AkzoNobel Provides Essential Ingredient for
Cities to Embrace Urban Gardens
The power of urban gardens to re- vitalize cities and make people’s lives more liveable and inspiring
is being showcased by AkzoNobel at
the Habitat III Conference on Housing
and Sustainable Urban Development,
which starts today in Quito, the capital
of Ecuador.
As part of the event’s Habitat III
Village, a vertical garden has been created to help transform a bleak expanse of
concrete into a colorful and more attractive space for local residents. The garden
has no soil and is based on a hydroponic
system, which uses micronutrients supplied by AkzoNobel to provide essential
minerals for the plants.
Organized by the United Nations,
Habitat III is one of the most important global conferences focused on
urban development and making cities
more sustainable.
“A growing world population concentrated around cities is presenting ever-increasing challenges to the
urban environment,” explained Geert-Jan Beijering, Commercial Manager for
AkzoNobel’s Micronutrients business in
the Americas.
“Making urban areas more pleas-
ant and hospitable is fundamental to
our global Human Cities initiative,” he
continued. “It’s also closely linked to
the company’s Planet Possible approach
to sustainability. So the garden in Quito
is an excellent example of how we can
help improve urban environments by
providing solutions that can bring vital-
ity and practicality.”
The company’s micronutrients have
been used to help create the garden,
which conceals the concrete wall of a
parking lot. Micronutrients are essential
for hydroponic-based growing systems
that do not use soil, such as vertical gar-
dens and sustainable greenhouse crops.
They are also ideal for urban farming,
rooftop gardens and enable plants to be
grown in areas where space is an issue - a
major problem in many cities.
The garden itself is located within
the “Ruta de la Experiencia”, a people-
friendly route designed to improve the
lives of local citizens. The Ruta was devel-
oped by AkzoNobel in conjunction with
several partners, who have joined forces
to form a public-private partnership fo-
cused on improving urban environments
around the world.
“We are very proud to be partici-
pating in the Habitat III event,” added
Peter Kuijpers, General Manager of
AkzoNobel’s Chelates and Micronutrients
business. “We are also working on a plan
to educate the local municipality about
care and maintenance so that the gar-
den will continue to bring vitality to the
area long after Habitat III ends. There are
many opportunities for our micronutri-
ent product family to offer valuable solu-
tions to the rapid urbanization trend and
we are committed to playing a key role
in this.”
The Habitat III Conference is designed
to reinvigorate the global commitment to
sustainable urbanization. Its mission is to
adopt a New Urban Agenda, which will
set global standards of achievement in
sustainable urban development. CW
Index to Companies
This index gives the starting page for a department or feature with a significant reference to a manufacturer of paint, coatings, adhesives and sealants
Subsidiaries are indexed under their own names.
AkzoNobel .....................................................................................8, 10, 23, 31
Axalta Coating Systems............................................................................. 10, 23
BASF ............................................................................................................... 10
Behr ................................................................................................................ 31
Benjamin Moore ....................................................................................... 10, 31
Diamond Vogel ............................................................................................... 31
Dunn-Ed wards ................................................................................................ 31
Hempel ........................................................................................................... 46
PPG................................................................................................ 10, 23, 31. 58
RPM ............................................................................................................... 10
Sherwin-Williams ...................................................................................... 10, 31
Sika ................................................................................................................. 10
Tnemec ........................................................................................................... 10
Valspar...................................................................................................... 10, 36
