Integrating Public and Private Green for Urban Ecosystem Regeneration and Well-Being: The BiodiverCity Research

The presence of plant spaces and elements in urban settings is not only indicative of the quality of the built environment, but are a true indicator of sustainable development. In addition, urban ecosystems with natural features offer an extraordinary character of multifunctionality in urban regeneration processes: they improve public, physical, and mental health, making it easier to pursue a healthy lifestyle, and promote social relations and community cohesion. It is imperative, therefore, to initiate a path of sharing with the community to convey the importance of green infrastructure and awareness of the damage that can result in harm to the safety and security of citizens in neglecting its protection and proper design. It is with this in mind that the BiodiverCity project was born, thanks to the partnership involving the Lastre and MecAgr laboratories of the Mediterranea University and Sector 10 of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. BiodiverCity, in fact, proposes a model of a permanent laboratory as a place for comparison, exchange, sharing of ideas and dissemination of the culture of green and issues related to the ecological transition, with the activation of Forums organized in the homogeneous areas of the metropolitan area and targeting to administrators, technicians, scholars, citizens. In addition to making public action effective in concert with private energies, it is necessary, on the other hand, for citizens to be supported by the in-house expertise of public administrations, and with a program of economic incentives, in the operations of management and protection of private greenery. By doing so, private gardens can be a true indicator of quality for cities and contribute to the quality of life of the entire community. As is happening with the BiodiverCity project, the experimentation initiated with the Forum can help consolidate within public administrations and communities of inhabitants the idea of urban naturalness as a collective asset—and the rights duties that go with it—as the founding principle, not only of strategies for green spaces, but for the regeneration and well-being of the entire urban ecosystem.