Potential assessment and implementation strategy for roof greening in highly urbanized areas: A case study in Shenzhen,China

Greenery on buildings is an innovative approach used to solve urban and architectural environment problems, also served as a key element of the urban green space system. As a typical highly urbanized area in China, Shenzhen is densely populated and built up, making it short for greenery land, which means promoting roof greening is of great importance. This paper establishes an evaluation method for roof greening constructability by distinguishing existing buildings and planned buildings. Based on the results of a potential assessment, an implementation strategy is derived from two aspects: space and time guidelines. The potential suitable areas for roof greening of existing and planned buildings are 859.76 ha and 1039.64 ha. Based on potential assessment, this paper demarcates 32 key areas for roof greening and clarifies the construction modes of key areas promote the roof greening scale effect. Finally, the paper establishes a strategy of priority order for implementing roof greening according to the type and characteristics of buildings. The particularity of inventory development in highly urbanized areas has been taken into consideration when constructing a method for evaluating roof greening. The space and time guidelines can provide a reference for effectively promoting project implementation, improving sustainable urban development.