This article provides an overview of the many ways that green (living) walls can help cities mitigate and adapt to climate change challenges. This includes energy savings in buildings, a reduction in the urban heat island, and stormwater management.

Although succulent monocultures are the default for many green roofs, rewilding green roofs with wildflowers and grasses can enhance stormwater retention and make them more adaptive to extreme climate events. Learn about rewilding green roofs.

Integrating bio strips into green roofs enhances urban biodiversity, improves stormwater management, and supports pollinators by creating structurally diverse habitats. This nature-based approach strengthens ecological resilience and reconnects fragmented urban ecosystems in the face of rapid urbanization.

We analyzed landcover change in Porto, Portugal, using satellite imagery from 2017 and 2022. K-Nearest Neighbor classification revealed increases in impervious surfaces and decreases in vegetation, highlighting opportunities for green roof interventions and the importance of climate justice considerations.