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https://jopeninnovation.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40852-018-0087-2

https://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-4-W1/113/2013/isprsarchives-XL-4-W1-113-2013.pdf

https://icproxy.sabanciuniv.edu:2118/docview/1911174172?rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

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https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/what-are-smart-cities/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnvj9BRA4EiwAuUMDf0X8B02JpQ4RDuoMd7dhUvnWpv8p_SVa1lG6u-dPWZmVsE6b1GglxhoCYP4QAvD_BwE
https://blog.bismart.com/en/what-is-a-smart-city#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20a%20smart%20city,%2C%20the%20idea%20isn't.
https://www.aydinlatma.org/gercekten-akilli-sehirlere-ihtiyacimiz-var-mi.html
https://www.commscope.com/da/future-of-smart-cities-infographic/

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How 'smart city' technology is connecting Europeans - real economy

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Why do we need smart cities?

Urbanization is a non-ending phenomenon.

Today, 54% of people worldwide live in cities, a proportion that's expected to reach 66% by 2050.

With population growth, urbanization will add another 2.5 billion people to cities over the next three decades.

Environmental, social, and economic sustainability is a must to keep pace with this rapid expansion taxing our cities' resources.

One hundred ninety-three countries agreed upon the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda in September 2015 at the United Nations.

But we all know how centralized decisions and actions can take time, and the clock is ticking.

The good news?

Citizens and local authorities are more agile in launching swift initiatives, and smart city technology is paramount to achieving these goals.

​ ​

How is IoT technology making cities smarter and better?

Secure wireless connectivity and IoT technology are transforming traditional elements of city life - like streetlights - into next-generation intelligent lighting platforms with expanded capabilities.

The scope includes integrating solar power and connecting to a cloud-based central control system with other ecosystem assets.

These solutions shine far beyond simple lighting needs.

High-power-embedded LEDs alert commuters about traffic issues, provide severe weather warnings, and provide a heads-up when fires arise.

Streetlights can also detect free parking spaces and E.V. charging docks and alert drivers where to find an open spot via a mobile app. Charging might even be possible from the lamppost itself in some locations!

Exciting stuff!

But how does it all fit together?

What makes smart cities successful

In addition to people, dwellings, commerce, and traditional urban infrastructure, there are four essential elements necessary for thriving smart cities:

Let's break it down.

What's the best wireless technology for smart cities?

The first building block of any smart city application is reliable, pervasive wireless connectivity.

While there's no one-size-fits-all, evolving Low Power Wide Area Network ( LPWAN) technologies are well suited to most smart city applications for their cost efficiency and ubiquity.

These technologies include LTE Cat M, NB-IoT, LoRa, Bluetooth, and others that all contribute to the fabric of connected cities.

The advent of 5G technology is expected to be a watershed event that propels smart city technology into the mainstream and accelerates new deployments.

But only with a few more elements...

Opening the data vault

Historically, governments, enterprises, and individuals have held their data close to their pockets, sharing as little as possible with others.

Today, open data is redefining the digital city.

Privacy concerns and fear of security breaches have far outweighed the perceived value of sharing information (see Portland and privacy).

However, a key enabler of sustainable smart cities is that all participants in the complex ecosystem share information and combine it with contextual data analyzed in real time.

This is how informed decisions are made in real time.

Multiple sectors must cooperate to achieve sustainable outcomes by analyzing real-time contextual information shared among sector-specific information and operational technology (O.T.) systems.

The conclusion?

Data management (and access to this information) represents the backbone of the digital city.

Stay with us. Here is what we mean.

Examples of smart cities

New York City
Below are helpful links to some of New York City's significant initiatives mentioned in the video above.

The New York City Department of Transportation's Midtown in Motion is a congestion management system that has improved travel times on Midtown's avenues by 10%.

The NYCx Challenges initiative from the NYC Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer invites entrepreneurs, technologists, and tech professionals to participate in open competitions and propose bold ideas that solve real urban needs such as pollution, income inequality, and transport (site closed).

LinkNYC provides free super-fast free Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a tablet to access city services, maps, and directions. It's a unique communications network replacing payphones across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

is the city's strategic investment to dominate cybersecurity. It aims to grow New York City's cybersecurity workforce , help companies drive innovation and build networks and community spaces .

MyNYCHA mobile app and web portal allow public housing residents to manage services online. It addresses over 300 public developments across New York City. Launched in 2015, MyNYCHA is a free service that puts the repair process in residents' hands. Residents can submit, schedule, and manage work tickets online. They can also subscribe to alerts for outages in their developments, view inspection appointments, and pay their rent.

Biking in New York City: read the July 2019 plan for cycling in the city.

Automated water meters in NYC: Automated Meter Reading systems consist of small devices connected to individual water meters. They send daily readings to a computerized billing system.

The My DEP Account lets New Yorkers track consumption from home. The system eliminates the need for a water meter reader to visit the premises. It allows the Department of Environmental Protection to monitor citywide consumption more closely and manage the city's water supply system more effectively.

New York's data report - Open Data for All- provides free public data published by various local agencies. This tool opens data for people to make a difference in their communities-including educators, students, artists, builders, small business owners, advocates, reporters, and community board members. It also means open data for the 300,000 workers who make New York City safer, cleaner, and more equitable.

More on the New York City Internet of Things strategy and IoT progress report (December 20 2021.)

Amsterdam Smart City

Amsterdam is a shining example of a well-connected smart city reaping the rewards of opening the data vault. The Smart City initiative began in 2009 and included over 170 projects.

It also shares traffic and transportation data with interested parties, such as developers, who then create mapping apps connected to the city's transport systems.

Now, navigating the city is a snap for all.

There's more.

The city built autonomous delivery boats called ' roboats' to keep things moving in a timely fashion.

It also supported a floating village of houses, solving the city's overcrowding problem with a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative. Power is generated within communities, and homes receive water straight from the river and filter it within their tanks.

None of this is possible without shared data.

City data is available online for all.

More:

Here is another example.

Antwerp and the city of things

Antwerp is a partner in the E.U.'s CITADEL project. It explores the role of technology in a collaborative government.

The city is also about to create Europe's largest smart zone.

Copenhagen Smart City

Copenhagen is known as one of the smartest cities in the world and mobilizes expertise worldwide.

The city is leveraging open data to collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop an innovative intelligent bike system.

Embedded with sensors that provide real-time information to riders and administrators, data is shared to monitor and manage air quality and traffic congestion.

More:

While data sharing is essential, opening the vault also expands the cyber-attack surface area.

So, how do we keep data private from the masses while sharing it among stakeholders?

