Using green facades to increase urban sustainability and resilience

Abstract

Urban living has many advantages but also has its fair share of issues. This thesis tries to indicate the urban issues that can be solved by implementing vertical green systems (VGS). A literature review is undertaken, and expert interviews are held to examine socio-ecological criteria. The criteria heat stress, air pollution, water stress, noise pollution and percentage of green are determined to be the themes that can designate which locations in the city are suitable for vertical green. Since VGS are implemented on streets, it is necessary to figure out the need for vertical greening on street level. This is done by performing a spatial analysis using QGIS. The spatial analysis uses the criteria to create five thematic maps, showing the Urban Heat Island effect, levels of particulate matter in the air, water depth after extreme rainfall, noise pollution, and the percentage of urban green in an area of ten-by-ten meters. These thematic maps are combined to create the combination map and ultimately a street map that shows the need for vertical green on street level. The underlaying data of this map presents a ranking of streets. This ranking shows that most of the streets that are in very high need for vertical green are located in Amsterdam Centrum and Amsterdam West. To assess peoples’ perception of VGS to assess their willingness to pay for implementation a questionnaire is held. The result from the questionnaire shows that half of the respondents are knowledgeable about the benefits of VGS. When people learn about the benefits, they are more likely choose for a green façade or living wall would they get the change. The questionnaire shows that money is the most determining factor in the decision-making process of the respondents, meaning that for implementation of VGS on a large scale to be successful, subsidies would have to be implemented.