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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Volos
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Creation of social, recreational and sport facilities

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Type of green space Area   Potential Users
Park and Green Space 15ha   Persons with children, people wih special needs, senior citizens, different ethnic groups

 
locationand site characteristics

The pilot project will be implemented in the area of Neapoli, which is located at the western side of the city with a distance to the city centre about 2.5km. The area is characterised by an accumulation of garages and has a low density of housing with two and tree storey buildings.
The flat area has only few existing vegetation on one site. The rest of the existing green spaces mainly consist in grass and a few small trees. The main function of the area is the provision of services specialised in vehicle repairs and sales as well as small workshops (small metallic constructions, etc).
At the moment there are basic equipment such as benches and kiosks in the area. In the neighbourhood there is a football court and a multipurpose sport facility.

current situation

Right now the Department of Green of the Municipality of Volos is in the phase of designing of the project area. In one of the sites the construction of a Social Centre, which is not part of this pilot project, has already started.
In the second site an Activity Center for Children with special needs exists and the improvement of the space surrounding the facilities is necessary.
Finally in the third site there is no infrastructure of any kind and the space is covered with grass at the moment. 

development goals

The pilot project is implemented in an area with lack of high-quality green spaces. Until now the area was not used or limited in use so far. The quality of this urban space shall be enhanced and accompanied by this the image of the area shall although be improved. In general there shall be more benefits for the local population and potentials for the rise of the housing and land market values shall be create. 

 

 
 
 
 

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