Index Anillo Verde de Vitoria-Gasteiz

After 15 years of existence, today the Green Belt project finds itself at an intermediate stage in its development with regard to its size and the diversity of the objectives and functions.

As far as its physical development is concerned, the project is at an advanced stage. There are several consolidated spaces but there are a number of degraded areas still pending recovery. In the future, the Green Belt will occupy a surface area of almost 1.010 hectares.

On the other hand, access to some points of the Green Belt continued to be difficult and the network of connections between the different parks and the city and the mountain areas are not completely solved.

Regarding its use by the public, it can be said that although the overall numbers of visitors show an upward trend, some parts of the Green Belt have "relatively low" or "lower" visitor levels and require preferential attention for their promotion and/or enhancement.

Although we should not forget that there is still a lot to do, the future is promising. There are many ideas, proposals and initiatives to consolidate the physical and social identity of this space, which aims to be an example of integrated territorial management to strike a balance between public use, urban planning considerations and the conservation of natural values.

Objectives, challenges and proposals

The objectives in the short and medium term point to the physical and functional consolidation of the Green Belt and take the form of the following challenges and actions:

• Complete the extension and development of spaces at the consolidation stage
• Restore and develop the planned spaces and connecting corridors
  In addition to the actions planned for the development of the new parks, it is expected to connect the different periurban spaces that will convert the Green Belt into a fundamental biological corridor between the main natural systems of the municipality: the Mountains of Vitoria and the river Zadorra, connected in turn with a second and more extensive natural Belt formed by the Badaia and Arrato mountain ranges, the Natural Park of Gorbeia and the Zadorra reservoir system
• Intensify promotional and educational activities and public use through new environmental actions and equipment
  Some of these activities include the construction of the Nature Interpretation Centre “Ataria”, on the Salburua park and the creation of a botanical garden in Olarizu.
• Seek the involvement of social agents and the population in general in the conservation of the Green Belt
  It is planned to start up a system of environmental volunteers as well as the extension of the current programme of environmental education activities. Another of the strategic alliance for the coming years is the increase in the dissemination of the values of the parks both among the general public and among the scientific community, conservationists, etc
• Carry out continuous monitoring of the development of the spaces and their uses and increase our knowledge of them
  Over the coming years, it is planned to consolidate Salburua as an area for scientific research and to initiate lines of study and research in the other parks in the Green Belt in order to increase our knowledge of them and their management
• Improve the instruments that help us to plan and manage the Green Belt
  We are working on the possibility of ensuring the preservation and protection of the Green Belt by legal means
• Determine and limit urban development actions in this territory
  With regard to the previous point, the Green Belt must determine the design and implementation of new infrastructures and residential areas involved in the expansion of the city, including environmental criteria to respect the area around the Green Belt as well as its entity and functionality

Last update: 10/03/2007