Chania

The City 

Chania is located at the crossroads of civilizations, full of natural beauties, unique tradition and architecture. Built on the location of the ancient Minoan settlement of “Kydonia”, the city occupies an area of 11 sq km with a population of over 50.000 inhabitants, making Chania the second largest city in Crete. The urban green in Chania is composed of many small green islands, public squares and larger urban green areas which are the key urban green features. 

Exploration and Activation Site

The site is located in the heart of the city center, in a concrete-dominated, mixed-use area (residences, offices, shops, cafes), around which many citizens, live, work, visit or pass by.

Objectives

• Formation of urban corridor/park to function as carbon sinks, amounting to 22kg C km-1 (direct GHG emissions mitigation)
• Green façade combined with green open space in the municipality’s five-story car park in the city center to lower temperature by -1°C in adjacent streets (indirect GHG emissions mitigation),
• Use green constructions and design elements to encourage cycling (combatting air pollution).

Key Stakeholders

• Kydon S.A. (owner of the car park)
• Municipality of Chania - Department of Technical Services & Department of Management and Information Technologies
• Municipality’s official committees for Green, Open spaces and Environment & for Energy and Life Quality
• Technical Chamber of Greece - Western Crete Division
• Civil society group Podilatris (Bicycle lovers).