Compact Urban Green Space - Pattern Atlas

What is compact urban green space?

As cities are getting denser and larger, space for conventional green features, such as parks, is diminishing. Cities without green alienate people from nature, deteriorate ecological systems and ultimately harm our own well-being. Limited open areas and many sealed surfaced in today’s compact cities raise the need for a new green space paradigm that fits in an increasingly dense urbanized landscape. A paradigm in which green space is not limited to large open spaces at ground level, but one where greenery is truly integrated with built structures. Additionally, the rationale of using green space should go beyond pure aesthetic purposes. Too often greenery in cities and on built structures is treated as mere architectural decoration, ignoring its potential to functionally solve urban challenges. Green space should improve the quality of life for all people and nature.

Compact urban green space represents this new paradigm and is found throughout many scales and in countless forms. This atlas introduces a selection of the possibilities this new way of approaching green space offers.