Visa Vert (Green Visa) vegetation permit - Marseille

The city of Marseille implemented a vegetation permit starting in 2015 called "Visa Vert" (Green Visa). This urban planning instrument gives individuals the right to temporarily install plants in free public spaces while respecting the safety and use of the spaces by other users. Plants, flowers and shrubs thus contribute to embellishing the living environment and bring nature into the city. The permit is part of the "Charter for the vegetation of public spaces in Marseille". The Charter aims to support initiatives for the revegetation of streets and promote collective actions for the embellishment of the living environment. It also increases the number of plants in the city. The Green Visa holder agrees to "use organic gardening methods such as organic fertilizers, compost, compost or compost [...] and chooses plants from the list of plants recommended by the Municipality Green Space and Nature Services (SEVN)" (Ref. 5). The recommendations guarantee the good passage of people in wheelchairs or strollers, and prevents the proliferation of invasive species or parasites (e.g. the tiger mosquito) and good air quality. After a slow start with long waiting times (up to 6 months) for visa requests to be processed by local authorities in 2017, the municipality simplified the administrative process. As a result, citizen decided to form cooperatives and associations to jointly request a visa for specific streets of neighborhoods. The Green Visa is valid for three years, tacitly renewable up to a maximum of 12 years.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Urban planning mechanisms

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Air quality
Social cohesion
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The vegetation permit aims for the "improvement of the living environment (valorisation of the plant in the city, respect for the public shared space, improvement of the overall community)" and for "living together" (Ref. 3). The green visa also has the objective to "make the city more beautiful, more welcoming and less stressful [...], [t]o find the pleasure of pacing the city" (Ref. 4, page 4). The legislative instrument also aims to enhance "plantation in the street to reduce air pollution" (Ref 4), to "reduce the effect of urban heat islands" (Ref. 4), and "improve stormwater management" since in the Mediterranean region, severe thunderstorms are frequent. Vegetated surfaces participate in slowing the flow of stormwater. The plants themselves also fix certain pollutants, which improves the quality of infiltration water discharged into rivers and seas (Ref. 4).

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Nature in the City and Eco-citizenship Services, Directorate for the Environment and Quality of Life (Service Nature en Ville Ecocitoyenneté, Direction de l'Environnement et du Cadre de Vie)

Instrument design:

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The Green Visa requires prior authorization from the City of Marseille. As part of the implementation of the greening permit, the association "Passeurs de Jardins" created a guide for the city of Marseille in partnership with the Laboratory Population Environment Development, Aix-Marseille University / IRD (Institute of Research and Development) and the National School of Landscape Marseille / LAREP (Newspaper). It provides citizen with ideas, tips, tricks and tools.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Creation of a guide

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Marginalized groups: People with functional diversities

Financing

Sources of funding:

Unknown

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

No evidence in public records.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

No evidence in public records.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The vegetation permit was effective in involving the non-governmental actors through the creation of a guide to support the success of the permits, which is conducive to building capacity, gaining public support, and increasing uptake. To improve adoption, the administrative challenges have also been addressed by local authorities. The vegetation permit has been replicated in Paris in 2022.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

1. Ville de Marseille (n.d). "Végétalisation des rues". Nature en Ville. Available at: Source link (Accessed: June 23, 2022). 2. Ville de Marseille (n.d ). "La Charte de végétalisation de l'espace publique Marseillais". Direction de l'Environment. (Accessed: July 23, 2022). 3. Ville de Marseille (n.d). "Example d'autorisation d'occupation temporaire de l'espace publique". Website not available in 2020. 4. Association PASSEURS DE JARDINS (n.d). Guide "Végétalisation des rues de marseille & des Villes de l’espace littoral méditerranéen". Available at: Source link (Accessed: June 23, 2022). 5. Julia (2016). "Marseille adopte une charte pour que les habitants verdissent leurs rues". (Accessed: June 23, 2022). 6. Mon Jardin en Ville (Phone Application). Website not available in 2020. 7. La rédaction (2019). "Le Visa Vert, votre passeport pour végétaliser les rues de Marseille". Available at: Source link (Accessed: June 23, 2022). 8. Vaysse, Clémentine (2017). "Après un départ compliqué, la mairie tente de sauver son visa vert". Marsactu. Available at: Source link (Accessed: June 23, 2022).