Can smart cities be secured and trusted?

In digital cities, connected cameras, intelligent road systems, and public safety monitoring systems can provide an added layer of protection and emergency support to aid citizens when needed.

But what about protecting smart cities themselves from vulnerabilities?

How can we defend against hacking, cyber-attacks, and data theft?

In cities where multiple participants share information, how do we trust that participants are who they say they are?

And how do we know the data they report is true and accurate?

The answers lie in physical data vaults, strong authentication, and I.D. management solutions.

Smart cities can only work if we can trust them.

Four core security objectives for smart city solutions

All ecosystem partners - governments, enterprises, software providers, device manufacturers, energy providers, and network service providers - must do their part and integrate solutions that abide by four core security objectives:

1. Availability: Without actionable, real-time, and reliable data access, the smart city can't thrive. How information is collected, distilled, and shared is critical, and security solutions must avoid adverse effects on availability.

2. Integrity: Smart cities depend on reliable and accurate data. Measures must be taken to ensure that data is accurate and free from manipulation.

3. Confidentiality: Some of the collected, stored, and analyzed data will include sensitive details about consumers. Steps must be taken to prevent unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.

4. Accountability: Users of a system must be responsible for their actions. Their interactions with sensitive systems should be logged and associated with a specific user. These logs should be difficult to forge and have reliable integrity protection.

Strong authentication and I.D. management solutions must be integrated into the ecosystem to ensure data is shared only with authorized parties to achieve these core security objectives.

The solutions also protect backend systems from intrusion and hacking.

Thankfully, legislation is being introduced to address threats and potential market failure due to growing digital security concerns.

Like the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act in the U.S., signed on December 4 2020, or the U.K. IoT security law (not passed yet in June 2021), legislation will help establish minimum security requirements for connected devices.

Show me the Money: how do we monetize smart cities?

Data is the new oil in the age of IoT and smart cities.

For smart cities to thrive, we must establish sustainable commerce models that facilitate the success of all ecosystem players.

The software must be woven into the fabric of IoT solutions to benefit all ecosystem contributors; this includes OEMs, developers, integrators, governments, etc.

Each member's intellectual property needs to be valued and rewarded.

Subscription software capabilities enable new business models that allow each contributor to extract value from their contribution to the ecosystem.

Subscription-based models offer a way to monetize hardware and software to build smart infrastructures and spread out expenses, moving away from substantial one-time CAPEX spending.

For example, expensive medical equipment like MRI scanners can be sold on a cost-per-scan basis rather than as a one-time upfront expense for hospitals. This creates a win-win situation for hospitals and suppliers alike.

And one day soon, cities will offer affordable subscriptions to fleets of vehicles shared between owners who may choose from an array of custom options. This move could radically reduce traffic and optimize traffic patterns and ride-sharing.

As urban areas continue to expand and grow, smart city technology is developing, enhancing sustainability and better serving humanity.

By leveraging pervasive connectivity, open data, end-to-end security, and software monetization solutions, we can align evolving smart city needs for a much-improved experience for all ecosystem partners.

More resources on smart cities

Top 50 Smart City Governments in 2021 (Eden Strategy Institute - March 31 2021)

Top 10 smart cities in the world: London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Forbes July 8 2020

Top 10 smart cities in the United States: New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, San Diego, Miami, and Houston. IESE business school. Cities in motion 2020.

The top 3 smart cities in Canada (Cities in motion - October 2020) are Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

India's Smart Cities Mission: The Indian Government's program for smart city development

Smart cities in India: India's smart cities challenge nominees

Is Singapore the world's smartest city? by Thales

The European innovation partnership on smart cities and communities (the European Commission)

Six essential technologies make smart cities: smart energy, transportation, data, infrastructure, mobility, and devices. TechRepublic August 2016

Impact of the Internet of things on smart cities KPMG May 2019

Intelligent infrastructure pilot launched in Texas (March 11 2021)

Seven ways cities are getting smarter by Thales

The pandemic accelerates the rise of digital cities (April 1 2021)

Sidewalk Labs in Toronto: what's next? (May 2020)

Smart ports: Examples around the world

What does "smart grid" mean?

IoT regulations (July 2021)

Now it's your turn

Indeed, we can't claim to list all the critical concepts and issues related to smart cities and the IoT and those that will emerge in the years to come.

Can you fill in some of the gaps?

If you've something to say on smart cities, share best practices, have a question to ask, or have found this article useful, please leave a comment in the box below.

We'd also welcome suggestions on improving it or proposals for future papers.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Contact a local representative for more information on building trusted, smart city solutions.

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​Secure, sustainable smart cities and the IoT

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Smart cities aren't just a dream of the future. Thanks to wildly innovative Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, many are already active and expanding rapidly.

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It is fact, that now days households and other living areas in which people live, or reside most of the time, contribute CO 2 emission and green house effects as much as global warming, which threatens to all humans and their health, as well as natural resources which balance is disturbed a long time ago. Sustainable house or Green house or Eco House is one of possible solutions, which with one part can contribute in solving of this global burning issue.

In the broad context, sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space. Most simply, the idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations.This term can be used to describe an energy and ecologically conscious approach to the design of the built environmen t.

The house is designed to reduce greenhouse gas

during construction and the house's lifetime.

The house is designed to prevent injuries through built-in

safety features. It has security elements to reduce crime

and improve the occupants' sense of security. Features

are also used to provide flexibility and comfort for people

of varying abilities and at different life stages, including

children and people with limited mobility.

The house is designed to save money during construction

and over the lifetime of the house. Careful planning avoids

the need for major future renovations and reduces costs

associated with energy use, water use and maintenance.

www1.indstate.edu/facilities/sustainability/

One central and often ignored aspect of sustainable architecture is building placement. Although many may envision the ideal environmental home or office structure as an isolated place in the middle of the woods, this kind of placement is often detrimental to the environment. First, such structures often serve as the unknowing frontlines of . Second, they usually increase the required for transportation and lead to unnecessary auto emissions. Ideally, most building should avoid suburban sprawl in favor of the kind of light Careful mixed use zoning can make commercial, residential, and light industrial areas more accessible

The building structure must also be considered. Cost/effectiveness is an important issue in sustainable architecture projects, and one of the most efficient designs herein is the approach. This approach lets everyone have their own yet incorporate communal spaces eg. sleeping/recreation space ,

can help to create a sustainable way of living within a community. While the existing social constructs can be seen to influence architecture, the opposite can also be true. An overtly socially sustainable building, if successful, can help people to see the benefit The same can be said for environmentally sustainable design, in that architecture can lead the way for the greater community.

