Four days in Antwerp
A city sprouting with greenery
I have just spent a few days in the Belgium city of Antwerp. Apart from it’s beautiful architecture and abundance of alluring cafes and shops, I was struck by just how much foliage is rampantly climbing up facades, embellishing entrances and often encouraged to ramble wildly along wires traversing the street. Lush, riotously meandering stems of Wisteria and Passion Flower, plus rich cascading carpets of Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Boston Ivy) are permitted to grow freely up through tiny openings in the pavement and roam up and along walls, giving the cityscape added dimension and harmony. When in bloom the Wisteria must be an incredible spectacle.
In the meantime Antwerp, in an effort to cope with climate challenges, has been engaging over the last few years with an experimental, integrated urban planning scheme – the ‘Street Garden’ project – aka Tuinstraten. Involving eight streets from five districts, where nature is much in lack, areas of asphalt have been removed to create pockets for planting and thereby habitats for diverse flora and fauna, thus forming micro ecosystems. In direct collaboration with residents who are also involved in the planting and maintenance, their streets have effectively become green corridors between the core urban areas; planted with trees, shrubs, vines for walls, small lawns and even vegetable patches that promote an overall healthier urban ecosystem.
Filtration of heavy rain is maximised through the pervious planted surfaces and collected for reuse through smart buffer systems for watering in dry spells; trees provide shade and reduce heat stress; whilst air quality is improved and city noise is lowered. Vehicles can come through and park but in a much more limited way. The gardens and access to nature enhance social cohesion, encouraging more outdoor activity especially for children and the elderly. The city is committed to a strict policy of using native, insect friendly species, and so far the pilot project – to bring ecological equality to its streets – has been a huge success, and whilst not without its challenges, planning continues for to turn further zones into garden streets