PRATO URBAN JUNGLE - Farm Park
Prato Urban Jungle - Farm Park
Prato Urban Jungle is an innovative urban forestation, greening and efficiency plan in Prato, created with the aim of reconfiguring the relationship between the city, the environment, resources and inhabitants. Winner in 2019 of the fourth edition of the 2019 UIA – Urban innovative action call, the program provides for the redevelopment of abandoned or degraded areas, the planting of trees and plants in strategic areas, the creation of productive gardens, the conversion of mineral surfaces into plant walls and phytoremediation of contaminated areas.
The Farm Park project is divided into several parts: a high-yield urban greenhouse for the production of plants at Km 0, a vegetable garden with aromatic and floral plants that will favor the activity and presence of pollinators and increase the biodiversity of the area, a refreshment area created with industrial containers and intended for the administration of locally produced food and drinks and an area for the little ones where play will be a way to approach the most current environmental issues. All the elements are strongly integrated with the greenery and designed to be flexible, favor the stay outdoors and minimize the impact on the environment.
In this intervention, the concept of Urban Jungle finds its natural place: the planting of a large number of plants and trees will play a key role in creating shade, purifying the air, mitigating the temperature and offering environmental, visual and psychic. Using plants and simple or recycled materials in synergy is strategic for the transformation of a residual area into a space accessible and usable by all the inhabitants of Prato.
This is a redevelopment project that will gradually involve the whole park, with the active participation of the Municipality and the associations operating in the area. An articulated intervention in which the cultivation of km0 vegetables becomes the engine for the local economy, favoring the encounter and the activities of the community. The technologies of hydroponic cultivation and reuse of rainwater foreseen in the greenhouse will guarantee the sustainable production of large quantities of vegetables. The greenhouse will also have an educational function where you will learn cultivation practices and technologies, benefiting from a training course that will then be able to find an outlet in activities related to nursery and green management. Within the Prato Urban Jungle plan, therefore, the intervention becomes an opportunity to bring the inhabitants closer to the themes of food education, sustainable agriculture and ecology.
“The environmental issue is also intrinsically social, just as sustainability is also fairness. This is an urban regeneration project through plants, which rewrites the relationships between inhabitants and resources within the city. “ Stefano Mancuso