The standard combines a variety of techniques and technologies to achieve ultra-low energy use.

over the entire life cycle of a building is the most important single goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy.

The most important and element of an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system is a . A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel .

Significant amounts of energy are flushed out of buildings in the water, air and streams. , on-site energy recycling technologies can effectively recapture hot water and stale air and transfer that energy into incoming fresh cold water or fresh air. Recapture of energy for uses other than gardening from compost leaving buildings requires centralized

Passive solar building design allows buildings to harness the energy of the sun efficiently without the use of any mechanisms such as Typically building designs incorporate materials with high that retain heat effectively and strong that works to prevent heat escape. Low energy designs also requires the use of solar shading, by means of awnings, blinds or shutters, to relieve the solar heat gain in summer and to reduce the need for artificial cooling. In addition, typically have a very low surface area to volume ratio to minimize heat loss. This means that sprawling multi-winged building designs (often thought to look more "organic") are often avoided in favor of more centralized structures.

Windows are placed to maximize the input of heat-creating light while minimizing the loss of heat through glass, a poor insulator. In the this usually involves installing a large number of south-facing windows to collect direct sun and severely restricting the number of north-facing windows. Certain window types, such as double or triple glazed with gas filled spaces, provide much better insulation than single-pane glass windows. Preventing excess solar gain by means of solar shading devices in the summer months is important to reduce cooling needs. are often planted in front of windows to block excessive sun in summer with their leaves but allow light through in winter when their leaves fall off. L ight shelves are installed to allow the sunlight in during the winter (when the sun is lower in the sky) and keep it out in the summer (when the sun is high in the sky). are often planted to the northbuildings to shield against cold north winds.

In warmer climates where cooling is a primary concern, passive solar designs can also be very effective. Masonry building materials with high thermal mass are very valuable for retaining the cool temperatures of night throughout the day. In addition builders often opt for sprawling single story structures in order to maximize surface area and heat loss. Buildings are often designed to capture and channel existing winds, particularly the especially cool winds coming from nearby Many of these valuable strategies are employed in some way by the of warm regions, such as south-western mission buildings. traditional architecture

In climates with four seasons, an integrated energy system will increase in efficiency: when the building is well insulated, when it is sited to work with the forces of nature , when heat is recaptured (to be used immediately or stored), when the heat plant relying on fossil fuels or electricity is greater than 100% efficient, and when renewable energy is utilized.

help to provide sustainable electricity for any use. Electrical output of a solar panel is dependent on orientation, efficiency, latitude, and climate- solar gain varies even at same latitude. Typical efficiencies for commercially available PV panels range from 4% to 28%. The low efficiency of certain photovoltaic panels can significantly effect the payback period of their installation . Roofs are often angled toward the sun to allow photovoltaic panels to collect at maximum efficiency. For any solar panel, a true-south facing orientation maximizes yield. If true-south is not possible, solar panels can produce adequate energy if aligned within 30° of south. However, at higher latitudes, winter energy yield will be significantly reduced for non-south orientation.

www.lipower.org/Efficiency/solar-works.html

Wind turbine systems for homes are one of the more cost effective forms of generating electricity from a renewable energy source if you have the right site. Wind turbines begin operating when winds reach 8 mph, achieve energy production capacity at speeds of 32-37 mph, and shut off to avoid damage at speeds exceeding 55 mph. The energy potential of a wind turbine is proportional to the square of the length of its blades and to the cube of the speed at which its blades spin. Though wind turbines are available that can supplement power for a single building, because of these factors, the efficiency of the wind turbine depends much upon the wind conditions at the building site. For these reasons, for wind turbines to be at all efficient, they must be installed at locations that are known to receive a constant amount of wind (with average wind speeds of more than 15mph), rather than locations that receive wind sporadically. A small wind turbine can be installed on a roof. Installation issues then include the strength of the roof, vibration, and the turbulence caused by the roof ledge. Small-scale rooftop wind turbines have been known to be able to generate power from 10% to up to 25% of the electricity required of a regular domestic household dwelling. Turbines for residential scale use are available. They are usually approximately 7 feet (2 m) to 25 feet (8 m) in diameter and produce electricity at a rate of 900 watts to 10,000 watts at their tested wind speed. It is possible to have a system which only gets it power from wind, however, many people combine getting power from a wind turbine with getting power from a solar electric system. The two technologies are often complimentary: when there's little sun (e.g. during the winter or when it's overcast), there's often more wind and vice versa.

www.wsetech.com/windturbinegenerator.php

-also called solar domestic hot water systems-can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use-sunshine-is free .

There are two types of solar water systems- active and passive . There are also two types of circulation, direct circulation systems and indirect circulation systems. Direct circulation systems loop the domestic water through the panels. They should not be used in climates with temperatures below freezing. Indirect circulation loops glycol or some other fluid through the solar panels and uses a heat exchanger to heat up the domestic water.

Electric-resistance water heaters that are common in homes today have an electrical demand around 4500 KWh/year. With the use of solar collectors, the energy use is cut in half. The up-front cost of installing solar collectors is high, but with the annual energy savings, payback periods are relatively shor t .

makeitsolar.com

www.petervaldivia.com/.../energy/solar-power.php

Home Solar Water Heating www.urbansprout.co.za/article/ethical_consume

Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. Air-source heat pumps (ASHP) can be thought of as reversible air conditioners. Like an air conditioner, an ASHP can take heat from a relatively cool space (e.g. a house at 70°F) and dump it into a hot place (e.g. outside at 85°F). However, unlike an air conditioner, the condenser and evaporator of an ASHP can switch roles and absorb heat from the cool outside air and dump it into a warm house .

arizonageology.blogspot.com/2008/10/tax-credi.

A domestic rooftop rainwater harvesting system

Greywater systems

Typical greywater system

Building materials typically considered to be ' green' include rapidly renewable plant materials like bamboo (because bamboo grows quickly) and straw, lumber from forests certified to be sustainably managed, ecology blocks , dimension stone , recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable (e.g. , , sheep wool, panels made from paper flakes, compressed earth block , adobe, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fibre plates, calcium sand stone, (high and ultra high performance, roman self-healing concrete).

The materials common to many types of natural building are clay and sand. When mixed with water and, usually, straw or another fiber, the mixture may form or (clay blocks). Other materials commonly used in natural building are: earth (as rammed earth or ), wood ( or timber frame /post-and-beam), , rice-hulls, and . A wide variety of reused or materials are common in natural building, including urbanite (salvaged chunks of used concrete), tires, tire bales, discarded bottles and other recycled glass.

