Candidate – Sweden

Submission by: Malmö Stad / City of Malmö

Project name: Grönare Möllan / Greener Möllevången

Link: https://malmo.se/Miljo-och-klimat/Goda-exempel-pa-miljo–och-klimatsatsningar/Ett-gronare-Mollan.html

Short description of the project:

The project Grönare Möllan exemplifies how one, within the existing city fabric, can work with increasing the tree canopy cover and addressing stormwater management simultaneously. All targeting on creating more livable, healthy and climate resilient cities with an increased diversity.

The tree canopy cover within the city borders is 13%, but Malmö has a goal of achieving a 30% tree canopy cover. For the district Möllevången the number was 8% at the time, making it one of the districts with the lowest percentage. The projects maingoal was to increase the canopy cover in Möllevången with at least 1%. To do this 150 trees were planted, all of them with a site specific approach, using climate-smart trees, raingardens where applicable, and species chosen to diversify the tree population of the district.

The project has been very well received by the people living in the now significantly greener city district of Möllevången.

Social cohesion

By creating a greener street environment, residents are offered a more inviting public space and enabled to have a better and expanded social cohesion. Parking spaces were repurposed and sidewalks were partially widened to provide space for tree plantings with better opportunities for outdoor seating and increased social interaction.

Biodiversity

Through a one percentage increase in tree canopy cover, the total volume of greenery simultaneously increases. A diversity of species, both shrubs and trees, provides habitat for fungi, algae, and lichens, and serves as a food source and habitat for pollinating insects and other animals.

Economic factors

A greener urban space, both in the form of park and street trees as well as in the form of rain gardens, increases the attractiveness of the neighborhood. An attractive neighborhood is beneficial both for property owners in the area and for businesses operating here. We must also remember the values of the ecosystem services that a greener urban space contributes with, such as health-promoting effects of greenery, rainwater management, and climate regulation. Even these ecosystem services can be translated into economic benefits for the district of Möllevången in particular, but also for Malmö as a whole.

Climate

The project planted approximately 150 trees. Site-specific considerations were made for the placement of the trees and for the species chosen, to suit the specific planting sites based on microclimate and the ecosystem services desired from the trees. Climate-smart trees were used, that provide the right amount of shade at the right time and thereby contribute to temperature regulation. Raingardens were established in several locations, many of the planting beds’ structural soil is adapted to receive rainwater from surrounding streets and rooftops. Each tree has access to between 20-30 cbm of structural soil (of which one-third is pore volume), providing a good situation for root development and thus allows for good growth above ground, but also enables large amounts of rainwater to be managed.

Wellbeeing of visitors/users

The project affects both residents and visitors in the area. Approximately 11,000 people live in the Möllevången district, and it is a well-visited area by people from both within and outside Malmö, with destinations such as the popular Folkets Park, Möllevångstorget and Falsterboplan as well as many restaurants and shops. The planted trees contribute to climate regulation and help give the place an identity while also providing all the well-known health benefits that urban trees offer. The trees planted in the street environment create a narrower and more intimate street space, which has a calming effect on car traffic speed.

The selection, origin and quality of used products and materials (greenery and constructing materials)

The plant material has been selected so suit the tough growing environment, focusing on extra drought-tolerant and heat-tolerant species. Species that have not previously been used much in the city are being tested within the project with promising results. The structural soils are designed with various mixtures of macadam, biochar, pumice stone and locally produced compost. The trees and the various compositions of structural soils are being studied, in an ongoing project, by researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences to determine which mixtures provide the best growth conditions in this environment.

The overall design (landscape and optional associated buildings)

As mentioned in previous points, the plant material is chosen to both deliver the desired ecosystem services at each location and to form identity for the residents of the neighborhood. The plantings, both in park environments and street environments, provide a more intimate and human scale to the area and create more meeting places, with a higher quality, for people.

The impact on the environment (holistic circular approach)

The project contributes to a reduced amount of airborne particles in the area through the plants’ particle-collecting ability. Locally produced compost has been used in the planting beds, and biochar has been mixed in, both to take advantage of biochar’s beneficial properties for the trees’ growing conditions, and to act as a carbon sink by locking in carbon dioxide for a very long time.

The innovation value of the project

The project should be seen as innovative from multiple perspectives:
– Through its focus on integrating large volumes of greenery and rainwater management systems into the existing urban environment. With more attractive and healthy living environments as a result.
– Through its focus on research and development, both regarding soil substrates and plant material, in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
– Through its focus on climate-smart trees that are chosen for their climate-regulating properties and their ability to thrive in their respective locations.
– Through its site-specific approach to finding solutions within a larger common concept, together with several stakeholders.

The project is reproducible from several perspectives:
– By taking advantage of the research being conducted within the project.
– By using the type drawings, which are publicly available, that have been developed within the project.
– By learning from how the plant materials used in the project develop.

It should be mentioned that investigations are already being conducted into the possibilities of gradually reproducing the project throughout the entire city of Malmö. Early calculations show that if, for example, every tenth parking space were used for tree planting, the tree canopy coverage within the city could increase by 1,4%.

The approach will be part of achieving the 3-30-300 rule that the city of Malmö has adopted in its comprehensive plan. In the same way as within the project Grönare Möllan, this concept can be used to create greener cities around the world.