The Gavoglio park in Genova inspires the use of nature-based solutions for another park in the city

The construction of the Gavoglio urban park through the inclusion of NBS is now a reality. The works have started and in the coming months the first nature-based solutions foreseen by the UNaLab project will be built: a rain garden, retention ponds, green areas, group of trees, infiltration areas, just to mention a few examples. They will host the typical functions of an urban park in a densely inhabited area devoid of this type of infrastructure, where the population has waited a long time to be able to use public spaces for sports and leisure.

The UNaLab project constitutes a test of the possibility to make different departments of the Municipality of Genova work in synergy, following a different approach in the Public Administration.

The Urban Lab Department, which deals with strategic projects at an urban level, together with the Economic Development Department for innovation projects, followed the first phases of the project and coordinated the technical contributions inherent in the design of the park, as well as the participation contributions of the stakeholders (citizens, inhabitants of the neighborhood, associations, etc.).

The experience gained thanks to the UNaLab project in the use of NBS has also led to another important result: NBS have been included among the requirements for the design of a new urban park for the city of Genova, which was subject to an international design competition, "The Park of the Bridge", located in the areas affected by the collapse of the Morandi motorway bridge, is now the site for the reconstruction.

The winning project, presented by the group leader Stefano Boeri, in compliance with the guidelines established by the Municipality of Genova, provides for a plurality of green spaces, variously characterised, over a large portion of the territory and also provides for many types of NBS, such as green roofs, systems for the retention and reuse of rainwater, use of vegetation for the management of rainwater and the reduction of the run-off, systems for increasing soil permeability and hydraulic resilience, etc.

The green project, which was carried out by the Inside Outside studio which is specialised in the theme of landscape, developed the theme of NBS as a tool to give new forms and attention to sustainability and to functions that respond to the needs connected the use of public spaces expressed by the population, who responded favourably to the winning proposals of the competition.

UNaLab was an important source of inspiration for the drafting of the guidelines set by the Administration at the base of the design competition, and these guidelines were implemented very deeply by the winning project. This element could also be considered as a relevant result of the UNaLab project, which has been obtained even before being completed.

The pictures illustrate the winning project of the international design competition for the new urban park.

See attached the Italian version of this article.

The text was written by Sonia Zarino, Urban Lab Department, City of Genova