Cities That Became Concrete Jungles: Incredible 'Green' Skyscrapers Covered in Plants Are Revolutionizing Urban Centers Around the World

Cities That Became Concrete Jungles: Incredible ‘Green’ Skyscrapers Covered in Plants Are Revolutionizing Urban Centers Around the World

Written by Flavia Marinho

Published on 25/06/2025 at 11:20

Quando a cidade vira selva no concreto: inovação que revoluciona a bioarquitetura e está mudando a cara de centros urbanos ao redor do mundo

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Urban Innovation: How Vertical Forests Combine Bioarchitecture, Sustainability, and Well-Being

Do you want to change the gray appearance of the city and, on top of that, combat heat, pollution, and climate crises? That’s how Stefano Boeri, in 2007, came up with an idea in the glass desert of Dubai: to create “green” skyscrapers, covered with plants, able to cater to both people and wildlife. The result is vertical forests, an innovation that revolutionized bioarchitecture and is changing the face of urban centers around the world.

Bosco Verticale in Milan: Surprising Result Was the First Vertical Forest in the World

In Milan, Boeri built two towers that are not just buildings, but ecosystems. At 110 m and 76 m, they house 800 trees, 4,500 shrubs, and 20,000 plants of 100 species, covering a green area equivalent to 5 hectares of park, on just 1,000 m² of land.
This vegetation cover reduces temperatures by up to 3 °C in the units, regulates internal temperatures, absorbs CO₂ and dust, generates oxygen, and enhances urban infrastructure in terms of well-being, sound insulation, and microclimate.

The sophisticated structure includes 3 m deep concrete balconies, special containers, smart irrigation with gray water, and solar energy on the roof. Maintenance is performed by professionals, the so-called “flying gardeners,” who take care of the vegetation at heights.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Sustainable Evolution in Cities

New projects explore materials with a lower environmental impact. In Paris, La Forêt Blanche is primarily made of wood to reduce embodied carbon. In Utrecht (Wonderwoods), starting in February 2025, there will be a mixed-use building with 200 apartments, 360 trees, and 50,000 plants, ensuring awarded urban biodiversity at last MIPIM.

Entire Cities of Green

The concept has gone to Africa (the first vertical forest in Cairo this year) and public housing in the Netherlands, the Trudo Vertical Forest, with limited rents to validate economic sustainability.

Benefits of Green in the Concrete Jungle

Quality of Life: constant presence of plants reduces anxiety and depression levels by up to 40%, according to a Dutch study; in poor areas, the reduction can be 10%.
Urban Functionality: buildings filter air, dampen noise, strengthen microclimates, and minimize the heat island effect.
Ecological Infrastructure: green roofs and gray water systems aid in drainage, prevent flooding, and reduce demand for air conditioning.

Experts’ Perspective

Stefano Boeri states: “We must imagine a dual movement: citizens toward the forest and trees toward the city.”

Francesca Cesa Bianchi, architect, adds about Wonderwoods: “A multipurpose and highly biodiverse architecture, open to the daily life of citizens, plants, and birds of Utrecht.”

The World Green Building Council emphasizes that, although these structures require more materials, such as concrete, the gains in operational sustainability exceed this cost, especially when low-carbon materials and innovative solutions are adopted.

Even Being Emblematic Projects, Questions Arise:

The extra embodied carbon (concrete, heavy structures) can negate benefits if the compensation is not calculated.
The reliance on specialized expertise for maintenance may limit autonomy and create cost barriers.
Environmentalists remind that these vertical forests do not replace extensive green areas; parks are still essential.

The Look to the Future

Boeri is already planning other green cities: Liuzhou (China) for 30,000 inhabitants and Cancún (Mexico) as a smart city, without combustion cars. The World GBB and researchers of nature-based solutions point out that bioarchitecture integrated into cities is crucial to combat climate change and promote urban sustainability in a measurable way.

Vertical forests are redefining the paradigm of urban construction. No longer mere symbols, they are an active part of the infrastructure, combining bioarchitecture, sustainability, and quality of life. Even with challenges to overcome, they point to a clear path: densely populated cities can also be densely green.

Did you like the article? Comment below what you think about bringing forests to the tops of cities, and don’t forget to share it with those who also enjoy urban innovation!

