To green the city, we are expanding our parks and gardens and planting more trees. We are also using green roofs, walls and facades to increase the amount of vegetation in the city.
Green infrastructure includes both natural and designed greening – from parks and street trees to green roofs, rain gardens and green laneways.
As Melbourne becomes a more dense and populated city, green roofs, walls and facades can help support greening where space is tight. Green infrastructure can be included on new buildings or retrofitted onto existing buildings. Vertical greening on walls and facades doesn’t necessarily require ground level space and can provide the benefits where there is limited room.
More than just being beautiful, green roofs, walls and facades are critical urban infrastructure. They provide clean air and increase our resilience to the impacts of climate change by cooling our city and reducing the risks of flooding. They also increase our city’s biodiversity by attracting birds and insects.
Urban greening also supports Melbourne’s economy by providing natural spaces for residents, visitors and workers. These spaces help boost local business traffic and can improve the health and wellbeing of people in the city.
City of Melbourne is working on a range of initiatives and programs to support and encourage greening on buildings across the city.
Explore
(Music)
[Text on screen: We're greening our city one laneway at a time.]
[Narrator] There are more than 200 lanes in the central city. As we keep growing, we must continue to keep innovating.
Our lanes provide the ideal environment for urban renewal. Melbourne was the first city to ever map the potential for greening in laneways.
And with local support, we've just finished converting four of our iconic lanes into green spaces for our growing population.
Melbourne has been recognized as the world's most livable city seven years in a row.
[Text on screen: Councillor Cathy Oke. City of Melbourne]
[Cr Cathy Oke] And whilst we're famous for many things, our laneways are definitely the pulse of the city.
[Narrator] These are the places for exploring, for working, for culture and for commerce - but they can be more.
By transforming these laneways, by adding plants, vertical greening and trees, we not only create new spaces for people to enjoy, we also help to cool the city, improve
air quality, clean and our stormwater and provide habitat for some of our other important residents. Where we couldn't get greening into a wall, we went back to our roots and invited our world-class street artists to complement our new green spaces with murals chosen by the community.
[Cr Cathy Oke] So get out and explore our city's laneways they're bursting with more life than you know.
[Text on screen: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/greenlaneways]
[City of Melbourne logo on screen: City of Sustainability]
Canopy Green Roofs Forum
Quarterly discussion forum to share information and ideas for greening our cities.
Any questions?
Contact us at greeningmelbourne@melbourne.vic.gov.au.
