Shaping Monaco’s future vision by bringing nature back into the city

Grant Associates has collaborated with the Government of Monaco on Bringing Nature Back into the City – a long-term vision that places nature at the heart of the Principality’s future development.

The initiative establishes a strategic framework for strengthening biodiversity, improving public space, enhancing pedestrian connectivity and increasing climate resilience across one of the world’s most densely populated urban environments.

Developed by the Prince’s Government in collaboration with Grant Associates, the vision reflects a simple but ambitious premise: in a highly urbanised territory where every square metre matters, nature cannot be treated as an afterthought. It must become an integral part of how the city evolves.

Rather than proposing a single flagship park or greening scheme, the initiative considers how public spaces, pedestrian movement, biodiversity, climate adaptation and landscape can work together to create a healthier, more resilient and more liveable Monaco.

Monaco is one of the densest urban places on the planet, yet landscape remains fundamental to its identity because of its remarkable setting between mountain and sea. The challenge has been to understand how those natural systems can once again shape the experience of the city. The vision aligns with Monaco’s National Biodiversity Strategy and considers how biodiversity, mobility, climate resilience and public health can be addressed together through landscape-led design.

Andrew Grant, Founder and Director of Grant Associates

For Grant Associates, the brief was to rethink the relationship between landscape and urban development in one of the world’s most challenging environments. That philosophy underpins the vision. Working from a detailed analysis of Monaco’s urban form, landscape setting and environmental conditions, the team explored how ecological networks could become more visible throughout the Principality. A central idea was reconnecting Monaco’s extraordinary natural setting – from the limestone mountains behind the city to the Mediterranean Sea – through a network of green and blue corridors that allow biodiversity to permeate the urban fabric while creating cooler, more comfortable public spaces.

Where possible, these nature-based corridors will integrate habitat and people movement alongside each other, creating a meaningful reconnection of people and nature in this dramatic urban setting. The strategy also imagines unique stand-alone outcrops carved from limestone and supporting a range of microhabitats. These rocky outcrops, or planted totems called ‘Monacoliths’, have the potential to become emblematic of the wider vision whilst adding unique features to Monaco’s public realm.

Project team

• Grant Associates – Landscape vision, framework and design leadership
• Biodiversity by Design – Ecology and biodiversity
• Studio 4215 – Public realm microclimate and comfort
• Arup – Sustainable development, resilience, water management and civil engineering
• Speirs Major – Lighting strategy
• Nadina Galle – Urban tree canopy and green space analysis
• Ecometrx – Ecosystem services assessment
• Space Syntax – Walking and cycling movement analysis
• Tim O’Hare – Soils strategy
• RLB | SQA – Cost consultancy
• Ingérop – Project management, civil engineering and cost estimation
• Passage Projects – Structural engineering