Several other materials are increasingly avoided by many practitioners of this building approach, due to their major negative environmental or health impacts. These include unsustainably-harvested wood, toxic wood-preservatives, portland cement -based mixes, paints and other coatings which off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and some plastics, particularly polyvinyl chloride (PVC or "vinyl") and those containing harmful plasticizers or hormone-mimicking formulations.

A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure , separates space in buildings into , or protects or delineates a space in the open . There are three principal types of structural walls: building walls, exterior boundary walls, and retaining walls.

www.avilionhomes.com

Cob or cobb is a building material consisting of , , , water, and , similar to . Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive. It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements. Cob is an ancient building material, that may have been used for construction since prehistoric timesCob structures can be found in a variety of climates across the globe.

Cob House

is a type of mudbrick also used today to save energy and is an environmentally safe way to insulate a house. This type of house tends to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.Adobe is a natural building material made from , , and water, with some kind of fibrous or (, , ), which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun. It is similar to and . Adobe structures are extremely durable and account for some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet.In hot , compared to wooden buildings, adobe buildings offer significant advantages due to their greater thermal mass , but they are known to be particularly susceptible to seismic damage in an event such as an earthquake.

Adobe / Mud brick www.ecobob.co.nz/_ImgUser

is a term used for a natural building method in which "cordwood" or short lengths pieces of debarked tree are laid up crosswise with or mixtures to build a wall. The cordwood, thus, becomes infill for the walls, usually between posts in a Cordwood construction timber frame structure. Cordwood masonry can be combined with other methods (e.g., rammed earth , cob or light clay) to produce attractive combinations. Cordwood masonry construction provides a relatively high thermal mass , which makes it easy to heat and coo.

Cordwood construction

Rammed earth, also known as taipa, pisé de terre or simply pisé, is a technique used in the building of walls using the raw materials of mud, , and . It is an ancient method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek more sustainable building materials and natural building methods. Because of the nature of the materials used it is incombustible, thermally insulating and very strong and hardwearing. It also has the added advantage of being a simple way to construct walls. Traditionally, rammed earth buildings are common in arid regions where is in scarce supply.

the use of timber framing in buildings offers various aesthetic and structural benefits the timber frame structure goes up quickly in its modern incarnation the timber frame can give the home owner the ability to make a creative statement through the use of design and specialty touches like carvings of favorite quotes and incorporating timbers from heirloom structures, like a barn from a family homestead.Disadvantages: some possible disadvantages of wood as opposed to some other building materials include: Noise from footsteps in adjacent rooms above, below, and on the same floor in such buildings can be quite audible. The possibility of infestation by insects such as , Timber framing is now a modern method of construction, Ideally suited to mass house building as well as public buildings. In conjunction with a number of natural insulations and timber cladding or modern lime renders, it is possible to quickly construct a high performance, sustainable building, using completely natural products. The benefits are many - the building will perform better over its lifespan, waste is reduced (much can be re-cycled, composted or used as fuel). Timber frame structures are frequently used in combination with other natural building techniques, such as cob, straw bale, or cordwood/masonry. Advantages: cockroaches or powder post beetles , or by other pest animals such as and . Wood more readily than some other materials, making timber-frame buildings somewhat more susceptible to fire damage, although this idea is not universally accepted.

Timber frame www.timberstructures.net

is a method that uses Straw-bale construction bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, insulation , or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "green" construction projects. Straw-bale construction has some advantages over conventional building systems because of the renewable nature of straw, its cost, easy availability, and its high insulation value.

Straw-bale construction www.supergreenme.com

Sustainable flooring is produced from sustainable materials (and by a sustainable process) that reduces demands on ecosystems during its life-cycle. This includes harvest, production, use and disposal. It is thought that sustainable flooring creates safer and healthier buildings and guarantee a future for traditional producers of renewable resources that many communities depend on. Below are examples of available, though less well-known, eco-friendly options.

Sustainable flooring

is made from a fast growing renewable timber (technically grass). It is natural anti-bacterial, water-resistant and extremely durable.

Bamboo flooring

Cork flooring is made by removing the bark of the (Quercus Suber) without harming the tree (if harvested correctly); it is a truly renewable resource. It is naturally anti-microbial and has excellent insulation properties, ensuring minimal heat loss and comfortable warm walking surface. Cork is resilient and 'springs back' preventing imprints due to heavy traffic and furniture, it also provides excellent noise insulation. Cork is low in (volatile organic compound) emissions, however it is important to check the finish applied. Cork is not suitable for bathrooms, as it absorbs moisture.

Cork flooring

is made from dried and milled flax seeds mixed with other plant material (pine resins, wood flour, ground cork) with a jute backing, all completely natural materials which come from renewable sources and are 100% biodegradable. All by products and waste is milled and used. Linoleum does not fade, as the pigments are embedded in the structure. It is anti-static, repelling dirt, dust and other small particles, making it hypoallergenic - for this reason it is often used by people with respiratory issues (asthma, allergies). It is also fire-resistant and does not require additional fire-retardants finish.

Linoleum Flooring

is made from a Rubber flooring rubber tree , a 100% renewable resource. It is easy to install and maintain, is anti-static and provides effective sound insulation and vibration reduction. Rubber flooring is also resistant to fading and cigarette burns. Some rubber flooring is made from synthetic rubber, this is not a sustainable product.

Rubber flooring

Recycled Carpet www.durablecorp.com/.../d/u/duraridge2.jpg

Frame of Recycled PVC www.buildingdesign-news.co.uk/2009/images-200..

Double-pane Windows - These energy efficient windows can reduce heating bills by 34% in cold climates, and 38% in warm climates. www.uwsp.edu/.../double-pane%20window.j

A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a . A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of . The characteristics of a roof are dependent upon the purpose of the building that it covers, the available roofing materials and the local traditions of construction and wider concepts of architectural design and practice and may also be governed by local or national legislation .

The elements in the design of a roof are:

The of a roof may range from leaves, wheaten or to lamininated glass , sheeting and precast concrete . In many parts of the world have been the predominant roofing material for centuries.

Japan, rice straw thatch.

Metal Roof

Asphalt shingles use recycled, mixed paper in their base and some use reclaimed minerals in the surface aggregate. This type of material does not last as long as the others mentioned above. Recycled plastic roof materials are starting to be introduced as a lightweight option.

