Yeonjae Kim
UWP 23
06-04-2015
Assignment 2, part3
In most cities, people have limited access to nature. The constructions of the buildings to
develop cities created lots of non-environmentally friendly areas. As a huge part of the human
population is living in developed cities, there are always excessive amounts of greenhouse gases and
carbon dioxide emission. This phenomenon contributes to global warming, which gets worse as time
goes by. Therefore, I promote the urban greening project to reduce the environmental problems and to
let more people to know about the benefits that they can get from planting. Moreover, people are not
used to go outdoors and be active. We should know that we are a major cause for the environmental
issues and, at the same time, we are also the one that are getting disadvantages by staying indoors.
Therefore, I’m strongly motivated to promote the urban greening project, targeting people in Davis,
which can widely spread the awareness for the seriousness environmental problems and lots of
advantages of living along the nature. You will be able to find out more of the descriptive plans for this
project and be more considerate to the environmental problems that we are facing.
The main goal of this urban greening project is to
make the greenhouses, or gardens on the roof of
buildings, such as apartments and business buildings. By
creating more green places in the area that people can
easily access, people in the city will get benefits by having places to relax. More and more people will
go outdoors to enjoy the nature and they will get more chances to communicate with their neighbors.
Moreover, the environment will be the other one that benefits from this project. It is very important to
solve the existing problems, such as global warming, air pollution, and health problems, because
people should live along with the nature, so that we should not neglect the environmental issues. The
changes of the environment definitely will affect human beings; for example, global warming is already
taking a part of global concerns that
people are looking for the ways to improve
the situation.
The expected result of this green
roof project will look like the picture on the
left. Even though I’m not looking for using this kind of professional gardening system to build the
green roofs, the roofs will look like this after several years of planting. As more plants are being planted,
the rooftop of the buildings with the concrete will be protected by the plants, will absorb less heat, and
it will contribute to people to use less air conditioner during the summer. It can be one of a very
important key to the global warming because using less electricity will cause less usage of fossil fuel
plants; thus, the emission of carbon dioxide will get reduced. As people create their places by
themselves, they will have to come out and spend some time outdoors to take care of their plants.
Moreover, if people plant their own vegetables or fruits, they will get healthy food sources. One thing
that affects to this project is people who are participating to this project. If people become negligent
to the project and stop taking care of the plants, there would be no one takes care of the plants and it
will result city government or the participants of this project to spend money for hiring people to take
care those abandoned plants or throwing those plants away before they mess up the rooftop. To keep
people to be motivated and active with the outdoor activities, I will have to thoroughly and
continuously encourage people to participate or continue this project.
If we have to professionally create the rooftop
gardens, the needed materials are listed in the
picture on the left. I think this kind of
professional planting system is only needed to
the public buildings that are managed by the
government. However, we can simply go to the flower shops or markets to get some dirt, baskets,
sprayer or a soaking hose, and seeds to start planting. The
labor is the most important thing because people have to
keep their eyes on the plants and take care of them often.
I will manage this project by reminding people
continuously by talking to the neighbors and visiting some
of the building that people plant for the project. Once people start to join this project, they have to be
responsible for their own plants for sure. However, if more people get interested to this project over
time, the government can promote more events to motivate people and support people by providing
some materials that people need to take care of the plants. However, whoever starts planting will have
to be responsible to care of the project. I will invite a guest speaker from El Cerrito Urban Greening to
grab people’s attention. As people get to know more about the benefits that they can get from
planting, they will be motivated to actively care about their plants.
Yeonjae Kim
UWP 23
05-23-2015
Assignment 2, part4
To briefly summarize the possible outcomes that my project will bring to the community, I can
expect lots of things. The short-term effects of the green roofs will vary. People will be more likely to
come outdoors. They will be able to communicate with their neighbors and will be able to take time to
relax in the small nature on the roof top. Moreover, planting can be an educational material for children
who are growing up in the cities and people will be able to create beautiful nature by themselves. They
will learn and feel responsibility by planting and taking care of their plants.
The positive long-term outcomes of this project are surprisingly interesting too. The
temperature differences with other locations will be gradually solved by the green roofs. As lots of
cities are suffering as the “isolate islands”, which refers the overheated locations created by packed
buildings that use a lot of electricity, the green roofs will be a key to solve the problem. Moreover, as
the average temperature of the city decreases, people will use less electricity. People won’t need the
same amount of electricity that they’ve used before. Then, the fossil fuel plants will be running less; as
a result, the carbon dioxide emission will decrease and people will be able to breathe the fresh air.. The
article, published by the cityofwatsonville, mentioned that “Green roofs filter particulate matter from the
air and absorb greenhouse gases. One square meter (10.76 ft2) of grass roof can remove up to 2 kg
(4.4 lbs) of airborne particulates from the air every year, depending on foliage type” (Green Roof Report,
2012). Lastly, by taking care of their plants, people can earn something as rewards if people planted
their own vegetables or fruits.
Reference
Green Roof Report. (2012). 1st ed. [ebook] Watsonville: CityofWatsonville.org, pp.7-9. Available at:
http://cityofwatsonville.org/download/Public%20Works/Watsonville%20Green%20Roof%20Design%20Criteria%20Fi
nal%20Pt.%201.pdf [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].