The urban forest of the Canòdrom represents the main urban regeneration intervention in the central area of Palma. Since the first expansion plan (Pla Calvet of 1901), it was already planned as the main public park of the city. However, from the 1930s, this space was privatized for betting on races.
It wasn't until the democratic general urban development plan (PGOU 1985) that the idea of a large central park was recovered, this time in the form of the Green Ribbon connecting the Serra de Tramuntana and the Bay of Palma. In 2016, the Master Plan for the regeneration of an area of over 23 hectares was developed, where the 15,000 square meters of the old Canòdrom represented the first phase.
The discovery and recovery of the largest aqueduct in the urban area of Palma have been a key factor in the project. This is the variant of the Síquia de la Font de Vila, which, since the 14th century, supplied water to the dyers' guild located in this area. Parallel to the aqueduct is the torrent de sa Riera, which was diverted in the 17th century after the severe floods that had devastated much of the area around the Rambla of the city at that time.
This anthropized space over the centuries has been integrated into the green infrastructure strategy of the New General Plan of the city, forming part of the network of ecological corridors that connect the Serra de Tramuntana with the Bay of Palma. The goal is to adapt the city to the effects of the climate emergency through nature-based solutions. This connectivity offers a route for the entry of organisms and diasporas from the Serra and prevents the formation of metapopulation and genetic drift, essential for maintaining biodiversity and allowing this urban space to be gradually colonized by useful biodiversity, thanks to the richness of species and trophic and collateral relationships.
The solution to maintaining Mediterranean species with satisfactory water conditions to promote evapotranspiration leads to the recovery and reforestation of tree covers, creating a mix with dominant plants that provide intense transpiration in optimal conditions and that support certain stress and hydraulic resilience in unfavorable situations.
Improving soil permeability allows heat loss through evaporation and the filtration of rainwater into the subsoil, reducing the negative effects of torrential rains. In addition, breathable materials with high thermal albedo improve the capacity to incorporate cohesive and capillary water into the evaporable sandstone, minimizing its heating and avoiding thermal return during the night.
The conduction of marine breezes ("embat") and land breezes favors the evaporation of water from permeable soils and pavements and the evapotranspiration of plants.
The urban forest plays an important role in the face of the climate emergency, on the one hand, in terms of adaptation, with a decrease in temperature compared to the external zone of the park during the hottest months, consolidating the cooling effect as the vegetation develops. On the other hand, the important role of mitigation through the sequestration of more than 120 tons of CO2 incorporated in the form of active biomass over the next 30 years.
The co-design and co-execution process has been carried out hand in hand with educational centers in the area, implementing learning in real contexts, fostering empowerment, and co-responsibility for a public space management system based on urban stewardship.
