1. Resources
  2. Case studies

VALLADOLID (SPAIN) – RE-NATURING URBAN PLAN WITH NbS

Area characterisation: 

CHALLENGES:

Valladolid is a Spanish city with a population of approximately 300,000 inhabitants, located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the seat of the Cortes and the Junta of the autonomous community of Castilla y León. Its climate is continental-cold Mediterranean and it is located at the confluence of the rivers Pisuerga and Esgueva, in an area of great water wealth.

It is a city with an important historical heritage and has numerous museums, palaces and churches. It is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Valladolid, which dates back to the 13th century. The city is connected by rail (with high-speed rail), by airport and by numerous motorways and other major road transport links. The local economy is based on the service sector and, to a lesser extent, on industry and construction.

Valladolid has started to implement green infrastructure because of its strong commitment to address its current environmental problems, such as the lack of connectivity between green areas, the heat island effect, poor air quality, noise and flooding risks caused by the river Esgueva with the aim of reducing the city's environmental impacts and increasing resilience to climate change.

  • Climate mitigation and adaptation;
  • Water management;
  • Coastal resilience;
  • Green space management (including enhancing/conserving urban biodiversity);
  • Air/ambient quality;
  • Urban regeneration;
  • Participatory planning and governance;
  • Social justice and social cohesion;
  • Public health and well-being;
  • Potential for new economic opportunities and green jobs.
Objective: 

The urban dominant model in Spain, which is characterized by the diversification of activities and population increase, has aggravated the urban risks and environmental problems that already existed, such as the high consumption of soil, energy, water, and air pollution. It is also important to highlight the significant difficulties caused by the increase in distances, and the permanent requirement of the use of the car. The strategic line of Valladolid is situated within the frame of the urban city model. Its objectives are to develop an innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and to improve several aspects of the quality of life in Valladolid, dealing with the urban environment in general, but also, in particular, urbanism, mobility, energy and natural resources rational use, among other areas, including sustainable development. Freezing the expansive model of the city is one of the objectives of the new Urban Management Plan (PGOU, 2017). Get a compact city, controlling carefully the building land expansion and promoting urban regeneration. Valladolid aims to promote urban mobility, improving pedestrian walks and public transport. Valladolid is facing urban problems such as the loss of air quality, decreased availability of water due to long periods of drought and increased levels of noise.

Actions: 

nature based solutions

  • Re-naturing urbanization
    • New cycle lane that will act as a green corridor and renaturation of the existing cycle lane.
    • Planting of new trees and creation of shaded green areas.
    • Installation of green areas for rest.
    • Installation of an urban forest as a carbon sink
  • Water interventions
    • Installation of sustainable urban drainage systems to manage and treat surface run-off water affecting the cycle path, renaturated car parks and rain gardens.
    • Creation of a flood park to minimise the risk of flooding of the river Esgueva.
    • Wastewater treatment through a natural wastewater treatment plant and a green filter, which will generate its own water for irrigation.
    • Installation of green filtering pavements in various parking areas.
  • Singular green infrastructure
    • Creation of coexistence areas for citizens and cyclists in the green corridor.
    • Design and installation of various types of pollinator modules.
    • Application of self-fertilising intelligent soils with the capacity to fix atmospheric pollutants.
    • Green and horizontal infrastructures such as a green façade, green roofs and canopies as well as green noise barriers.
    • Green biofilter to capture air pollutants.
    • Urban agriculture activities such as urban gardens, community composting and a small-scale farm.
  • Non technical interventions
    • Education, awareness-raising and sensitisation activities for citizens.
    • Support for urban renaturation processes and/or citizen-driven urban renaturation projects.
Potential impacts/benefits: 
  • Renaturing urbanization
    • Reduced carbon emissions.
    • Improved air quality.
    • Increased biodiversity and habitat protection.
    • Promotion of sustainable mobility through improved cycling and walking.
    • The cycle pedestrian crossing points improve rainwater management because the new paving facilitates filtration into the ground.
    • Each rest area includes a shaded area with trees and vegetation, an insect hotel, benches and a fountain.
    • 4,400 new trees have been planted. They provide coolness, reduce the urban heat island effect by cleaning the air and lowering the temperature.
  • Water interventions
    • Rainwater retained in SUDs (sustainable urban drainage systems) is evacuated through infiltration into the ground, at a discharge point or through evaporation and transpiration.
    • There are different types of SUDs: rain garden, green filter pavement, detention pond, among others.
    • Green filter pavements installed in a permeable car park provide the plants growing in the voids with more nutrient-rich soil. They also increase the water holding capacity and prevent the formation of surface puddles.
    • The rain garden and detention pond will filter water flows from rainfall in the Zorrilla Stadium car park.
  • Singular Green Infrastructures
    • Reduce environmental pollution, produce oxygen, retain particles and capture CO2.
    • Increase energy efficiency and save on water consumption.
    • Increase biodiversity.
    • Improve acoustic insulation.
    • Attract citizens, consumers and tourists.
    • The green façade is a vertical garden with a surface area of 350 m2 located in the El Corte Inglés building in the city centre with more than 14,000 plants.
    • The green roof of the El Campillo market integrates a circular economy pilot project with a special substrate made of sheep wool waste.
    • The plant canopies in Calle Santa María are innovative triangular structures that are anchored to buildings and provide shade and coolness.
  • Non-technical interventions
    • Rainwater retained in SUDs (sustainable urban drainage systems) is evacuated through infiltration into the ground, at a discharge point or through evaporation and transpiration.
    • There are different types of SUDs: rain garden, green filter pavement, detention pond, among others.
    • Green filter pavements installed in a permeable car park provide the plants growing in the voids with more nutrient-rich soil. They also increase the water holding capacity and prevent the formation of surface puddles.
    • The rain garden and detention pond will filter water flows from rainfall in the Zorrilla Stadium car park.
NbS benefits 
  • Developing climate change adaptation; improving risk management and resilience
  • Reduce flood risk
  • Reducing temperature at meso or micro scale
  • Increase Biodiversity
  • Creation of green jobs relating to construction & maintenance of NBS
  • Improve air quality
  • Improve water quality
  • Increase accessibility to green open spaces
  • Increase well-being

MONITORING PROGRAM:

  • Biophysical KPIs:
    • Run-off coefficient in relation to precipitation quantities.
    • Water Quality KPIs.
  • Socio- Economic KPIs
    • Economic benefit of reduction of storm water treated in public sewerage system.
    • Openness of participatory processes.
    • Crime reduction through police reports and local authority data.
    • Number of subsidies or tax reductions applied for (private) NbS measures.
  • Environmental KPIs
    • Production of food
    • Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter in cities concentration recorded ug/m³.
  • Economic KPIs:
    • Monetary values: value of air pollution reduction; total monetary value of urban forests including air quality, run-off mitigation, energy savings, and increase in property values. Use of GI val to calculate the value of air quality improvements.
  • Social KPIs:
    • Air quality parameters.
  • Socio- cultural KPIs:
    • Assessment of typology, functionality and benefits provided pre and post interventions.
  • Health KPIs:
    • Increase in walking and cycling in and around areas of interventions
Contacts: 

Project Coordinator

Further information