Vertical Forests Make Their Way To Egypt!

One of the most important parts of fighting climate change and preserving the environment is green spaces. However, for these green spaces to be beneficial, they need to be part of our daily lives. In cities where space is at a premium, there usually isn’t room for more greenery. However, that is where the concept of the vertical forest comes in.

Vertical forests, as the name implies, combine natural greenery with buildings to put plants in places where they can still thrive, clean the air, and provide shade. These allow urban areas to gain the benefits of having local forests, but without needing to dedicate large amounts of real estate on the ground to maintain large parks.

While they aren’t new by any stretch of the imagination, Africa is getting its first vertical forest in a place most wouldn’t expect… Cairo, Egypt.

Hanging Gardens of Egypt?

According to Intelligent Living, this vertical forest project will consist of three, seven-story buildings, a hotel, and two apartment complexes. These buildings will sport over 350 trees, as well as 14,000 evergreen shrubs, and will also be energetically self-sufficient. Estimates say that this single project will produce as much as 8 tons of oxygen per year, in addition to all its other, positive effects in the urban space!

Vertical forests have proven popular and successful in China, particularly in urban areas where the cleaning power of plants is needed more than it is anywhere else. With Cairo’s new initiative to reinvent itself by adding more green spaces, as well as converting flat rooftops into solar generating resources, these changes could set the trend for other major urban areas.