Szczecin's Green Courtyards

@Zarząd Budynków i Lokali Komunalnych miasta Szczecina

Szczecin's Green Courtyards (Zielone Podwórka Szczecina) is a grant programme launched in 2008 for homeowners' associations in Szczecin, Poland. Every year, the homeowners associations can apply for grants to green the courtyards and frontyards surrounding their properties. The funds can be used to plant new vegetation, improve the condition of the existing vegetation and install urban furniture (playgrounds, benches, etc). Since 2015, the Green Courtyards programme is accompanied by a twin programme Szczecin's Green Front Yards ("Przedogródki Szczecina") that finances the greening of the front yards and gardens. The programme implements the city's Housing Policy as well as the Urban Regeneration Strategy.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Economic and fiscal instruments›Payments as rewards/for ecosystem services, subsidies, incentives

Challenges addressed

Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Social equity
Human health, comfort and well-being
Other, please specify

Recreation, aesthetics

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The aim of the programme is to improve the image of the City of Szczecin by revitalising and regenerating the areas surrounding residential buildings by creating new or regenerating existing green areas. An emphasis is placed on the recreational function of the created green spaces, including creating new playgrounds and play areas for children.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Derelict areas

External building greens

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Policy business case

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

City of Szczecin, Municipal Authority for Buildings and Premises

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The programme is implemented by the Municipal Buildings and Premises Authority (Zarząd Budynków i Lokali Komunalnych miasta Szczecina) on behalf of the Szczecin Municipality.

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

As part of the grant application, the homeowners' associations need to submit a plan of the planned regeneration, prepared by a landscape architect. The greening of the courtyards and front gardens is overseen by the homeowners' association, which receives the grant from the municipality.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Corporate investment

Budget:

1 000 000€ - 5 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

Between 2008-2021, the total budget of the programme was ca. €4.2 million (ca. 20 million PLN), out of which €3.4 million (ca. 16 million PLN) was dedicated to greening of the courtyards and ca €0.8 million (ca. 4 million PLN) was allocated to greening front yards and gardens. The municipality finances up to 75% of the costs of the works to be conducted, with the rest of the costs to be covered by the homeowners' associations. In case the projects include installing new playgrounds, the costs of playgrounds are 95% financed by the municipality.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Since the programme's start in 2008, over 144 courtyards and 66 frontyards have been renovated, creating new green spaces for the enjoyment of the city's children and adult residents. The programme is improving the image of the city of Szczecin by promoting the creation of hundreds of new green spaces all over the city. The programme is consistently popular, with the number of applications exceeding the amount of grants available each year. In 2013, the programme has received an award from the President of Poland in a competition recognising local projects that support community-building and development of civil society. In 2014, the programme has been partially replicated by the city of Łodź.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The programme allowed the city to create over 200 new green spaces in the city in less than 15 years. The projects are commissioned by the homeowners' associations - and are therefore adapted to the needs of the residents in the buildings in question. There is no upper limit set for the grants, therefore the associations can submit ideas for projects and interventions they find most suitable. Thanks to the co-financing requirement, the city has managed to leverage private funds to create new green areas in the city. The fact that the residents are involved in the various stages of the project contributes to the long-term sustainability of the implemented NBS, as the residents are more interested in maintaining the landscaping and greenery. In some cases, the programme is said to have activated the local community and contributed to community-building. The programme has generated interest among local academics who conduct research about different aspects (technical, sociological), related to the development of green courtyards in order to capture lessons learned for future iterations or for other cities interested in implementing similar solutions.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Infoludek (2022), Znowu zakwitną „Zielone Podwórka” i „Przedogródki Szczecina”. Available at: https://infoludek.pl/szczecin/zielone-podworka-i-przedogrodki-szczecina/

Zarząd Budynków i Lokali Komunalnych miasta Szczecina (2016), REGULAMIN PROGRAMU ZIELONE PODWÓRKA SZCZECINA. Available at: https://zbilk.szczecin.pl/?type=article&action=view&id=22

Krzyżański, A. (2014), Szczecin stolicą zielonych podwórek, Available at: https://portalkomunalny.pl/plus/artykul/szczecin-stolica-zielonych-podworek/

WSzczecinie.pl (2022), W czterech zaniedbanych miejscach pojawi się zieleń, https://wszczecinie.pl/aktualnosci,w_czterech_zaniedbanych_miejscach_pojawi_sie_zielen,id-41087.html

Urban Nature Atlas (2021), Green courtyards of Szczecin, Available at: https://una.city/nbs/szczecin/green-courtyards-szczecin

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://zbilk.szczecin.pl/?type=article&action=view&id=22

Photos

@Zarząd Budynków i Lokali Komunalnych miasta Szczecina