Renaturing urban environments: from concepts to empirical restoration

Due to significant anthropogenic constraints, urban (eco)systems often consist of artificial soils or substrates with sparse vegetation cover, particularly in terms of native species. Consequently, their degree of naturalness is generally very low.

Beyond the differentiated management of urban parks—including, where appropriate, the restoration of extensive meadows and lawns—the development of herbaceous systems on roofs, walls, and along tramways offers considerable potential to increase the naturalness of neighborhoods or cities and to create ecological networks. This potential is particularly high for roofs, which cover at least as much surface area as parks in cities and are often poorly vegetated.

This presentation will showcase examples of herbaceous systems in urban environments based on local Central European natural models, focusing on the following:

• Simple green roof developments and their possible integration with photovoltaic installations, including substrates made from recycled materials in line with circular economy principles;

• Reconstruction of extensive flower meadows by sowing along tram tracks and implementing differentiated management;

• Construction of dry stone walls incorporating vegetation with native species;

• Experiments in greening bus shelters.

Detailed feedback will be provided on the greening of roofs with local plants and substrates, monitored over 5 to 10 years. Results reveal a variety of responses, based on models of resistance or resilience of the initial plant communities, influenced by substrate thickness and their intra- or peri-urban location.