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Today cities worldwide face increasing challenges from expanding populations, limited resources, the growing impact of climate change, and serious air-quality problems.
Increasing the number of green spaces within urban areas could be a powerful solution to the problem of air pollution. Experts claim that one tree can absorb 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually, and it is an excellent filter for urban pollutants and fine particulates.
Also, trees can offer other benefits: cities need to be designed for people, with green streets and parks as centers of social life.
In 2015 17 Sustainable Development Goals were established by the United Nations General Assembly, as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The 11th Sustainable Development Goal is ensuring sustainable cities and communities. One of the indicators for measuring this goal is the development of areas of public and green space in a city.
Green public spaces in a sustainable city should be characterized by:
- a large number of trees;
- a large number of public parks, especially in high-density areas;
- increasing the number of walking and cycling facilities;
- increasing the number of spaces for children and adults for outdoor activities.
Geometa
Today every city should work on improving green spaces and boosting the number of trees on their streets and in parks. Geometa can help successfully solve this task.
There is a special module for greening in Geometa. The key capabilities:
- Keeping georeferenced registers of green spaces: trees, lawns, shrubs, etc.
- Digital public service delivery: issuance of permits for transplanting, pruning, removing green spaces.
As a result of module implementation, city authorities receive:
- Unified map of green spaces.
- Automation of issuing permits for transplanting, pruning, removing green spaces.
- Reduction of interdepartmental requests by storing information on all issued documents.
Ability to maintain active and project registers
- lawns
- trees
- shrubs
- flower beds
- eco-parking
As well as greening planning projects, greening activities, acts of inspection of greening objects.
The module provides:
- Analysis of sustainability drivers and societal targets. Geometa helps evaluate how the creation of a park at a certain point in the city will affect the environmental indicators of the quality of the urban environment.
- Promotion of fair and integrated urban planning. Geometa helps understand where greening activities are needed the most.
- Community engagement opportunities. A public map of green spaces can help bring people together to plant trees and landscapes that create a healthy, sustainable environment. Transparency of greening planning helps maintain the trust of residents.
- Control of funding and financing. The greening planning module significantly reduces the cost of city landscaping.
The video shows the calculation of the population proportion with access to public green spaces. This indicator reflects the ability to visit city parks and recreation areas frequently and without wasting time.
The capabilities of the module can be extended with additional data. For example, a soil map can be added to help optimize planting locations for different tree species. In case, if existing trees need to be removed and new ones need to be planted in another place instead, the calculation of compensation planting can be automated.
Today cities are recognizing the benefits of a green approach to urban planning to reduce air pollution and build natural environmental resilience. Geometa is your digital assistant in this task.
