Green Your Laneway

The City of Melbourne is calling for people to nominate CBD laneways they would like to see given a green makeover as part of a Green Your Laneway pilot program.

Chair of the City of Melbourne’s Environment Portfolio, Cr Arron Wood said the project will see up to four laneways transformed using a mixture of planter boxes, vertical gardens, climbing plants and trees.

“In a world first, we’ve developed online maps showing the potential to green our city’s laneways. You can use the online map to nominate which laneway in the city you would like to see improved with greenery,” Cr Wood said.

“There are over 200 lanes in our central city but only a small number of these lanes have greenery. This is about making Melbourne’s famous laneways more appealing, green and sustainable places.”

“From growing vertical gardens, to planting trees and creating pocket parks, our laneways have enormous potential to become our city’s backyards.

“We’ve got a target to cool the city’s summertime temperatures by 4c through our award winning Urban Forest Strategy and this is yet another step to green the city. By greening our laneways we can create cooler microclimates, capture stormwater and continue to combat the urban heat island effect. It’s good for the environment, good for the look of our city and great for people.”

The online maps show the different ways that laneways can be suitable for greening. The mapping is based on several factors such as sunlight and wind exposure – with the best lanes coloured dark green, and the least promising coloured red.

Green Your Laneway pilot program details

The online nominations open on Friday 16 October and close Friday 13 November.

An expert panel of engineers, sustainability professionals, landscape architects and place makers will select the final laneways for the pilot program. We’ll then work with owners, residents and workers living adjacent to the laneway to transform it into a green and appealing space.

Visit participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au to view the laneway maps and submit your nomination. You can also volunteer your time and expertise if you have an idea in mind that you would like to see realised.

Alternatively you can join us at the Green Your Laneway information session at 5.30pm to 7:00pm on Wednesday 28 October at Shebeen, in Manchester Lane.

The Green Your Laneway program is being trialled as part of our Love Your Laneway program, which aims to improve the presentation and amenity of Melbourne’s laneways in collaboration with residents and businesses.