Abstract Summary
The branding of urban and real estate developments by using green building design concepts as an appliqué is a trend actively pursued by city developers, planners and design professionals. Popularised greening systems integrated into developed urban areas and buildings are vertical green facades, green roofs, tree facades, urban farming and food production equipment. Globally, the Vertical Garden Construction Market alone could grow from $256.61 Billion in 2020 to $653.41 Billion by 2028. With an emphasis on Hong Kong, a city in the process of transforming with the urban greening transition, this paper traces the sources and supply chain for this growing industry at the Greater Bay Area regional scale. How can design professionals and local citizens better ensure that the growth of this sector will be a genuinely green economy growth over the next five years and beyond? Given the rapid market expansion of this sustainability-driven business ecology, the paper seeks to debunk design practices and externalities, which are unreconcilable with circular economy aspirations. This study maps out a green construction industrial ecology and critically examines green product systems' efficiency and effectiveness. It considers the transportation and environmental costs of raw materials delivered from extended production sites and vegetation nurseries. The circular design of the urban greening ecology is strategised to maximise the opportunities for recycling, local production, and growth of green and landscaping materials. Propositions to reveal the potentials to re-nature overlooked public spaces in the city are laid out. Finally, the paper presents scenarios for better sharing resources reducing regional-scale environmental impacts, emphasising the local growth of green design ecologies.
