These Beautiful Vertical Forests Are Taking Root And Greening Up Cities

As people continue to move from the country into the city, cities need help. They can't grow out and out forever, gobbling up farmland and making more and more cars necessary. It's just not a sustainable way for cities to grow, but grow they must. So, if they can't keep growing out, the only direction left is to grow up. 

What are city dwellers to do when cities become so dense that they're cut off from nature? And how are cities supposed to keep their air clean as more people pack into them? Maybe vertical forests are a solution. If nothing else, they're definitely beautiful, and they're starting to sprout up.

Italian architect Stefano Boeri is on a mission to raise forests in the city – literally. His office tower and apartment block designs incorporate thousands of trees and shrubs. 

Balconies and ledges on his buildings are positively overflowing with greenery. This project in Nanjing, China, is slated to open in 2018 with more than 1,000 trees and 2,500 shrubs from 23 local species.

Apart from being stunningly beautiful, these vertical forests should help to improve air quality in cities as well.

The towers in Nanjing are purpose built, housing offices, a museum, a green architecture school, and a rooftop club, and the shorter tower is even home to a Hyatt hotel with a rooftop pool. Collectively, they'll produce 132 pounds of oxygen every day.

The Nanjing project will be the first vertical forest in Asia, but not the first for Stefano. 

He has other vertical forests planned for Lausanne, Switzerland, and a pair already brightens the skyline of Milan, Italy. 

In Milan, Bosco Verticale features more than 900 trees and 20,000 plants – spread over the ground, it would be about 7,000 square meters of forest!

Not only do they promote health, but they just look so much better than glass and concrete, don't you think?

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