Krakow

Overview

Cities and researchers in China and EU are experimenting with UF-NBS at different urban scales, from the regional, peri-urban to the street level. These efforts create a living laboratory for new ideas on how to plan, establish, govern, manage and monitor tree-rich landscapes for the benefit of urban societies at large.

At the same time, there is an urgent need to systematically review, connect and expand the existing fragmented knowledge and experience on the potential of UF-NBS. This need is the starting point for CLEARING HOUSE: bringing together two major arenas of urban development, Europe and China, the motivation is to learn across local experiences and to improve the development of what is collectively termed the “urban forest” at a larger scale.

CASE STUDY

This case study looks into Kraków River Parks, which create the blue-green network of the city, including rivers and streams with their valleys. Kraków and its metropolitan area faces uncontrolled urban sprawl and housing development, resulting in areas of green spaces being shrunk and the air and rivers being considerably polluted. As the main challenge relates to governance planning and policy landscape, the case study focuses on the development of business models for the implementation of UF-NBS.