Hazel SolenderAbout 47 per cent of London area is green space and there’s potential for the city to work its way towards an even greener future. Part of this future was visualized in a competition to imagine London as the first National Park City. Creative minds entered the contest, and a diverse panel of judges reviewed what these architects, designers, and artists submitted. The first four ideas about green London below were chosen as the winners, and the last three were highly commended.
The challenge was set by the National Park City Foundation – led by national geographic explorer Daniel Raven-Ellison. Daniel is also embarking on a 500km (over 300 mile) walk this Friday, spiralling through every borough of London to get every council and ward on board to make his dream a reality. London is one of the greenest and leafiest cities in the whole world – why not make it a national park?
Rewild my Street
Created by Siân and Jon Moxon, Rewild my street is a simple idea with enormous potential. Take a typical London residential street; adapt its terraces, gardens and streetscape to transform it into a haven for wildlife by adding wildflower meadows, patio ponds, bird feeders and insect hotels – and watch the wildlife return in droves. With 3.8 million gardens covering 24% of the capital, the impact would be huge if everyone did this. Siân is a Senior Lecturer at the The Cass School of Art, Architecture & Design and Jon is an Architect at The Pattern Project.
Photo: Siân Moxon and Jon Moxon
The Trail
Conceived by Chris Rossetto and Emma Lubbers in the Netherlands, The Trail would be an uninterrupted garden path of peaceful green spaces, winding through inner London’s iconic neighbourhoods and linking its parks into a single continuous woven landscape. ‘The Trail’ contributes an additional layer to London’s transport network, and re-imagines how Londoners move around the city. Less about speed and efficiency, the Trail promotes a more relaxed journey, healthy recreational activity, quality green spaces, and improved air quality.
Photo: Chris Rossetto and Emma Lubbers
The Living Network
A large-scale idea from a team at London architects Farrells, the Living Network sees the National Park City as being made up of a rich variety of different green spaces including private gardens, parks, waterways and the entire green belt. The Living Network would formally combine all of the environmental layers of London into one single green infrastructure network so that Londoners can better discover, learn from, protect and grow green city environments. The Living Network would accompanied by an online platform, including an app and website, into which all Londoners can explore and upload information about their green spaces.
Photo: Farrells, Ben Nourse, Donika Llakmani, Maysa Phares, Jaewon Shin
London Green Bus Network
Envisioned by Anne Frobeen, a UK-based designer, the London Green Bus Network would have routes specifically designed to help Londoners access and enjoy a greater variety of green space across the city and beyond. The buses themselves would visually highlight green connections in the city and physically make it easier for a wider range of people, ages and abilities to get out and explore.
Photo: Anne Frobeen
The Blue Line
Developed by Landscape Architect Dimitris Grozopoulos, the Blue Line is a strategic proposal for Nine Elms that could be scaled upto the wider city of London, using existing railway infrastructure. Through small and medium scale interventions and the concept of ‘urban acupuncture’ the proposal seeks to improve water management and enhance biodiversity. Taking into consideration the historical context, local heritage and environmental necessity, the ‘Blue line’ invites the local community to engage with and celebrate water in the public realm through a series of pocket parks with water as a joining artery.
Photo: Dimitris Grozopoulos
Hackney – An integrated approach
Urban Planner and Landscape Architect Loredana Micu entered a vision for strong integrated system of green areas, public spaces, communities and administrations for part of Hackney in east London. Using this sample of London as a case study, Loredana has drawn a picture of how all areas of London could be integrated. The proposal looks at creating focal points, connected through quality public nodes and routes. It includes improvements to existing green and public spaces, creating new spaces and developing a system of community and educational gardens.
Photo: Loredana Micu
Loft Gardens
Loft Gardens uses the opportunity presented by London’s underexploited roofscape to create diverse new green spaces and increase the availability of outdoor space for Londoners, including those who live above the ground floor. Loft Gardens could be used for vegetable patches or beehives; and could, for example, alternate down a terraced street, providing vitality and biodiversity to new and existing housing stock, as well as enhancing health and well-being and improving air quality. This idea comes from Studio Octopi, an architectural firm best known for proposals to re-build Peckham Lido and to create a naturally filtered floating lido in the Thames.
Photo: Studio Octopi
All of these designs are innovative, creative, and geared towards an even more environmentally friendly future! Here’s to making leafy green London even greener!
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