Approved by curator
Added: Mar 10, 2022
Last edited: Sep 07, 2023
Since the 1990's, Basel has succeeded in implementing through financial incentives and regulations a number of green roofs in the city, up to 40% of roof surface in Basel, thus allowing to tackle several urban environmental issues.
Just like many European cities, Basel experiences high temperatures, urban heat island effect, habitat loss and greenhouse gases emissions.
Green roofs were found to offer opportunities to combine energy saving, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity objectives. In Basel, these programmes were initially driven by energy-saving, and subsequently by biodiversity conservation. By combining financial incentives (i.e., municipal investments in incentive programmes providing subsidies for green roof installation) and building regulations (requiring all new and renovated flat roofs to be greened), the city managed to develop since the mid-1990s the largest area of green roofs per capital in the world. The programmes were funded from the Energy Saving Fund, made up of 5% of all customers’ energy bills in the Basel canton. By including stakeholder participation, the programmes didn’t face resistance and benefitted from high media coverage.
Although there is no recent official estimate available, the Basel’s greened flat roof area must be about 40% of roof surface in Basel. This green roof strategy is expected to bring lower temperatures and to create a habitat for plant and wildlife, while reducing surface runoff and purifying the air.
Photo by Chuttersnap on Unsplash
Ecological Impact
Social Impact
Well-being
Reduce Emissions (SDG13)
Save Water (SDG6)
Reduce Energy Consumption
Biodiversity
Regulate
Legislation
Review and update regulation
Incentivise
Direct Financial Support
Grant funding
Fiscal Frameworks
Subsidies
Regenerate
Reuse
Reduce
Promote solutions inspired and supported by nature
Design and regulate for extended use
Design infrastructure and the built environment for resource efficiency
⚡ Energy efficiency improvement programmes
⚡💧 Capture and utilise residual heat
💧 Blue and green infrastructure for sustainable urban drainage
💧 Improving water infrastructure efficiency
Green roof
urban heat