The local shops of 82nd Street have invariably been susceptible to economic inequity and climate injustice. Around 30% of the businesses are temporarily/permanently closed in the street. Dense urban footprint and climate injustice have given birth to spaces that barely impart cognitive restoration for employees. The only traversable elevation in the street is the currently overlooked roofs.
NYC is home to only 0.1% of buildings with green roofs. Designing a business model that can introduce “flat-packed” green roofs into the street can centralize infrastructural control for business owners. Furthermore, adding a self-installed layer of hydro-infrastructure can curate a performative structure that visually re-activates the connection between roofs and the street thereby attracting the public to visit.
Using the initiatives of the NYC government and investors, this modular tapestry of botany, functionality, and hydrology can expand the benefits of green roofs from environmental to financial.
Climate and financial incentives for green roofs can create a community of business owners that are most self-sufficient and also give a unique attribute of self-appropriation to the metropolis.
So, look up.