The construction of a roof is determined by its method of support and how the underneath space is bridged and whether or not the roof is pitched. The pitch is the angle at which the roof rises from its lowest to highest point. Most domestic architecture , except in very dry regions, has roofs that are sloped, or pitched. The pitch is partly dependent upon stylistic factors, but has more to do with practicalities. Some types of roofing, for example , require a steep pitch in order to be waterproof and durable. Other types of roofing, for example , are unstable on a steeply pitched roof but provide excellent weather protection at a relatively low angle. In regions where there is little rain, an almost flat roof with a slight run-off provides adequate protection against an occasional downpour.

A roofing system that can deliver high solar reflectance (the ability to reflect the visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths of the sun, reducing heat transfer to the building) and high thermal emittance (the ability to radiate absorbed, or non-reflected solar energy ) is a cool roof. Most cool roofs are white or other light colors.

A is a of a that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and , or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. Also known as "living roofs," green roofs serve several purposes for a building, such as absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating a habitat for wildlife, and helping to lower urban air temperatures and combat the heat island effect .

Green roof www.naturalbalancedevelopment.com/.../msl/6.gif

Jeans - Yes, jeans - as in blue jeans. Some insulation companies recycle the waste denim from blue jeans manufacturers and make it into insulation. This cotton fiber is as effective as fiberglass, and works for thermal as well as noise insulation. It is treated with borate, a non-toxic chemical that does not outgas and acts as a fire retardant and mold inhibitor.

Another common clothing item, wool makes excellent insulation. You have the option of having it treated chemically to reduce the risk of insect infestation. It has been used successfully without being so treated, and if you want to avoid chemicals altogether, you can try it untreated. Wool is naturally resistant to fire.

Mineral Wool www.lowenergyhouse.com/glass-wool.htm

Sheep Wool Insulation www.natureproinsulation.co.uk/sheepswool.htm

Sheep Wool Insulation www.natureproinsulation.co.uk/sheepswool.htm

Cellulose Insulation

Stawe bale insulation

Spray Foam insulation www.sacramento-home-repairs.com/images/spray

Natural insulation - earth

There are a number of sensible reasons to employ the use of 'eco friendly' garden and landscape techniques when you build or develop your home.

Protection from the Sun

Water Conservation

Wind Breaks

Reducing Electricity Consumption

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It is fact, that now days households and other living areas in which people live, or reside most of the time, contribute CO 2 emission and green house effects as much as global warming, which threatens to all humans and their health, as well as natural resources which balance is disturbed a long time ago.

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Cape Cod, Mid-Century Modern, Dutch Colonial, Art Deco, Craftsman - there are so many different aesthetics to choose from when you're building a home, there's really something for everyone. But what if you want your home to be an eco-friendly abode? No worries. You can apply green building techniques and use green building materials for any style of home. Still, there are some styles/types of homes that you may want to consider integrating your aesthetic into to get more green into your dream home. So what are the different types of sustainable homes, you ask? Read on for 8 of the most popular styles of eco homes today, where they came from, and why you need one!

Tiny Homes

The tiny house movement has become one of the more well known eco-home trends, and for good reason. They're an economical, environmental solution to living simply. A tiny home is usually between 100 and 400 square feet, although some can be a bit larger or smaller. They can also be mobile little homes, fitting on a trailer and able to be moved to different locations. Tiny homes are designed to maximize the feeling of space by utilizing convertible furniture, lofts, and multi-use rooms.

Tiny living spaces have been around for centuries (igloos, wigwams, yurts, etc.), but it's taken oversized mega-homes and a real estate crisis for many people to realize the benefits of scaling back. The concept of "less is more" is not so new, as seen in Sarah Susanka's book " The Not So Big House " back in 1998, but it's blowing up in a big way with the growing tiny house movement.

Tiny homes are considered a type of sustainable home because they use less energy, materials, and space than the average-sized home. Some tiny home manufacturers also use non-toxic, local, or reclaimed materials to lessen the already minimal impact on the planet.

So why might you want to jump on the tiny house bandwagon? You can avoid a lifelong mortgage, pay less in energy bills, ease your environmental footprint, and have the freedom of less stuff and more mobility. Not to mention, they're bursting with personality and charm that's hard to resist. See below for further reading and some pretty impressive manufacturers!

Prefabs

Prefabricated homes or "prefabs" are homes built ahead of time and off site. They're manufactured in parts (panels or modules) that are shipped and assembled on site. The construction techniques vary greatly, depending on whether you go with panel built or modular, but both of these prefab types are different from manufactured homes (factory-built and shipped as a whole). These days, many prefab houses sport a sleek, modernist design, but there are often custom architecture options if that's not your thing.

In the U.S., prefabricated homes have been around since the early 1900s but they are making a serious comeback. They were incredibly popular when companies like Aladdin and Sears and Roebuck Co. released kit homes in their catalogs, appealing to thousands of middle-class Americans wanting to build their own homes. They eventually became known as a low-income option but recently, the green building boom has given them a more glamorous name and luxurious design.

What makes them green? Since their pieces are fabricated in a factory with a very specific building process, they create less waste than site-built homes. There's no guess-and-check here, since builders know exactly how much material they'll need. Additionally, there are tons of manufacturers who include sustainable components and energy efficiency in their designs, as it's one of the key reasons for going with a prefab in the first place.

Aside from the environmentally conscious design of many prefabs, you can certainly save some money here, too. Modular Homeowners expects that you can spend 10-20% less if you build modular rather than a traditional stick-built home. This is because there'll be less wasted materials, more bulk purchasing, and less labor time (prefabs tend to come together much quicker and easier). On top of all that, these types of homes are relatively low-maintenance and have been praised by FEMA for their durability.

Passive House

A Passive House is a home built using rigorous standards for energy efficiency. Passive home building aims to achieve quantifiable energy efficiency as well as comfort, through various design principles such as extreme airtightness, continuous insulation, and high-performance windows and doors. While reducing environmental impact, residents of a Passive House will enjoy excellent indoor air quality and temperature, as well. The Passive House Institute asserts that designing a Passive House is your best bet for becoming Net Zero or Net Positive (meaning your home generates as much or more energy than it needs).

The Passive House or "Passivhaus" standards were created and defined by a German physicist and a Swedish scientist in the 1980s, leading to the first official Passivhaus being built in Germany. Not long after, this concept made its way over to the U.S., where interest has increasingly grown.

Putting your building project up to these aggressive standards might sound difficult, but the sustainability factor is worth it. With an airtight home and innovative heating and cooling techniques, you'll find yourself using less energy and reducing your carbon load. There're no wishy-washy results here either - the point of these strict criteria ensures that the energy savings are measurable.

