The Greenkeys projects

The problem of abandoned and devalued urban areas is common among many European cities. The environmental, economic and social decline, which these areas often entail, requires rapid reconsideration and improvements as the lowering of the quality of life may not only spill over to adjacent neighbourhoods, but also the area itself does not need to be relinquished.

The cities are facing difficulties in finding an adequate solution to the main problem of how to apply methods of sustainable rehabilitation to redevelop and enhance the areas in the long term.

The European Commission has started the EU Community Initiative INTERREG III B CADSES (2005-2008), which focuses on increasing the sustainability of cities by initialising the endowment of green spaces. By means of that, local residents and medium-sized enterprises would benefit immediately, but the scientific and practical experiences gained during the projects are equally important as they will promote transnational cooperation in Europe and bring about further projects.

The key question posed by the GreenKeys project is: What are the tools and methods necessary for increasing the sustainability of urban areas by adding green spaces, given the fact that ecological, social and economical conditions are often mutually dependent?
Greenkeys focuses on the improvement of urban green spaces as a step towards more sustainable cities. The three main objectives are

  1. to provide incentives for structural changes in cities by offering opportunities for the enhancement of green spaces. Its 12 partner cities will, together with local stakeholders, develop a strategic approach for the pilot projects to create new or upgrade existing green areas to achieve more accessibility, social and recreational values and ecological efficiency. By the involvement of local activists, the political attention to the benefits of green spaces to urban environments will be increased. GreenKeys will support the implementation/evaluation of pilot projects in order
  2. to develop a “Pool of Green Strategies” (instruments, methods, concepts and good examples) based on the experiences being made to meet the demands of future needs and
  3. to use the synergies to promote the transfer of knowledge by a transnational network and, thus, foster the exchange of the particular national experiences.

In pursuing these goals, GreenKeys brings together 12 cities in 7 countries, 8 scientific supporters, external experts, design studios and NGOs, which participate through their own networks.

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Slovenian
Nova Gorica - City park
City Map  

Rehabilitation of Derelict Land into Green Spaces

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Type of green space Area      Users
Urban park, green space, playground ca. 5 ha   Teenager, families, children, visitors


location and site characteristics

The City Park has a central location in Nova Gorica. It is surrounded by the whole administrative city centre, where all the important city institutions (theatre, library, public administration, gambling house, etc.) are located and the main access roads.
 
The park can be divided into the bigger southern part, which is woody, and the smaller northern part, which is more urban.
 
The southern part of the park is covered mainly with pine trees. In its centre there is a pond - a hinterland water retainer, which has developed a distinctive habitat including birds. Although the most beautiful, this part of the park is not easily accessible and is utterly unequipped and so it is mostly just crossed through. In the evening usually it becomes a location where marginal population gathers.
 
The northern part of the area is a skate park, frequented by young people. The area, providing numerous skate facilities, has lost its green character. But urban equipment is missing here too. The edges of the park are poorly defined and the park's surface area is being reduced on account of the parking lots.

current situation

The actions in the frame of the pilot project can be distinguished into two levels: ‘hardware’ and ‘software’.
Currently both layers are going on. On the hardware layer the regulation plans for the whole area were already approved, some parts of it have been realised and executive plans were worked out and approved as well. Soon the action of placing lights in the park will take place. Moreover a playground for children is built in the southern part.
 
Because of periodic vandalism, the maintenance of the playground equipment is a challenge. In addition to this, problems of safeness of children and other park users arise. They could even get hurt by used injections needles.
Therefore, the software layer of the pilot project is developed parallel in order to find solutions to some specific problems. Obvious wishes and needs to foresee specific security policies while planning urban green system were brought out through the process of analysing the questionnaires, which is part of the concept for citizens’ participation.  

development goals

There are mostly urban, social and ecological goals for the pilot project, but also some concerning the community capacity and the image of the area.
Our main goal is that citizens recognise the pilot project area as their city park. To achieve this goal, the park accessibility and equipment should be improved. The security aspect is a key point for the improvement strategy. A stronger participation of the citizens in the park management process is a target goal.
 
On the other hand there are also ecological aims. The preservation of green on the west side of the park helps reduce the noise level in the administrative centre. The birds living conditions should not be reduced, so we should be careful with implementation of ways of using the park. Through the promotion of the park and its events the mentioned goals can be easier achieve. 

how to get involved

Key-stakeholders were already informed and involved in the pilot project at the stage of the software layer – especially through the participation questionnaires. Moreover their support and help for implementing the City Park is expected in the later phase. However, if there are persons or organisations eager to support the development of the pilot project, they are free to contact the Community of Nova Gorica - Spatial planning and environmental department. 
 
The new children's playground
View on the new playground
 

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