Cities That Became Concrete Jungles: Incredible ‘Green’ Skyscrapers Covered in Plants Are Revolutionizing Urban Centers Around the World

Urban Innovation: How Vertical Forests Combine Bioarchitecture, Sustainability, and Well-Being

Bosco Verticale in Milan: Surprising Result Was the First Vertical Forest in the World

Sustainable Evolution in Cities

Entire Cities of Green

Benefits of Green in the Concrete Jungle

Experts’ Perspective

Even Being Emblematic Projects, Questions Arise:

The Look to the Future

While an average building in London or New York takes three years to be completed, in China a 26-story tower went up in five days with about 100 workers, and the global modular construction market already moves US$ 95 billion per year.

Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

Goodbye traditional washing machine: Panasonic surprises housewives with the NA-G5 featuring four drums, a 13 kg washer and dryer, a 12 kg dryer, independent mini washers, a heat pump, and a 4-in-1 system awarded at the German Design Award.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

While communities suffer from water scarcity and the advancing desert, women in Morocco use nets high up in the mountains to trap fog droplets, fill reservoirs, and transport drinking water through more than 10 km of piping.

Changan and Chery promise mass production of solid-state batteries with 1,500 kilometers of range in 2027 while Tesla still uses lithium and Toyota only promises to deliver theirs in 2028.

Volkswagen admits to Reuters that the value of its cars is falling in Brazil due to the aggressive entry of Chinese companies like BYD, but asserts that it will not enter a price war and believes it is well-positioned to hold back the advance.

How to make charcoal in the backyard using a small oven covered with galvanized sheets and sealed with fine soil, in a traditional Filipino technique called pugon that yields up to one and a half bags of charcoal per burn.

You won’t believe how industrial egg production works in Brazil and the level of technology behind millions of units produced every day.

Material practically banned for almost 90 years makes a strong comeback in construction: made of hemp and lime, it insulates 15 times more than concrete, absorbs CO₂ over the centuries, and challenges an industry that helped push it out of the market.

Cities That Became Concrete Jungles: Incredible ‘Green’ Skyscrapers Covered in Plants Are Revolutionizing Urban Centers Around the World

Urban Innovation: How Vertical Forests Combine Bioarchitecture, Sustainability, and Well-Being

Bosco Verticale in Milan: Surprising Result Was the First Vertical Forest in the World

Sustainable Evolution in Cities

Entire Cities of Green

Benefits of Green in the Concrete Jungle

Experts’ Perspective

Even Being Emblematic Projects, Questions Arise:

The Look to the Future

While an average building in London or New York takes three years to be completed, in China a 26-story tower went up in five days with about 100 workers, and the global modular construction market already moves US$ 95 billion per year.

Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

Goodbye traditional washing machine: Panasonic surprises housewives with the NA-G5 featuring four drums, a 13 kg washer and dryer, a 12 kg dryer, independent mini washers, a heat pump, and a 4-in-1 system awarded at the German Design Award.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

While communities suffer from water scarcity and the advancing desert, women in Morocco use nets high up in the mountains to trap fog droplets, fill reservoirs, and transport drinking water through more than 10 km of piping.

Changan and Chery promise mass production of solid-state batteries with 1,500 kilometers of range in 2027 while Tesla still uses lithium and Toyota only promises to deliver theirs in 2028.

How to make charcoal in the backyard using a small oven covered with galvanized sheets and sealed with fine soil, in a traditional Filipino technique called pugon that yields up to one and a half bags of charcoal per burn.

You won’t believe how industrial egg production works in Brazil and the level of technology behind millions of units produced every day.

Material practically banned for almost 90 years makes a strong comeback in construction: made of hemp and lime, it insulates 15 times more than concrete, absorbs CO₂ over the centuries, and challenges an industry that helped push it out of the market.

The Brazilian who saw value where everyone saw trash: entrepreneur transforms discarded cans into durable furniture, creates patented technique, and shows that sustainability can turn into income and future.

Volkswagen admits to Reuters that the value of its cars is falling in Brazil due to the aggressive entry of Chinese companies like BYD, but asserts that it will not enter a price war and believes it is well-positioned to hold back the advance.

How to make charcoal in the backyard using a small oven covered with galvanized sheets and sealed with fine soil, in a traditional Filipino technique called pugon that yields up to one and a half bags of charcoal per burn.

You won’t believe how industrial egg production works in Brazil and the level of technology behind millions of units produced every day.

Material practically banned for almost 90 years makes a strong comeback in construction: made of hemp and lime, it insulates 15 times more than concrete, absorbs CO₂ over the centuries, and challenges an industry that helped push it out of the market.