Adopting the Passive House philosophy isn't just great for the environment; it's great for you, too! No more drafty, freezing winters or sticky, overheated summers - you'll be comfortable all year long. No more worrying about how your house will hold up in extreme weather - they're designed to be incredibly resilient. The innovative ventilation system ensures that you'll have fresh, clean air, as well. Besides the benefits of a super sealed up, and a strategically ventilated home, you'll also save a significant amount of money on your energy bill ( up to 90%!). Who doesn't love that?!

Straw Bale

Straw bale homes are built using bales of straw for insulation, or as an actual structural component (or the two combined). Straw bales are stacked on one another to create walls (plus posts and beams, of course) and then covered in plaster. Straw bale houses take on many different looks, but most of them have a bit of a stucco-like, rustic feel to them.

Although building with straw has been an effective method around the world for many centuries, the first straw bale homes in the U.S. trace back to in the 1800s when settlers used prairie grass as their material. Straw bale homes were still popular in the first half of the 20th century until mass-produced construction materials took their place. They were eventually reintroduced and have found a place among many Americans seeking an eco-building alternative.

Straw bale homes are more sustainable for many reasons. Straw is a completely natural material, so no harmful chemicals are released (perhaps besides baling equipment emissions). Additionally, turning straw into something useful rather than burning it as waste prevents pollution. Since straw is such a superb insulator, you can also lower your energy usage by !

As long as proper construction takes place and the straw is kept totally dry, the advantages to building a straw bale home will be apparent for years. Due to its amazing insulation properties, you'll be comfortable in all weather and have great soundproofing. Plus, contrary to what many assume, straw also has about three times the burn resistance compared to a traditionally built home. A bit unconventional in many of our minds, maybe, but straw bale homes may be just the solution we need!

Zero Carbon

A zero carbon home is so energy efficient that it's annual net carbon footprint is zero. These homes are still tied to the grid, but are so insulated, airtight, and low energy, that they've become carbon-free. These homes produce enough renewable energy that it balances out any slight energy costs and may even produce more than they use, making it "net positive." They are also be called "zero energy homes" or "net zero homes" and, have no fear, they look like any other regular home.

Zero carbon homes are a fairly recent notion, based on all of the new "smart" technologies and renewable energies that make it possible. In the last ten years, many countries around the world, including the U.S., joined the Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings research program to study how feasible these homes are on the market. Let's just say we should all expect to zero carbon homes cropping up more and more!

Zero carbon homes are sustainable for obvious reasons. A home that doesn't contribute to climate change? Yes, please! As technology and energy conservation/energy harvesting programs grow, these types of homes may not be all that unheard of in the future. Combining the strategies of saving energy while producing renewable energy within the home is an eco-revolution that'll provide you with a quiet, comfortable home (and save you so much money!).

Earthships

An earthship is a completely self-sustaining, off-the-grid home. They are constructed of both natural and recycled materials (old tires, glass bottles...). These homes are designed to heat and cool themselves naturally, collect solar and wind power, harvest water from rain and snow, contain/treat their own sewage, as well as produce food. With all of these futuristic functions, does the name "earthship" make a little more sense now?

Earthships were founded by architect Michael E. Reynolds , who began experimenting with using recyclables as building materials back in the 1970s. Eventually he began calling his work "Earthship Biotecture" and it evolved into what it is today. His organization teaches others about earthships and how to build them through various trainings and even holds an internship for hands-on learning! Get your earthship experience by one for your next vacation.

These sustainable homes aren't necessarily the green homes you'll see for sale down the street. They're still a pretty radical idea but are wonderfully environmental nonetheless. A home that doesn't rely on external resources but instead produces its own is something that we should take note of. Earthships could be the key to sustainability while giving us a whimsical, self-reliant housing option.

Rammed Earth

This is about as natural as it gets! Rammed earth homes are simple-they're built from tightly packed soil. A mix of soil (and a little water) gets pressed into plywood forms to create walls, and once a section of wall has been dried or cured, the forms are removed. The outcome is a smoothly layered rock appearance (essentially man-made sedimentary rock), making for a unique yet sophisticated home.

Considering that rammed earth buildings are very literally made from the ground we walk on, it's no surprise that they've been around for thousands of years. The Great Wall of China and the Alhambra Palace in Spain were made using rammed earth techniques, and show its durability and beauty over time. It's about time we were inspired by famous architecture and applied it to sustainable home building!

Rammed earth homes will pay it forward to both the homeowner and the planet. They are incredibly low-maintenance, strong, fire and pest resistant, breathable, insulating. The aggregate that goes into a rammed earth home can be a very low greenhouse gas emission product, too, depending on how it's processed and sourced.

Shipping Container

Shipping container homes use steel cargo containers as a structural element. Since all shipping containers are all the same size, they can be stacked or pieced together to create a larger building. Shipping containers have been used for all sort of things: as low income housing, dorms, and even a Drive-Thru. They tend to have a modern, industrial look to them, but of course, can be spruced up in numerous ways.

Who started all of this? Well, shipping containers were invented in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 1987 that they began to have other uses than to carry actual cargo. Phillip C. Clark filed for a U.S. patent that year, for his idea to convert the containers into a "habitable building." And voila, it's caught on!

Shipping container homes are eco-friendly because they're the perfect example of upcycling. Instead of wasting tons of steel from unwanted containers, they can be turned into amazing homes, saving builders from using new materials. These homes are super durable (hello, steel!), require little labor, and can turn out to be quite inexpensive. Container Home Plans can show you how to DIY for under $35,000! So, yeah, we'd say these homes are a pretty impressive, sustainable option.
Photo Attribution: Zero Carbon - Photo Courtesy: John Livermore

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What are the Different Types of Sustainable Homes?

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Cape Cod, Mid-Century Modern, Dutch Colonial, Art Deco, Craftsman - there are so many different aesthetics to choose from when you're building a home, there's really something for everyone. But what if you want your home to be an eco-friendly abode? No worries.

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https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/urban-park

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https://www.centralparknyc.org/park-history

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"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

Hans Christian Andersen

We know parks make us healthier and happier, but how does Central Park contribute to the wellbeing of New York City's people, plants, and wildlife?

Trees provide cleaner air

Central Park is home to more than 18,000 trees, including one of the country's largest and last remaining stands of American elms, along the Mall and Fifth Avenue. These trees are not only picturesque, but also help New Yorkers breathe a little easier. In one year, a mature tree will absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it into oxygen. That adds up to roughly one million pounds of carbon dioxide removed from the city's air each year by Central Park's trees.

