Green Roof Planning in Urban Areas

Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

Green roofs are vegetated substrate layers on top of the waterproof membrane of the conventional roof surfaces of buildings. Once the concern that plants could negatively affect plants was overcome, by the use of improved membrane layers that are protected from root penetration, green roofs became more popular, starting in the late 1970s in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

As the twenty-first century has been deemed by the UN as the century of the megacity with predictions that nearly 75% (?) of the population of the world will live in cities by the end of the century, urban areas will increasingly need to be planned and developed to take into consideration the ecological and environmental health of the urban climate to ensure cities can cater for people. This is also a pressing matter in as it is recognized that there is a need to adapt cities to the negative effects of climate change. These issues have...