With 357,000 inhabitants, Malmö, separated from Denmark by the Øresund Bridge, is the third largest city in Sweden. A victim of recurrent seasonal flooding, the city is at risk of eventually being submerged in water. That is no doubt one of the reasons that municipal teams are thinking about other ways of designing the city, leading it to take a pioneering role in the creation of eco-districts. "Malmö won the United Nations World Habitat Award in 2010 for creating a neighborhood as sustainable as Augustenborg, both ecologically, economically and socially," says Helen Johansson proudly. In 2014, the city experienced flooding, with 125 mm of rainfall in just six hours. And the evidence was clear. The impermeable surfaces in the ‘conventional’ parts of the city retained the water, causing the basements in many houses to be flooded by 1-1.5 m of water. Meanwhile, the Augustenborg district absorbed downpours in a controlled and regulated way thanks to its green roofs, green walls and green islands. For the ‘conventional’ neighborhoods, the material cost of the flood was very high, between €53-€62 million just for the damaged the buildings. Helen Johansson explains that, paradoxically: She adds that when it comes to installation and maintenance: "Green walls are very effective and pleasant to live with, but they are generally costly and difficult to maintain, whereas green roofs are relatively easy to implement and more affordable." The simplest green roof consists of around 5-10 cm of vegetation and substrate installed on a waterproofing layer and require maintenance about twice a year. These vegetated surfaces are among the solutions that allow a building to be thermally insulated and retain or delay the flow of rainwater. Helen is convinced that "by simply planting on existing roofs, we could already slow down climate change a little." Deteriorating climate conditions have likely been the best ambassador for so-called ecosystem solutions, based on the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. » « Helen Johansson 51 CONSTRUCTING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
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