Green bus shelters

Green bus shelter around the world: 'More than just symbolic value'

Can an almost invisible piece of green bring about a small revolution? The interest in the green bus shelters that have recently been placed in Utrecht is certainly huge. A Limburg company placed the more than 300 booths, with planted roofs and a bamboo seat, this spring. Worldwide there is now interest in the boxes, on Wednesday the German evening news report fromOetrecht .

Maurice Prijs from the municipality of Utrecht is very busy with all requests:

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Interest from all over the world for green bus shelters in Utrecht

The question is: do those few square meters of green on the roof of a bus shelter turn the dyke?

Absolutely, says Harry Boeschoten, Green Metropool program director at Staatsbosbeheer. "On the one hand because it is an original way to place the theme of nature in the city. And on the other because it has symbolic value."

Although the bus shelters are small, their number and location in the city make them important for urban ecology, says Boeschoten. According to him, the core of the green metropolis is that you create an uninterrupted network of nature inside and outside the city. "If you have a bus shelter in an otherwise completely petrified environment, then you should not expect much from it. But together with façade gardens, planters or flower beds around trees, a network nevertheless develops. And no matter how small they are, combined has that anyway an added value."

HOLLANDSE HOOGTE | OLAF KRAAK PHOTOGRAPHY

The 316 Utrecht bus shelters are full of sedum, a kind of succulent plant. This can withstand almost all weather conditions and reduces fine dust.

"Sedum is also useful if you can't lose a lot of soil," says Boeschoten, because it has no deep roots. And sedum increases biodiversity. Bees and butterflies, among others, like to come to it. "For flying insects, this really makes a difference."

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Drivers also see this. Like: "damn it, this is something that appeals to people."

Harry Boeschoten, Staatsbosbeheer

The boxes are designed by Reclame Bureau Limburg.The company has installed solar panels in other booths;they also all have LED lighting and a bamboo bench."RBL hopes to encourage people to also contribute to sustainable solutions," the company writes on its own site - that is exactly what Boeschoten hopes. "This increases the quality of life in the city. That is why everyone is keen on it."

You should therefore not underestimate the symbolic value of the green bus shelters, he says. "Apparently it is fun and exciting if something happens to the city. That is also what administrators see. Like:" damn it, this is something that appeals to people. " That in turn can lead to more greening.

It seems certain that the green bus shelters will soon be visible in more places. In Rotterdam the city council wants them, in Apeldoorn the alderman has already promised to place them. The German city of Leipzig will be greening 900 booths in the coming period. And who knows, there may also be abri's in Boston and Melbourne after Utrecht's example.

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