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Medellín's Green Corridors
- toss1 3y agoVery cool, in many senses of the word. We certainly need more of this. More importantly, this may also reduce the heat-soaking of the earth underneath the city as well as the surrounding countryside.
- danlugo92 3y ago> We certainly need more of this. Caracas is reportedly green-ner than Medellin, but obviously under a dictatorship thus mostly not available to digital nomads. You also have Buenos Aires, designed from the beginning to be green (only in certain places I think? but still very green in those places)...
- quechimba 3y agoMedellín is the most beautiful city I have ever been to. It's very green and clean.
- BudaDude 3y agoFinally some good news! I would love to see a city or building try this in the US
- more_corn 3y agoThe SF moma has a living wall on the patio. It is refreshing. The new transit center has a park on the roof. One of the most calming and comfortable public spaces in SF.
- sudosteph 3y agoIt's not by design, but one thing I loved about living in Raleigh, NC is how many of the trees were preserved as it developed. It's quite nice (except during pollen season if you have allergies) and the shade is pretty valuable when dealing with those summers. It's especially noticable compared to Durham, which was not able to preserve as many trees close to it's downtown core and some big roads. Though Durham still has something like 52% tree coverage? The housing development craze in that area is definitely making a dent in the the coverage for the region as a whole though.
- the_optimist 3y agoLooks beautiful. I assume our hockey stick temperature charts capture this urban heat island effect of between two and five degrees, right? Anybody know?
- danlugo92 3y agoTemperature inside one of these green corridors is, say, 24 Celsius when outside of these corridors it can reach up to 30 at the same time of the same day. I do think that's like the most extreme difference you could find in any given day.
- wbeckler 3y agoThe typical temperature chart is an average across the planet or a region. Definitely not population-weighted.
- gfarah 3y agoMedellin is bursting with greenery! Everywhere I look, trees stand tall, and many of the newer buildings boast impressive vertical gardens. This not only creates a visually stunning cityscape but also sparks my imagination, making me dream of a future where other cities around the world embrace a similar level of environmental integration.
- onemoresoop 3y agoAre you from Colombia or you moved there? If you've been in Medellin for more than 10 years how does it compare to today?
- baristaGeek 3y agoI would say that beyond the green corridors, the main difference is how global it feels now. Lots of international cuisine, international DJs playing here, foreigners around, real estate ads in English, etc.
- onemoresoop 3y agoI assume the COL has only increased, am I wrong?
- danlugo92 3y agoYes, even compared to 2 years ago... But the prices of "nationally-distributed" "things" (e.g. laundry detergent right?) pretty much adheres to the national trend... ...however rent in Medellín has gone up in these past 2 years too, like in some places it has gone up to double, gotta account for inflation (in USD terms you know) too but still...
- udkl 3y agoThat a city in still-developing South America was able to prioritize vegitation deserves a huge kudos. Higher density of vegitation is what I dearly miss in the sprawl centric cities of California and what I like about my city back in India.
- andrewstuart 3y agoMelbourne has large “green belts” through the suburbs which are meant to be off limits to development. However they are constantly being rezoned to residential housing through political corruption.
- danlugo92 3y ago:(
- asymmetric 3y agoI wonder what the options are for cities in arid climates, which are only becoming more so due to climate change. The few trees in this area are already threatened by droughts, so it seems like planting more greenery would just increase the burden on a water system that's already at breaking point.
- bobthepanda 3y agoThe Middle East has existed in arid conditions for centuries. Generally, you want to engineer lots of shade and narrow paths for breezes. The American Southwest and the baking suburbia is basically the opposite of how one should design for such a climate.
- fermuch 3y agoThis is a very interesting initiative, and fills me with hope. Not only better temperatures, but even better air (PM2.5 levels reduced!) But I do wonder, what about insects? Are there more insects because there are more places for them to live?
- fodmap 3y agoI assume there will be more insects but also more insect predators. I mean, life always finds its way, and usually a balance as well.
- gfarah 3y agoIndeed, there is an abundance of butterflies, bees, and other such creatures amidst the urban area —a surprising sight for a densely populated city. However, it's not to the extent that it becomes bothersome.
- tzumby 3y agoI just checked and the pm2 levels are as bad as they were when I visited pre Covid (50 μg/m^3). I was there for 3 months, in El Poblado neighborhood and the air quality was horrendous, I would never go back. The depression in which the city lays also keeps all the pollution in place for longer.
