# How green is your city?



## lucknowii sky (Oct 29, 2006)

*By green , I do not mean environmentally friendly practices or laws.*
I mean literally, how green it is? Therefore, does it have large amount trees, woods, parks etc. 
Also, is the government taking any initiatives to plant more tress in your city?
Or, is your city losing green space and trees due to development?

If possible, please post pictures.:banana:


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## mWoods (Dec 11, 2009)

Here in Indianapolis, Indiana the city will be spending $10 million to make businesses and homes more energy efficient. This will include installing modern heating and air conditioning units, new windows, insulation and energy-efficient light bulbs to name a few. I know $10M isn't a lot for a city this size, but it's a start.


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## woutero (Jan 14, 2008)

Amsterdam is quite green.

There are trees in almost every street, and there are also lots of small and large parks. What makes Amsterdam extra green are 'geveltuintjes', little 30cm wide 'front yards' where people plant all kinds of things between the sidewalk and their house. The local government stimulates residents to do so, and will take out the first 30 cm of the sidewalk to make space for green (if the sidewalk is wide enough). Also there are parks for 'urban agriculture' (volkstuinen), there are subsidies for green roofs, and there is easy access to the countryside because of the way the city is shaped (with green wedges).

Some pics from my neighborhood:

Trees in streets:









Geveltuintjes:









Roof gardens/green roofs:


















Access to countryside:









Parks:


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## im_from_zw038 (Dec 5, 2003)

Also from the Netherlands: Zwolle. Was voted as greenest city in Europa in 2007 (take notice that only cities that signed themself up where in that competition, but still)
On the avarage, dutch cities are quite green, we don't have massive concrete jungles. Amsterdam, Deventer, Maastricht are also good examples of green dutch cities

pictures by me


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## MarkusErikssen (Oct 4, 2005)

My (small) city Dokkum was about 10 years ago the greenest city in The Netherlands. A few years later together with Zwolle and Apeldoorn in the top 3. Now it's out of the top 3.


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## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

Outside of the CBD area's my city is quite green.









http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmtgc/4711120896/sizes/l/


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Hamburg is European Green Capital 2011.

Best cities in their fields:









HH = Hamburg
AMS = Amsterdam
STO = Stockholm
KOP = Copenhagen


I would say that about 50% of the city is covered by water, parks, forest and agricultural area. Unfortunately the website of the statistics office is down now.

Even in the densest districts (density ca. 15.000 inhabitants/sq km) of Hamburg you will find lots of trees and greenery.


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## ThatDarnSacramentan (Oct 26, 2008)

Sacramento ain't called the City of Trees for nothing. 

Tons of trees and great landscaping and parks. Of course, once you get outside the city, it's just dead grass everywhere.


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## pdxor (May 30, 2010)

Portland is about as green as a city can get. There are trees everywhere, even in our downtown area. Our moist late fall to late spring climate helps keep things green. And the city is surrounded by forests and farmland. We even have a natural forest within the city limits in Forest Park.


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## Marcanadian (May 7, 2005)

Toronto is very green. It's often called a 'city within a forest'.










http://www.flickr.com/photos/terras/4782708041/











http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbcollishaw/4771597824/











http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitch-meister/4683925896/


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## ukiyo (Aug 5, 2008)

Tokyo is transforming into a very green city. Most people have no idea about what is going on but it might just be the most environmentally conscious project going on in a city in the world..

*10 Year Project for Green Tokyo*. It started in 2006/2007

• *To double roadside trees in Tokyo to 1 million*
• Formation of a “green road network” connecting large scale plots of greenery with roadside trees
• *Creation of a green island in Tokyo as large as the Imperial Palace’s grounds (Development of Umi-no-Mori)*
• Creation of a green space with a size of 1,000 ha (equal to the total area of 1,500 football fields)
• To wage a “green movement,” a Tokyo-wide campaign to gather momentum for greening and to encourage action]

BTW if you're curious how they will double the roadside trees in Tokyo, read this. For all you people who hate the roadside utility poles and electrical wires everywhere..

• *Roadside utility poles will be replaced by trees.* Roadside trees will be increased to approximately 700,000 trees in four years. *They will be doubled to 1 million trees by the end of fiscal 2015.*
• All utility poles along metropolitan roads within a central core area will be removed by the end of fiscal 2015. Utility poles along metropolitan roads mainly in commercial districts outside the central core area will also be removed. After removing the poles, trees will be planted to create a beautiful urban landscape and form a corridor of abundant roadside greenery, making Tokyo into a more livable city.

This picture shows where the Umi no Mori island park is being built on landfill (trash)


















You can read all about this 10 year plan for a green Tokyo here (in english).
http://www2.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/pdf/F/10-year_project.pdf

On top of that the government is promoting skyscrapers and highrises to have gardens, grass or even rice paddies on top of the skyscrapers, since it helps collect rain water, reduce electricity usage (keeps building cooler and warmer) and cleans air. Also many houses are adding solar panels because of government subsidies.

For example.. Roppongi Hills skyscraper built in 2003. The rooftop has greenery.










The property also has alot of greenery at ground level


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

NihonKitty said:


> *10 Year Project for Green Tokyo*. It started in 2006/2007
> 
> • *To double roadside trees in Tokyo to 1 million*


Is this project only for the city of Tokyo or for the whole metropolitan area?
Hamburg (755 sq km, ca. 1.8 million inhabitants) has 845.000 trees, 245.000 of them being roadside trees. Each tree is listed in a computer program and being observed regarding its health status.


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## ukiyo (Aug 5, 2008)

Mostly in the "city". Tokyo Prefecture (Tokyo Metropolis, 13 million people) is already 36% forested. The city core is only like 13% green I think. Also the 1 million number of trees only counts roadside trees and not parks, the 10 year plan will expand totaly greenery (parks etc) by 1,500 football fields.

Tokyo's 23 wards have the following statistics.

621.9 km^2 (So even Hamburg is bigger lol).
8,742,995 People
14,061/km^2 density


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Hong Kong* is about 3/4 countryside. Notice the developed (grey) areas are very small :










More photos of Hong Kong's green side in  this thread.

Source : http://www.fotop.net/raylks


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## yin_yang (May 29, 2006)

mWoods said:


> Here in Indianapolis, Indiana the city will be spending $10 million to make businesses and homes more energy efficient. This will include installing modern heating and air conditioning units, new windows, insulation and energy-efficient light bulbs to name a few. I know $10M isn't a lot for a city this size, but it's a start.


funniest first post ever, lol, fail.


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