Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Blending Green & Black
Blending Green & Black
Blending Green & Black
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A massive city has rapidly grown without coherent planning,
as a vast patchwork of dense urban blocks with just a few green areas.
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It is a typical example of the heat island effect.
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The mounting ills of random speculative expansion call for action,
above all boosting up urban greenery.
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Proposals vary:
• Replace derelict buildings with green pockets,
• Convert back yards to gardens,
• Encourage green roofs.
Gyzi 6
The antagonism between cars & plants can trigger violence:
Riots erupted after several old trees were sacrificed for a new garage in 2009 .
Exarchia 8
A real example could inspire simple solutions
for existing situations and for future planning schemes too.
Papagou 9
It is located in the borough of Papagou, not far from the city centre.
Papagou
Acropolis
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It is an area of about 1 km2, planned by a military housing agency in
the early 1960s on a rocky scrubland next to Mount Hymettus .
NTUA campus
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‘Black’ and ‘green’ strips
separate the building blocks.
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Short byways provide
car access to all properties.
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It is a simple grid plan that blends buildings and 'countryside’,
creating pedestrian-only zones without obstructing car traffic.
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looking east
looking west 15
Papagou is a medium density area.
Could such a scheme be implemented in denser parts of the city???
The general idea is fairly simple in practical terms:
in every second or third street of a neighbourhood, the asphalt is
stripped off, the soil is left exposed, and cars are replaced by trees.
Kypseli 16
Linear parks between buildings create continuous pedestrian green
corridors, interrupted by major vehicle routes only where absolutely
necessary.
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Schematically, several blocks merge into one, along a green spine.
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Green corridors differ from usual pedestrian or restricted traffic zones:
• Soil should be kept as bare as possible, to facilitate maximum
vegetation growth.
• Vehicle access should be over low-mass water-permeable surfaces,
allowed only for emergencies or entry to garages.
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Car traffic & parking are key issues,
so any realistic proposal should
(a) provide vehicle access to or near
each building,
(b) maintain the existing parking
capacity as possible.
In a ‘green-black’ layout, local loops
can allow vehicles to move without
reversing and maintain the existing
parking capacity, without crossing
the green strip.
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Technical aspects in practice
Locality Proposal
Traffic Circulation
Parking capacity Materials
Street size Vegetation
Ground floor uses Water
Utilities Outdoor amenities
Special features Debris
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Environmental benefits