Whether to increase access to ecosystem services or to help mitigate the effects of climate change, pressure is growing to increase the potential of greenspace within cities. On the one hand, the demands of population and economic growth in conjunction with limited city budgets make it difficult to allocate large land areas as green space. On the other, small urban spaces such as, inner courtyards, back alley ways, abandoned plots, facades, roofs and street verges are underutilized and offer the potential of being transformed into green infrastructure. Do these small urban plots have the potential to make a big impact on urban quality of life?
The thinking behind urban acupuncture is that small selective adjustments to cities can have large impacts. Acupuncture – well known as the traditional Chinese practice of inserting fine needles through the skin to cure disease or relieve pain – was adapted in urban development in the previous two decades. Architects like Jamie Lerner and Marco Casagrande applied the concept to promote social and cultural transformations in several Cities. More recently, this concept has gained traction within the field of urban landscape development.
We would like to ask the following questions:

Preliminary results of the SALUTE4CE project (2019-2022) will be presented. The project has been designed within the framework of Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE program and consists of a consortium of researchers and practitioners examining the concept of UEA within 4 European cities. 16 pilot projects are being implemented to transform small urban plots into green infrastructure (www.Interreg-central.eu/SALUTE4CE). We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge, welcoming researchers from all over the world.