected in Western Australia, but South Australia, in particular, is on high alert. Authorities are currently conducting a surveillance of some 500 sites across the state, including in Adelaide's metro area, to check for infestations. Arborists and botanists across the country are on high alert, as they say if infestations make their way to other cities, the result could be catastrophic. "We've been assuming it's going to be coming any day for a year or two now. We're working on the assumption that it could be tomorrow," Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens' Professor Brett Summerell previously said. Quiet shift away from traditional ornamental gardens Aussies are increasingly opting for native gardens, in a big shift away from traditional English ornamental plants, many of which are now deemed invasive weeds. Environmental educator Clancy Lester previously told Yahoo News there are many benefits to ditching traditional gardens and replacing them with natives. "A lot of native plants have adapted to the harsh Australian climate and these unique evolutions mean they can survive in drought and poor quality soils," he said. "If we're putting them in our gardens, they are going to be lower maintenance and you can forget about them. They don't have the water demands like some of our lawns and English plants do." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
