Vertical gardens are a practical – and beautiful – way to cool down cities
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Vertical garden expert Ignacio Solano has spent years studying tropical ecosystems from Colombia to Madagascar.
Vertical gardens were pioneered in Europe – but Latin America has taken the concept and applied it on a grand scale.
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“In Europe, it is normal for major capitals to have one, two or three significant vertical gardens,” Spanish botanist Ignacio Solano tells Euronews Earth. “If you compare this with Buenos Aires, there are hundreds of vertical gardens there. Mexico City has hundreds. Guatemala City has hundreds.”
Since French botanist Patrick Blanc pioneered the concept in the 1980s, Europe has produced some striking examples. Milan’s Bosco Verticale, a pair of residential skyscrapers whose terraces hold more than 21,000 trees and shrubs, converts nearly 20,000 kilograms of carbon annually and now shelters 20 species of birds.
As Europe’s capitals brace for yet another summer of blistering heatwaves, building on this legacy could be one of the most practical tools for protecting citizens.
RelatedResearch shows that vertical gardens can significantly lower building surface temperatures, reduce heat absorption and improve thermal comfort in dense urban areas.
Green walls – a broader category that encompasses everything from Solano's soil-free hydroponic systems to simple climbing plants rooted in the ground – also filter particulate matter, absorb carbon dioxide, and provide habitat for birds and insects, supporting urban biodiversity in places where space for traditional parks is limited.
Solano, through his Alicante-based company Paisajismo Urbano, is helping to break down misconceptions about vertical garden technology while teaching others to turn their cities green. He estimates that he’s helped to install close to a million square metres of vertical gardens globally to date.
Bringing rainforest wisdom to cities around the world
A biologist by training, Solano has spent over 14 years researching tropical ecosystems in jungles from the Chocó rainforest in Colombia to the islands of Madagascar and Réunion, studying how plants grow and interact in the wild.
Selecting the right species of plants for a vertical garden is essential – and a highly specialised skill. Everything from the altitude and climate of a city to the positioning of the building must be taken into account. Plants must be grouped based on their adaptability and nutritional needs. This is because they typically grow without soil, fed instead by nutrient-rich water delivered through a hydroponic system.
The result, Solano claims, produces three times more oxygen and grows three times faster than a conventional ground-level green space: “What we actually do is create a biofilter in the cities.”
Modern versions of the system, he adds, now consume virtually no water and require just one maintenance visit per year.
‘You don't have to be a botanist, an architect or an engineer’ to install a vertical garden
Solano’s company has spent more than two decades pioneering species selection methodology and vertical garden technology, which it shares via its Guatemala City franchise, By Botanik.
It has run intensive courses teaching students across the Americas not just the botanical techniques but the full business model, including sales, contracts and species selection.
The courses are deliberately accessible: “You don't have to be a botanist, an architect, or an engineer,” says Solano – you just need enthusiasm and an appetite to learn.
Within five days, Solano says, participants can identify plant species by family, native origin and their optimal placement on a wall. Of around 100 students per cohort, he says 85 typically go on to develop real projects.
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