Trees keep cities cooler

The Park's trees not only decrease carbon dioxide levels, but also help keep New York City cool in the summer heat. Metropolitan areas like New York City often constitute "urban heat islands," which are hotter than surrounding rural areas due to heat-absorbing materials like concrete and glass. Trees work as natural air conditioners, not only providing shade for the people sitting under them, but cooling the city as a whole. These trees also absorb water that evaporates in the heat, cooling the air temperatures around them.

A few more things about trees

Trees have countless other environmental benefits, including capturing air pollutants, filtering rainwater, and reducing the amount of toxins flowing into water bodies, but Central Park's trees have an added role in maintaining the landscapes. Roughly 3,000 cubic yards of leaves and 5,000 cubic yards of other tree waste each year find a second life at the Park's composting operation, the Mount. Wood chips are used in flowerbeds or ground into fine mulch, and leaves are turned into compost. On occasion, leaves are transformed into " compost tea," which is used on the Park's newly planted trees and flower gardens as a natural fertilizer. (Contribute your own trees to this effort at NYC Parks' annual Mulchfest.)

Healthy parks make healthy people

Access to open spaces for physical activity results in a 25 percent increase in exercise, three or more days a week. This is great news for the millions of New Yorkers who live near Central Park. More than half a million people live within a 10-minute walk from the Park, and roughly 1.2 million more are within a half-hour bus or subway ride. With ballfields, tennis courts, handball courts, playgrounds, ice skating rinks, boat rentals, swimming pools, running trails, and more, Central Park offers New Yorkers a variety of ways to stay active. For those looking for some relaxation, newly renovated areas like the North Woods and the Hallett Nature Sanctuary offer an opportunity for quiet and solitude amid the bustle of New York City.

Parks build communities

Dubbed the "people's park" by Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park was originally intended as a democratic space, open to people of every background and economic status. The Park continues in that vein today, providing a free public space for millions to enjoy artistic, cultural, and other major events each year, or to just sit on a bench and people-watch. The Park serves as the finish line for the TCS New York City Marathon; the setting for a free, annual performance by the New York Philharmonic; and the host to many other festivals and events that bring New Yorkers and visitors together.

Parks provide urban habitat for wildlife

Among the City's skyscrapers and apartment buildings are few places that New York City's wildlife population can call home, so Central Park is a welcome retreat. The Park counts turtles, ducks, fish, squirrels, and chipmunks among its permanent residents, and more than 230 different species of birds rely on the Park's landscapes and water bodies throughout the year. Central Park is also an important stopover for many bird species, providing ample space for rest and feeding during spring and fall migrations.

Healthy cities need healthy parks. Our work at the Conservancy creates sustainable landscapes that provide environmental benefits to all New Yorkers, but our work is never complete. While our dedicated staff keeps the trees and landscapes healthy for visitors, we also empower the Park's next generation of stewards with volunteer opportunities and student internships. By embracing sustainability in our work, we ensure that Central Park will give back to New York City for generations to come.

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How Central Park Keeps New York City Healthy

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"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." Hans Christian Andersen We know parks make us healthier and happier, but how does Central Park contribute to the wellbeing of New York City's people, plants, and wildlife?

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_park

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An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality. The design, operation, and maintenance is usually done by government agencies, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a park conservancy, "friends of" group, or private sector company.

Common features of municipal parks include playgrounds, gardens, hiking, running and fitness trails or paths, bridle paths, sports fields and courts, public restrooms, boat ramps, and/or picnic facilities, depending on the budget and natural features available. Park advocates claim that having parks near urban residents, including within a 10-minute walk, provide multiple benefits.

A park is an area of open space provided for recreational use, usually owned and maintained by a local government. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics and sporting activities. Trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade, with an increasing emphasis on reducing an urban heat island effect.

Some early parks include the La Alameda de Hércules, in Seville, a promenaded public mall, urban garden and park built in 1574, within the historic center of Seville. The Városliget ( City Park) in the City of Pest, what is today Budapest, Hungary, was a city property when afforestation started in the middle of the 18th century, from the 1790s with the clear aim to create a public park. Between 1799 and 1805 it was rented out to the Batthyány family to carry out such a project but the city had eventually taken back control and in 1813 announced a design competition to finally finish the park; works started in 1816.

An early purpose-built public park, although financed privately, was Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth. This was laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. The land on which the park was built was purchased by Richard Vaughan Yates, an iron merchant and philanthropist, in 1841 for £50,000. The creation of Princes Park showed great foresight and introduced a number of highly influential ideas. First and foremost was the provision of open space for the benefit of townspeople and local residents within an area that was being rapidly built up. Secondly it took the concept of the designed landscape as a setting for the suburban domicile (an idea pioneered by John Nash at Regent's Park in London) and re-fashioned it for the provincial town in a most original way. Nash's remodelling of St James's Park from 1827 and the sequence of processional routes he created to link The Mall with Regent's Park completely transformed the appearance of London's West End. With the establishment of Princes Park in 1842, Joseph Paxton did something similar for the benefit of a provincial town, albeit one of international stature by virtue of its flourishing mercantile sector. Liverpool had a burgeoning presence in global maritime trade before 1800, and during the Victorian era its wealth rivalled that of London itself.

The form and layout of Paxton's ornamental grounds, structured about an informal lake within the confines of a serpentine carriageway, put in place the essential elements of his much-imitated design for Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead. The latter commenced in 1843 with the help of public finance and deployed the ideas which Paxton had pioneered at Princes Park on a more expansive scale. Frederick Law Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park in 1850 and praised its qualities. Indeed, Paxton is widely credited as having been one of the principal influences on Olmsted and Calvert's design for New York's Central Park of 1857.

Another early public park, the Peel Park, Salford, England, opened on 22 August 1846.

United States

Boston Common was purchased for public use grazing cows and as a military parade ground and dump in 1634. It first started to get recreational elements in 1728, arguably making it the first municipal park in the United States and the world, though cow grazing did not end until the 1830s.

Around the country, the predecessors to urban parks in the United States were generally rural cemeteries. The cemeteries were intended as civic institutions designed for public use. Before the widespread development of public parks, the rural cemetery provided a place for the general public to enjoy outdoor recreation amidst art and sculpture previously available only for the wealthy.

In The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1982), Professor Galen Cranz identifies four phases of park design in the U.S. In the late 19th century, city governments purchased large tracts of land on the outskirts of cities to form "pleasure grounds": semi-open, charmingly landscaped areas whose primary purpose was to allow city residents, especially the workers, to relax in nature. As time passed and the urban area grew around the parks, land in these parks was used for other purposes, such as zoos, golf courses and museums. These parks continue to draw visitors from around the region and are considered regional parks, because they require a higher level of management than smaller local parks. According to the Trust for Public Land, the three most visited municipal parks in the United States are Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago, Mission Bay Park in San Diego.

