Urban Green

This chapter has the objective to analyze the elements of urban green innovation based on the guarantee of the public interest to decentralize the infrastructure to democratize the territory and innovate the institutional design to address the complexity of the challenges in the city. The method employed is the critical analysis supported by a review of the literature and consultation of experts in the field. It is concluded that the urban green innovation capacity planning has a critical role in urban innovation development in specific areas of economic growth, social inclusion and equality, environmental sustainability, health, education, business, etc. To achieve these aims, urban green innovation requires one to guarantee the public interest, the democratization of the territory, and the new institutional design.

The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is comprised of a set of buildings placed next to each other on a valuable urban estate. Partly designed by the renowned architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the campus accommodates a visual treat for tourists, yet it limits the provision of green amenity outdoor spaces. There is a dire need to soften its hard surface urban settings with healthy green landscaping and reduce the ambient carbon dioxide (CO2) levels with due consideration of global warming. This paper is aimed at examining the potential application of urban green schemes to the GSA campus so as to identify their ecological benefits. The impact of the plants on the micro-climate was examined through practical recordings and analysis of the similar urban settings in Glasgow. The results indicate that ambient CO2 levels can possibly be reduced by over 10% when urban vegetation schemes are applied properly to hard surface city structures. As well, this provides a description of the possible...