Vegetal wall of a Bus Station

Description: Promotion of an urban sustainable mobility model. The construction of a new principal bus station in the city of Aix‐enProvence, inaugurated in 2014, is part of an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage users to go for bus transport. Part of this project, a vegetal wall 210 metres in length and 8 metres in height, has been implemented to reduce visual, noise and air pollution. (IUCN, 2019; Naturvation project, 2019).

Country: France

City: Aix‐en‐Provence

City size: 186 km²

Population: 142,482 (City Population, 2018)

start: 2014

Timeframe: No Data

Phase: Complete

Nature-based solutions (NBS) : Yes

Initiator: Agence Duthilleul associated with AREP

Website source: http://www.agenceduthilleul.fr/restructuration‐de‐lagare‐routiere‐daix‐en‐provence/ https://www.naturvation.eu/nbs/aix-en-provence/vegetal-wall-bus-station https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/rapid_assessment_med_nbs_cities_jan19v2.pdf

Latitude: 43.5289

Longitude: 5.4447

Co-benefits

Improved air quality

Yes, vegetal walls act as an air pollution filter and absorb dust particles.

Reduced drought risk, cooling effect, urban heat island mitigation

Yes, climate adaptation services and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. (IUCN, 2019). Green walls can act as insulators for buildings (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2019) and plants absorb and reflect sunlight (Sempergreen, 2019); so this helps to create a cooler and more pleasant climate.

Biodiversity conservation or increased biodiversity

Yes, the vegetal wall can provide habitats for plant and animal species in built environment.

Increased quality and quantity of green and blue infrastructures

Yes, introducing greenery into the new bus station which is in reality a new pedestrian gallery in the city. (IUCN, 2019).

Sustainable urbanisation

Yes, offer of new quality public spaces for citizens. The complete separation between pedestrian and coach traffic permits the establishment of a clear hierarchy of spaces and renders all the functionalities understandable. Promotion of a sustainable mobility model for the city. (IUCN, 2019).

Improved aesthetic value

Yes, the vegetal wall of the new principal bus station has been created in order to also reduce visual pollution. (IUCN, 2019).

Increased access to green infrastructure

Yes

Provision of health benefits

Yes, the vegetal wall 210 metres in length and 8 metres in height has been created in order to reduce noise (‐20 decibels) pollution, and improve air quality. (IUCN, 2019).

Original problems

Low air quality

Yes, this traffic corridor can contribute to the degradation of air quality in the area.

Drought and heat risk

The Mediterranean Region is considered as a "hot-spot" of climate change, having been identified in global climate scenarios as one of the most responsive regions to climate change (Lionello and Scarascia, 2018). There is a consensus in scientific literature that average temperatures will rise across most of the Mediterranean Region, and that precipitation will decrease (Ulbrich et al. 2013; Lionello and Scarascia, 2018). Observed annual mean temperatures in the Mediterranean Region are now 1.4 °C higher than the average late-nineteenth-century levels particularly during the summer months (Cramer et al., 2018).

Low availability of green infrastructure

Yes

Low aesthetic value

Yes, the vegetal wall is located on the new main bus station.

SDGs

Good health and well-being (SDG3)

Yes

Sustainable cities and communities (SDG11)

Yes

Climate action, resilience, mitigation and adaptation (SDG13)

Yes

Reference: City Population. 2017. Information obtained: 2020-09-17. Available at: https://www.citypopulation.de/en/france/bouchesdurhone/aix_en_provence/13001__aix_en_provence/.

Cramer, W., Guiot, J., Fader, M., Garrabou, J., Gattuso, J.-P., Iglesias, A., Lange, M.A., Lionello , P., Llasat , M.C., Paz, S., Peñuelas, J., Snoussi, M., Toreti , A., Tsimplis, M.N., Xoplaki, E. 2018. Climate change and interconnected risks to sustainable development in the Mediterranean. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0299-2.

IUCN. 2019. Nature based Solutions in Mediterranean cities. Rapid assessment report and ccompilation of urban interventions (2017‐2018). Malaga, Spain: IUCN. 117pp. Lionello, P., Scarascia, L. 2018. The relation between climate change in the Mediterranean region and global warming. In Regional Environmental Change, 2018, Volume 18, Issue 5, pp 1481–1493. Naturvation project. 2019. Vegetal wall of a Bus Station. Information obtained: 2020-08-11. Available at: https://naturvation.eu/.

Sempergreen. 2019. Benefits of a green roof. Information obtained: 2019-11-03. Available at: https://www.sempergreen.com/en/solutions/green-roofs/green-roof-benefits.

Ulbrich U, Xoplaki E, Dobricic S, García-Herrera R, Lionello P, Adani M, Baldi M, Barriopedro D, Coccimiglio P, Dalu G, Efthymiadis D, Gaetani M, Galati MB, Gimeno L, Goodess CM, Jones PD, Kuglitsch FG, Leckebusch GC, Luterbacher J, Marcos-Moreno M, Mariotti A, Nieto R, Nissen KM, Pettenuzzo D, Pinardi N, Pino C, Shaw AGP, Sousa P, Toreti A, Trigo RM, Tsimplis M. 2013. Past and current climate changes in the Mediterranean region. In: Navarra A, Tubiana L (eds) Regional Assessment of Climate Change in the Mediterranean. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 9–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5781-3_2.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2019. Using Green Roofs to Reduce Heat Islands. Information obtained: 2019-11-10. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands/using-green-roofs-reduce-heat-islands.