Are Green Guides Really Green?

Critical remarks on the standard of greening and garden maintenance of the city of Vilnius and its predecessor

Abstract

The author of the article analyses the provisions of the Vilnius City Greening and Plantation Maintenance Standard – a new (2024) publication of the Vilnius City Municipality. It is called the Second Standard because the First standard, which regulates the maintenance and landscaping of city streets, Vilnius City Municipality Street Infrastructure Standard was published earlier, in 2021. Critical notes are provided for both publications. 
Both, the First “green” Vilnius Street Infrastructure Standard (2021) and the Second, new Vilnius City Greening and Maintenance of Plantations Standard (2024) will guide and encourage the wise, scientific user to think critically and act independently. Blind, literal following of these documents will hardly lead to a green, sustainable city, because there are many unfinished, debatable details. And as it has already been repeated many times, this Second Standard (2024) and its graphic expression should receive corrections in the administration of the Vilnius city municipality. We should once again return to his formulations, relying on the penetrating eye and wisdom of editors and specialists, scientific and practical knowledge, correct them, edit them – in other words, rebalance the degree of greenness maturity and sustainability.