Husqvarna, a world leader in outdoor power products, unveils a global survey on urban parks and green spaces in 2030. The survey results from landscaping architecture students in 15 countries points to the growth of green spaces in urban areas in size and importance, maintained with the support of sensors, robotics, drones and citizens. To explore the report findings, Husqvarna is setting up a robotic pilot to calculate sustainability and productivity gains, and help in the quest to collect data for sustainability research.

Given urbanization, sustainability and the rapid development of technology, what will the future urban park look like in 2030? This was what Husqvarna asked 533 landscaping architect students in 15 countries, representing 60 universities, in order to understand how the decision makers in 2030 view the role and the park, allowing Husqvarna to develop solutions and products that meet future needs for green space management.

“The need for green spaces is growing, and it is inspiring to think about how green spaces in cities can come to be maintained in 2030. In our quest to explore new opportunities to drive this industry forward, I am excited to announce that Husqvarna will conduct an urban robotic park pilot in Stockholm to put the report findings to the test, learning more about the possibility to increase sustainability and productivity in professional landscaping in urban areas,” says Pavel Hajman, President of the Husqvarna Division.  

Key findings from the report

• Students agree that the number one purpose of the park is to have a positive environmental impact on the cities they inhabit, reduce air and water pollution, mitigate urban heat waves, lower noise levels, and generate positive outputs.    

  • 92% of students say that the key purpose of parks in 2030 will be to have a positive environmental impact on the surrounding cities, acting as the cities’ ‘lungs’.  

  • 86% say parks will encourage sustainable living

  • 61% say future parks will produce sustainable energy

• There is a global consensus amongst the students that green spaces in urban areas will increase in total size and become more accessible, versatile and multifunctional, redefining the park concept.

  • 71% believe parks will take up more urban space than today, the biggest increase will come from new smaller parks and pop-up parks situated on rooftops, vertical green spaces and abandoned sites.

  • 64% prefer a diverse nature over a more uniform design – more wilderness and less lawn.

• Technology will play an increasing role in enabling sustainable urban parks, improving the environment and connecting people with nature.

  • 98% of students are positive to use new technology in parks.

  • 63% would like to include sensors to track the park health.

  • 47% say robots and drones will be an important part of park maintenance.

• The new role and use of parks suggests that park maintenance will require more specialists to care for the increasingly diverse nature, yet park upkeep is expected to become a task shared between professionals, citizens, and robots.

  • 77% want parks to be open 24 hours a day.

  • 53% wish for park maintenance to be done any time of the day to cater for increased use and access.

  • 64% of students believe volunteers from the community will support park maintenance together with professionals and automated solutions.

Urban robotic mower pilot and data collection

As the report indicates, automatization will play a bigger role in the future of taking care of parks. For this reason beginning in 2017, Husqvarna and the city of Stockholm will run a pilot beginning in 2017 that looks into how robotic mowers can improve sustainability and productivity in urban green spaces. The robotic mowers will be equipped with sensors to collect data on air quality, light, sound and rain water. The data will be collected by the non-profit organization Quantified Planet to support research for sustainability.

“One of the biggest roadblocks to reach the United Nations development goals is data. We have created the Global Goals Lab to innovate strategies for real and near-real time data collection, to mobilise the tech sector towards inventive solutions for the goals. We are hoping to expand the Stockholm pilot to other metropolitan areas in the world”, says Maja Brisvall, Executive Director of Quantified Planet.

The full report and images can be downloaded via www.husqvarna.com/silentcity