Marquês Garden, located in Praça da República, is a green space with 4.875 m².
This landscaped square, featuring an avenue of around 343 Plane Trees (Platanus hispanica), has undergone several improvements over the years, transforming it into a space that serves important leisure and conservation functions for the urban ecosystem.
In 2015, work was carried out to unblock the drainage system and improve the paved areas, where gravel was reapplied – a natural, porous and permeable material, composed of clay, sand and rock fragments, which has good drainage capacity. This ensures the sustainable management of rainwater, allowing it to infiltrate the soil.
Subsequently, in 2018, all the lighting in the square was replaced with LED technology, reducing energy consumption and lowering CO₂ emissions.
Finally, in 2020, the garden underwent improvements involving the redesign of its vegetation, which included the planting of camellias around each of the seating areas, making this green space even more inviting for various species of wildlife, such as pollinators and birds.
Therefore, the Marquês Garden currently fulfils a number of environmental functions, such as CO₂ sequestration and mitigation, the promotion of biodiversity, thermal regulation, thereby mitigating the ‘heat island’ effect commonly found in urban centres, whilst also enhancing rainwater infiltration, preventing flooding and maintaining the water table that sustains the city’s trees and plants.
The rehabilitation of this garden is part of the ongoing project to restore and expand the city’s green spaces, an area identified as a priority within the municipal strategy, with a view to make the municipality more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