- wbeckler 3y agoI hate when writers describe plants as an ongoing carbon sink. They are a one-time carbon sink. So using "cars" as a comparison to carbon volumes is confusing, because cars will keep emitting after a plant is full grown and starts shedding leaves and wood that turn back into methane or carbon dioxide. The key benefit of the plants is cooling the city without electricity, which is an ongoing effect.
- markerz 3y agoSimilarly, we can't plant enough trees to offset our total carbon emission because we've released SOOO much carbon that was previously just buried underground as oil. We would need to plant more trees than we have ever seen.
- dumbo-octopus 3y agoMore trees than have ever existed, given we burn both coal (trees) and oil (algae)... and a loooot more oil.
- worik 3y ago> They are a one-time carbon sink Depends how you manage them, and their detritus If you burn it, you are correct There are other approaches that sink the carbon and improve soils.
- GenerWork 3y agoI'm really interested in the geotextile pavements that were mentioned at the end of the article. As someone who lives where it can get pretty rainy, having a cheap yet effective geotextile driveway would be great.
- TaylorAlexander 3y agoCheck out permeable concrete and permeable pavers: https://youtu.be/ERPbNWI_uLw https://youtu.be/ERPbNWI_uLw
- fnordian_slip 3y agoIt is impressive, sure, but it also seems prone to clogging, and if it clogs just a bit under the surface, how can you clean it? A pressure washer will be no use, since it only cleans the surface, right?
- TaylorAlexander 3y agoI don’t know much about that. I do see some other options, like stabilized gravel where a hexagonal grid form is installed and then filled with gravel so that the gravel doesn’t move around. https://www.greendriveway.com/ https://www.greendriveway.com/
- kleton 3y agoSeems like a microplastic source.
- GenerWork 3y agoThis is what I'm afraid of. We already have too much microplstics in our environment, and is it worth reducing water runoff when the solution involves even more microplastics?
- passive 3y agoAn initial cost of 16 million, and yearly maintenance of 600,000, for a city of 2.5 million? Per person, $5 initially and $0.25 per year. That seems incredibly cheap for the benefits. Colombia looks to have a GDP per capita about 1/10th of the US, so if we scale it up 10X... I live in a relatively cold climate, and I would still be delighted to pay $2.50 a year for this kind of infrastructure development. Heck, even scaling it up 100X seems like it would be worth considering. Maybe there's a cost I'm missing here, but for a hot city, the AC savings alone seem like they would be worth it, not to mention the 40% reduction in respiratory infections through increased air quality.
- gottorf 3y ago> Colombia looks to have a GDP per capita about 1/10th of the US, so if we scale it up 10X... Ah, yes, but costs for public projects like this in the US is far greater than 10x Colombia's.
- marcinzm 3y agoYes, amazingly paying someone $2/hour won't fly in a major US city.
- throwup238 3y agoIt will if they’re convicts on a chain gang.
- roughly 3y agoAcknowledging the general ickyness of prison labor, I'd be curious what the overall effect on wellbeing and recidivism among prisoners would be of spending time working outside planting trees to make the local community a better, more beautiful place.
- TaylorAlexander 3y agoProbably better than making garments for McDonald’s and Walmart, but yeah we should abolish prison labor (and prisons). Here’s a report on the state of human rights abuses in prison labor in the United States: https://news.uchicago.edu/story/us-prison-labor-programs-violate-fundamental-human-rights-new-report-finds https://news.uchicago.edu/story/us-prison-labor-programs-vio...
- digging 3y ago> We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change. That feels like a quote out of a novel or a Hollywood movie. Absolutely thrilled for Medellin to be able to enact this kind of change. It's a huge struggle in the US and extremely dispiriting.
- jonah 3y agoWe were there in January. There are some amazing, modern, clean and green parts of the city. The botanic gardens (Jardín Botánico de Medellín) are beautiful and considerably cooler than the surrounding parts of town. The metro - with cable cars linking off to the hillside neighborhoods - is very clean, modern, and efficient. We saw the city hall vertical garden - pretty neat. An immense amount of effort has gone into revitalizing the city in recent years. One thing that struck me though, is that the rising tide hasn't quite lifted all boats - or people to be more precise. I saw a lot more beggars, people living on the streets, and homeless encampments than in Bogotá, or Cali or other cities. It feels like a disconnection from community and family that is still present in other places - especially smaller cities and towns. I hope they can figure out ways to help the bottom 1%. (Realizing that is a common refrain worldwide.)