In the early 1900s, according to Cranz, U.S. cities built neighborhood parks with swimming pools, playgrounds and civic buildings, with the intention of Americanizing the immigrant residents. In the 1950s, when money became available after World War II, new parks continued to focus on both outdoor and indoor recreation with services, such as sports leagues using their ball fields and gymnasia. These smaller parks were built in residential neighborhoods, and tried to serve all residents with programs for seniors, adults, teens and children. Green space was of secondary importance.

As urban land prices climbed, new urban parks in the 1960s and after have been mainly pocket parks. One example of a pocket park is Chess Park in Glendale, California. The American Society of Landscape Architects gave this park a General Design Award of Honor in 2006. These small parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and often a playground for children.

All four types of park continue to exist in urban areas. Because of the large amount of open space and natural habitat in the former pleasure grounds, they now serve as important wildlife refuges, and often provide the only opportunity for urban residents to hike or picnic in a semi-wild area. However, city managers or politicians can target these parks as sources of free land for other uses. Partly for this reason, some of these large parks have "friends of X park" advisory boards that help protect and maintain their semi-wild nature.

United Kingdom

There are around estimated 27,000 public parks in the UK, with around 2.6 billion visits to parks each year. Many parks are of cultural and historical interest, with 300 registered by Historic England as of national importance. Most public parks have been provided and run by local authorities over the past hundred and seventy years, but these authorities have no statutory duty to fund or maintain these public parks. In 2016 the Heritage Lottery Fund's State of UK Public Parks reported that "92 per cent of park managers report their maintenance budgets have reduced in the past three years and 95 per cent expect their funding will continue to reduce".

Parks can be divided into active and passive recreation areas. Active recreation is that which has an urban character and requires intensive development. It often involves cooperative or team activity, including playgrounds, ball fields, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and skateparks. Active recreation such as team sports, due to the need to provide substantial space to congregate, typically involves intensive management, maintenance, and high costs. Passive recreation, also called "low-intensity recreation" is that which emphasizes the open-space aspect of a park and allows for the preservation of natural habitat. It usually involves a low level of development, such as rustic picnic areas, benches, and trails. Passive recreation typically requires little management and can be provided at very low costs. Some open space managers provide nothing other than trails for physical activity in the form of walking, running, horse riding, mountain biking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing; or sedentary activity such as observing nature, bird watching, painting, photography, or picnicking. Limiting park or open space use to passive recreation over all or a portion of the park's area eliminates or reduces the burden of managing active recreation facilities and developed infrastructure. Many ski resorts combine active recreation facilities (ski lifts, gondolas, terrain parks, downhill runs, and lodges) with passive recreation facilities (cross-country ski trails).

Many smaller neighborhood parks are receiving increased attention and valuation as significant community assets and places of refuge in heavily populated urban areas. Neighborhood groups around the world are joining together to support local parks that have suffered from urban decay and government neglect.

A linear park is a park that has a much greater length than width. A typical example of a linear park is a section of a former railway that has been converted into a park called a rail trail or greenway (i.e. the tracks removed, vegetation allowed to grow back). Some examples of linear parks in North America include New York's High Line and the Village of Yorkville Park in Toronto, which won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Parks are sometimes made out of oddly shaped areas of land, much like the vacant lots that often become city neighborhood parks. Linked parks may form a greenbelt.

There is a form of an urban park in the UK (officially called a "recreation ground", but commonly called a "rec" by the public.) and some EU states that have mostly recreation grounds for kids to play within a park, but have a may duck pond (occasionally), large grassy zones not meant exclusively for sports, many trees and or several bushy places. When it occurs as a separate facility on its own, without any parkland, at a street corner or by a shop, the play facility is called a playground.

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An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality.

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https://rural-urban.eu/news/moving-out-urban-rural-migration

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Contemporary research on in-migration to rural areas - simply put, people moving from the city to the country - suggests that the demand is increasing and largely motivated by opportunities created by ecosystem services. This is particularly relevant since it represents an important shift from previous patterns of out-migration of rural communities, with consequent abandonment of natural and cultural values.

Rural areas that witness the arrival of skilled in-migration movements have experienced the emergence of new types and forms of social interaction and organization, new forms of socio-ecological systems (SES) relationships, and potential opportunities to create value thanks to the inflow of new ideas, knowledge and skills.

Research developed at the University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, has been looking into the consequences for SES with the arrival of skilled in-migrants to Portuguese rural areas. The empirical data collected by interviewing skilled in-migrants and analysing their projects has informed the role and importance of ecosystem services, and its contribution to the establishment and consolidation of socio-ecological systems.

Results show that skilled in-migrants change their lifestyle and the relationship they establish with the ecological system. They have been promoting new products (e.g., touristic experiences and organic agriculture), interaction among the members of the community through cultural events, and new services, such as new schools and local associations. They are also responsible for an increasing diversity of activities and products in rural areas that contribute to new dynamics in local businesses, and its marketing in external local networks. These networks contribute to the reinforcement of synergies in urban-rural spaces establishing new relationships and dynamics, like an increase of urban visitors to rural communities, through new demands on rural initiatives, or through new services, like the direct delivery of fresh agricultural products to urban dwellers.

However there are also limitations to these desirable synergies. In-migrants emphasize obstacles created by local mindsets and feelings of distrust within existing local communities, who are suspicious of the skilled in-migrants. This fact may create difficulties for establishing new learning processes, which are essential to enable sustainable transitions in SES.

Research outcomes have already highlighted the benefits and challenges created by the arrival of skilled in-migrants to SES in rural areas and shared findings on the conditions that can facilitate or hinder in-migrants integration. The research results may further help regions attract and successfully integrate skilled newcomers from the city into rural areas.

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Contrary to the prevailing trend of people leaving rural areas for the city, some places in Portugal are experiencing something different: in-migration of skilled workers who are bringing new types of social interaction and organization, new forms of socio-ecological systems (SES) relationships, and new opportunities to create value thanks to the inflow of new ideas, knowledge and skills.

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https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/urban-park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_park#History

https://www.centralparknyc.org/park-history

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/11/14216

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145305/green-space-is-good-for-mental-health#:~:text=Green%20space%20most%20strongly%20protects,mechanism%20that%20green%20space%20offers.

https://www.parentingscience.com/green-spaces-benefit-mental-health.html