Photo: ARUP
Pollution is a big problem for big cities, and Madrid - the Spanish capital - sure is one of the largest metropolises of Europe.
Unlike other crowded towns around the globe, Madrid isn’t only fighting off human-generated pollution, it’s also faced with alarmingly high temperatures during the summer that keep on rising year after year.
In response to this, the city’s officials have already started some programs meant to increase the green areas and to reduce vehicle pollution, but they proved to be inefficient. Or, rather, insufficient.
The new plan (developed together with ARUP and called Madrid + Natural) sees the existing parks getting expansions, as well as the creation of 22 new urban gardens. Also, any vacant public lot of land will be freed up and transformed into community gardens, while the linear park that started in 2003 along the city’s Manzanares River will have its size doubled by planting countless new trees.
And that’s just the beginning. In a few years, Madrid as we know it could have a totally new face. Building owners will be encouraged to transform their roofs into green patches while the facades can be covered in insulating creeper plants. At the same time, the city’s large paved squares will be completely reinterpreted to offer more green space and better rain absorption without the use of the draining system.
El Pais says the issue of vehicle pollution has been tackled as well. Diesel-powered cars get a special mention by having their right to enter the inner city removed starting 2020, while all non-resident cars, regardless of their propulsion system, will be kept out of certain neighborhoods from as soon as next year.
Other more unlikely scenarios see a road tunnel being built underneath the city’s main artery, the Gran Via, to hide traffic away and open up the surface to be turned into a pedestrian area or, why not, another linear park like the one along the banks of River Manzanares.
Some of these plans seem a little too optimistic, while others appear too drastic, but one thing is certain: Madrid is reacting to the lowering air quality that its inhabitants breathe (often below E.U.’s recommendations), and even though it might take some time and a great deal of effort to put all these schemes in place, it might be the only chance it’s got. So, now’s the perfect time for the first part of a “before and after” trip to Spain’s capital, to witness the green transformation of a city firsthand. Unless, of course, this thing starts to catch on and we all get to see similar processes unfold right where we live.
In response to this, the city’s officials have already started some programs meant to increase the green areas and to reduce vehicle pollution, but they proved to be inefficient. Or, rather, insufficient.
The new plan (developed together with ARUP and called Madrid + Natural) sees the existing parks getting expansions, as well as the creation of 22 new urban gardens. Also, any vacant public lot of land will be freed up and transformed into community gardens, while the linear park that started in 2003 along the city’s Manzanares River will have its size doubled by planting countless new trees.
And that’s just the beginning. In a few years, Madrid as we know it could have a totally new face. Building owners will be encouraged to transform their roofs into green patches while the facades can be covered in insulating creeper plants. At the same time, the city’s large paved squares will be completely reinterpreted to offer more green space and better rain absorption without the use of the draining system.
El Pais says the issue of vehicle pollution has been tackled as well. Diesel-powered cars get a special mention by having their right to enter the inner city removed starting 2020, while all non-resident cars, regardless of their propulsion system, will be kept out of certain neighborhoods from as soon as next year.
Other more unlikely scenarios see a road tunnel being built underneath the city’s main artery, the Gran Via, to hide traffic away and open up the surface to be turned into a pedestrian area or, why not, another linear park like the one along the banks of River Manzanares.
Some of these plans seem a little too optimistic, while others appear too drastic, but one thing is certain: Madrid is reacting to the lowering air quality that its inhabitants breathe (often below E.U.’s recommendations), and even though it might take some time and a great deal of effort to put all these schemes in place, it might be the only chance it’s got. So, now’s the perfect time for the first part of a “before and after” trip to Spain’s capital, to witness the green transformation of a city firsthand. Unless, of course, this thing starts to catch on and we all get to see similar processes unfold right where we live.
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