- p_j_w 3y ago>the rising tide hasn't quite lifted all boats It turns out that, in spite of what libertarians might like to tell everyone, people and societies aren't actually boats and marinas. Who would've thought?
- BizarroLand 3y agoOne possibility is that some homeless may move to the city in hopes of either finding work or catching a break to get out of the homelessness. We see that a lot in Seattle, that people who became homeless out in Enumclaw or Goldbar or wherever slowly get drawn towards the city because the systems that support the homeless are there, whether it be infrastructure that can be used for shelter or soup kitchens or day labor or even just a good corner to beg from. Its not the only source of the homeless by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a source.
- Tiktaalik 3y agoIt really does make sense. If you have no job and are at risk of homelessness why would you hang around some small town with no jobs and no services instead of going to the economic centre of your region? The odds of both getting support and work are highest in the cities.
- neoecos 3y agoWhile top in HN, in the local newspaper a warning about the bad air quality of the city. https://www.elcolombiano.com/antioquia/restricciones-por-mala-calidad-del-aire-en-medellin-AI23905126 https://www.elcolombiano.com/antioquia/restricciones-por-mal...
- danlugo92 3y agoIt's improving... ...or maybe just fewer cars because of global recession...
- MrPowers 3y agoI love Medellin and lived there for many years, but the air quality is terrible and getting worse. You can talk with any locals and they say that the climate is noticeably different than it was in the past. Medellin is surrounded by mountains and the contaminated air cannot escape. There didn't used to be a lot of cars, but now there is financing so the number of cars is growing significantly. The hills are steep and old busses spew black smoke. Here is some more info on pollution in Medellin: https://medellinguru.com/medellin-pollution/ https://medellinguru.com/medellin-pollution/ Saying Medellin's temp decreased by 2 degrees Celsius based on "Mejorar el microclima hasta 2°C" is a misinterpretation. I think this article is quite misleading.
- danlugo92 3y ago> I love Medellin and lived there for many years, but the air quality is terrible and getting worse The good thing about hill cities such as Medellin (sadly not a format available for big cities say in Europe or the US) is that you can choose your altitude, and at around 2000 thousand meters (the city starts at ~1500m) the air quality is not so bad, used to be worse years ago (maybe you lived there 2 or 3 years ago), but now it's much better. > You can talk with any locals and they say that the climate is noticeably different than it was in the past. Yeah, the city is much warmer compared to say 10 years ago, whether this is due to the city growing into previously-forest areas or /global/ warming I don't know... but yeah, locals agree it was MUCH colder 10 years ago... > Medellin is surrounded by mountains and the contaminated air cannot escape. See comments above about living at 2000m altitude (up in the mountains a bit away from the high-rise buildings and such, think of Beverly Hills or something like that.). > The hills are steep and old busses spew black smoke. As of now, there's almost no remaining old busses spewing black smoke anymore, but there's some cargo trucks still doing it. > Saying Medellin's temp decreased by 2 degrees Celsius based on "Mejorar el microclima hasta 2°C" is a misinterpretation. I think this article is quite misleading. I wouldn't know, but locals do say that it was a much more colder city in the past...
- gfarah 3y agoMany factories are relocating outside the valley, and the use of electric vehicles (including cars and motorcycles) is increasing.
- somegent 3y agoChicago has done something similar with rooftop gardens to reduce temperatures. https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/chicago-il-uses-green-infrastructure-reduce-extreme-heat https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/chicago-il-uses-green-infrastructu...
- ambyra 3y agoAny links to how to build these at home? Like a 10 to 15 foot version? It'd be really interesting to find out how to keep the plants' roots from clogging the water supply.
- cycomanic 3y agoMedellin is a fascinating city and over the years had leadership that really cared about how to most effectively help throe citizens and not being afraid to make radical chandes and big investments. E. G. They build the metro cable essentially a "ski lift" public transport system up the steep slopes of the hills surrounding the city. It's a great example how to transform communities by giving people access to transport and thus economic opportunities (the metro cable changed a 2h walk to the metro station at the base of the valley into a 15min gondola ride). It wrestled the slums from the control of the gangs and massively reduced crime in the areas.
- evanjrowley 3y agoBrings a new and nicer meaning to the term walled garden