– The landscaping of the Libakert housing estate, the Old Garden, the Salt House and the Sestakert has been completed. The development of Tócövölgy and Újkert is in progress, and the program of the Green City of Tócóskerti will start soon, Mayor László Papp summarized his future development plans at a press conference held in Nagyerdő on Thursday afternoon.

In addition to the renewal of the green areas, he highlighted the city’s afforestation program. By the spring of next year, 5,000,639 trees and 40,000 seedlings will be planted in Debrecen. When the planting of the planned 10,000 trees is completed, an area of ​​32 hectares will be shaded.

Decommissioning the city center

Surprisingly, the development of transport is also an important element of the city’s sustainability, according to the mayor. He spoke of criticism of the investment in Bethlen Street, which also affected the greening of the road widening.

– Our urban development policy is not random, but its parts are built on each other. The development of Bethlen Street and University Avenue will serve the efficient operation of the city boulevard system. This section intersects the small and large boulevards, where you can effectively connect more and more traffic.

When the third, final section of the small circuit is completed, the traffic within the ring road surrounding the narrow downtown will start to be dampened, in some places completely excluded. The next pace of downtown traffic reduction is to integrate the section of Piac Street between Kossuth and Szent Anna Street into the downtown pedestrian zone. This will be followed by the decommissioning of the section leading to Erzsébet Street

He projected.

The power of water and the sun

László Papp called the Civaqua program the greatest achievement from a nature conservation point of view. – Our city without natural running water will be connected to the Eastern Canal within two years. This will protect the Nagyerdő in Debrecen from complete dehydration, restore the condition of the Fancsikai lakes and open up a new opportunity. The next development phase of the Tócóvölgy also includes a park of tens of thousands of square meters, where water also plays a role. The sustainability character of Debrecen is strengthened by the solar park to be established on the south side of the airport. The capacity of the 52-hectare solar power plant will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33,000 tons per year. From the beginning of next year, the aging bus fleet will also be replaced, supplemented by 12 environmentally friendly, fully electric buses, the mayor said.

Deputy mayor Ákos Balázs added that afforestation is not just about increasing green space. – The establishment of protected forests plays a key role in reducing air pollution. Especially on the side of the city where dust pollution from the field degrades air quality.

To achieve this, we will announce the public procurement procedure later this year, so afforestation can take place in the spring.

This means planting 20,000 seedlings, which affects the area next to the Vértessy mansion, the section behind the stores on Vincellér Street, the area behind Tócövölgy and at the end of Vezér Street, said Ákos Balázs.

The deputy mayor also receives an initiative: from spring, the citizens of Debrecen will be able to adopt a tree. To do this, city care provides the seedling itself, a watering bag and a telephone app that coordinates the tree professionally.

HL