In the year of the green capital, Tallinn has made one of its goals to contribute to changes in the urban space. The “Green Tracks” project brings together activities aimed at improving the quality of green areas, introducing new greenery and improving the spatial quality in densely used places, supporting the development of urban green networks, and testing new urban spatial solutions in the form of changes in the spatial organization as well as prototypes.

Based on the Tallinn 2035 and Climate Neutral Tallinn documents, the project aims to improve the living environment of the city, increase natural diversity, create mitigative measures for climate change-related risks and instil sustainable practises by including district governments, local businesses, educational institutions and citizens in their activities.

SPATIAL INTERVENTIONS

City planning and building are usually slow processes, but many important and visible changes that improve the quality of the space can be brought to life in a shorter period of time. The Green Tracks project strives to increase greenery and the quality of space in areas where this can be done without long planning processes, using so-called tactical urbanism methods.

These activities vary in scale and content and take place in every district in the city. A few examples:

  • cleaning up Tallinn’s coastal areas around Linnahall and the cruise port
  • spatial interventions in transport hubs and frequently visited locations
  • replacing grass plots with flower meadows by large roads and parks
  • establishing avenues lined with shade trees by pedestrian and cycling paths
  • adding greenery to traffic islands
  • experiment with green roofs in bus stops
  • establishing food forests in multiple residential areas

Spatial experimentation is an important part of the project in order to discern citizens’ readiness to accept new solutions and receive feedback in order to learn and develop from these experiences together. Among other thing, the Town Hall Square will temporarily be turned into a pop-up park and the students at the Estonian Academy of Arts will be experimenting with climate-sensitive spatial solutions on Lauteri Street and creating prototypes for improved spatial objects like street furniture and traffic signs. A few places in the city will gain a new look either temporarily or permanently and institutions dealing with urban spatial planning will have a good chance to monitor the results of the changes and citizens’ readiness to accept them.

See the interventions on the Green Tracks map here.