Freiburg — Unparalleled greenspace integration

Freiburg’s integration of greenspace into their daily life not only in parks but also in urban areas and residential areas is a truly impressive feat of urban development. Its approach felt more holistic than any other city I’ve been to.

As we walked through every building cluster, we saw facades covered with a lush vegetation, streets lined with trees, an abundance of shade in parks and green spaces accessible within every couple of blocks. This made it feel like the city was immersed in nature, rather than removed from it.

Two issues come to mind in implementing these green spaces — the need for large infrastructure and lack of water access. Freiburg is a smaller city within Germany. With a population just under 250 thousand people, it does not face some of the urban development challenges that larger ones may. There are smaller budgets and more political homogeneity, both of which make it easier to go from planning to implementation. Additionally, larger cities may encounter issues with this approach to urban planning as there is a greater need for larger infrastructure including highways, airports, and other freight infrastructure. These types of projects are not necessarily conducive to the implementation of greenery.

Second, in a place like Freiburg, there is no water shortage. Plants can naturally source an abundance of water. While this is great for the region, other ecosystems like Los Angeles do not have this luxury. As a result, green spaces like the ones we see in Freiburg are fundamentally unsustainable in drought prone locations. This makes me think that green space design must be taken from a very different approach back home.

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