Abstract
Due to increasing urbanization, cities including Seattle are seeking creative means of increasing the amount of greenspace in their urban environments. Green walls are one example of including natural elements on vertical surfaces that are often left unutilized. Green walls have been linked to a wide range of benefits regarding sustainability. Compared to the social elements of sustainability, much more attention has been given to the environmental and economic factors. This project explores the public social benefits of green walls in order to determine if green walls are a feasible means of creatively including more sustainable greenspace in urban areas. The identified benefits are individually explained regarding their connections to sustainability. An additional component of this project is a set of site evaluations and a survey exploring public opinions on the benefits of green walls. This results in a report that addresses the potential benefits of green walls, in addition to the challenges, with specific examples in Seattle. This product is intended to provide insight on the feasibility of using green walls to contribute to the public social benefit while simultaneously incorporating necessary greenspace into urban areas.