Hamburg in Germany – European Green Capital 2011 – is pioneering a bold new way of bringing communities together and reclaiming urban green space to improve the environment.

Three districts that have been divided by the A7 autobahn for 30 years will be brought together by a 1 billion Euro public park covering a three-mile stretch of the motorway.

The sides of the motorway will be built up and a 10ft-thick canopy created, enclosing the road and providing a platform for the park capable of sustaining fully-grown trees. As well as providing a new urban green space, it’s also hoped that the wooded parkland, community gardens and tree-lined promenades will help combat the noise pollution from the 150,000 cars using the road each day.

Do you think creating new urban green spaces is a good idea? Have you heard of any similar schemes?

February 22, 2012 | Filed under Community, Environment, We've been inspired by and tagged with green transport, innovative ideas, open spaces.