Green Roofs

Green roofs are like gardens on top of buildings. They are covered in soil and plants that catch and soak up rainwater. This helps stop water from rushing into drains and causing floods.

What do green roofs do?

• Catch and soak up rainwater
• Clean the air
• Keep buildings warm in winter and cool in summer
• Give roofs purpose and improve biodiversity

How can they be used?

• Create spaces for people to relax and enjoy
• Growing food, like in the Netherlands where people have allotments on rooftops!
• Greening smaller things like bus stops or bin stores to create biodiversity

Ideas for Newcastle

There are green roofs in some buildings in the city like university buildings and hotels, but we have lots of large, flat rooftops that would be great for a roof garden. Shopping centres like Eldon Square for example could be a great opportunity!

In Rotterdam they built DakPark, above a shopping centre which is a large open space for people to use.  It's a great way to turn unused, ugly spaces to a place that people can use and enjoy.