Urban Forest Revolution

Abstract

The tendency of the last 100 years shows the radical change of the proportion between urbanized areas and those dedicated to wild nature and agriculture. Whether we agree with it or not, cities are our future. Also it is confirmed by the annual reports of UNEP that cities are responsible for 75% of CO2 emissions. Among negative consequences of the uncontrolled urban sprawl on the ecology there are: greenhouse effect leading to global warming; increasingly growing number of people affected by respiratory diseases due to the smog; drastic reduction of the biodiversity. The environmental impact and the look of the city of the future is in the hands of the architects of today. At Stefano Boeri Architetti we are exploring one of the possible way of reducing the buildings' ecological footprint and improving the quality of air in cities. It is called "Vertical Foresting", an evolution of the revolutionary idea of bringing the trees to the sky, far beyond its first realization - it became a philosophy, a new lifestyle. But first of all, Vertical Forest is a big question mark, addressed to the global community, to the politicians and common people, asking each and every one living in our planet - what can you do for our common home?