The Opportunities and Challenges of Greening the City by Giacomo Guzzon & Ton Muller
Today, especially in the public realm, we are constantly faced with the reoccurring question; how should we green our cities on a large scale in a way that is long lasting, manageable, respected by the public and biodiverse? Working with plants in public spaces is very different from using them in a garden or any other private location, where the conditions, maintenance and human disturbance can be controlled and there aren't many restrictions and regulations to be followed. These challenges require a more radical approach where plants are chosen for their resilience, robustness and ability to withstand the competitions with limited care. A possible solution is looking at plant communities in the wild and understand how plants interact and where they grow. in their talk from the Beth Chatto Symposium, Rewilding the Mind, 2022, landscape architects Giacomo Guzzon & Ton Muller discuss new projects in Amsterdam and London, such as urban parks, green infrastructure schemes and rain gardens which showcase a methodology for greening the city that considers habitat-based plant selection, sociability, biodiversity enhancement and maintenance implications.
