Inclusive and Resilient Green Roofs in Landscape Design: Analysis of Environmental, Community, and Energy Benefits

Abstract

The recent crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight against climate change has had effects that have profoundly influenced the global distribution of resources, the ways of producing and doing business, the social structure, and individual and collective lifestyles. The need to share common spaces, the concept of mitigation, and the way of living in natural areas have become the subject of new research aimed at identifying a type of architecture that, in the near future, may be able to sustain itself to significantly reduce energy consumption, to be sustainable, more inclusive, and resilient. The design of green roofs has become a full-fledged interest in the landscape architecture discipline. The reason is that the exploitation of these structures is not limited to solving problems related to global warming or aesthetic-environmental issues in general. They are conceived to build hanging gardens or hanging parks above new or existing buildings in the service of the community. In this way, not only is the lack or insufficiency of green areas addressed, but one also benefits from advantages that vary according to the type, materials, and results to be obtained. This paper aims to analyze and spread knowledge of the main advantages of green roofs to demonstrate their relevance in the contemporary scenario and also provides a contribution through an interdisciplinary approach to the implementation of green roofs in urban landscape architecture for the significant benefits not only from the physical, environmental, and aesthetic point of view of the building but also from a social and inclusive one.