AUG 31, 2016

Mexico City's vertical greenways

WRITTEN BY: Kathryn DeMuth Sullivan

Mexico City's Villa Verde seeks to combat pollution and improve its urban landscape with a project that modifies hundreds of pillars supporting elevated roads with vertical gardens.

Director Fernando Ortiz Buenastereo comments that the city is very gray, with an urban landscape and air pollution that affects 6 out of 10 citizens in Mexico City. The project aims to improve the moods and decrease the stress of motorists by providing an aesthetically beautiful commute. The hanging gardens work twofold by combating air and noise pollution and creating oxygen and utilizing carbon dioxide.

The gardens are planted in a fabric that easily holds the rainwater from the automatic irrigation system.