european capital of forestry could be milan if it doubles the number of trees by 2030

milan could be the european capital of forestry if it doubles the number of existing trees by 2030. architect, stefano boeri, promoted the idea in a speech made today at the third edition of the conference covering the state’s green areas, the ‘stati generali del verde pubblico’. 

 

the italian master is best known for championing green metropolises in industrial areas including china’s liuzhou forest city, netherland’s hawthorn tower, paris’ forêt blanche, and milan’s own vertical forest, the bosco verticale.

 

milan’s bosco verticale features two towers containing 780 planted trees
image © paolo sacchi

 

 

 

boeri proposes that milan becomes the leading city in urban forestry by 2030, a feat that would involve doubling the amount of trees from the current number of 11 million to 22 million, reaching a percentage of 25 when it comes to city’s wooded areas. the proposal comes as part of a vision of green milan launched a few weeks ago by the the mayor, giuessep sala, its’ main achievements so far, calling back to the regeneration of the railway yards and EXPO area, the rediscovery of the city’s canals and green rays, and the recovery of orbital forests in the metrobosco area.

 

boeri green vision has seen similar concepts created in countries such as china
image © stefano boeri architects

 

 

 

it follows the city’s disappointment at the european medicines agency (EMA) choosing amsterdam as its base rather than milan, a win that would have brought the area thousands of jobs. boeri paid attention to this fact during the speech which emphasised his green mission as relaunching the role of milan as a capital of innovation in the field of environmental issues.

 

this is a visual construct of what milan could look like if it were to take up boeri’s proposal
image © stefano boeri architects