This time next week we will all be at FutureScape with the eyes from abroad staring at the excitement at the ExCeL in London.

But before we get lost in the delight of the UK’s leading landscaping trade exhibition, let’s take a moment to breathe and look abroad to see what is happening across the globe.

First of all, we head to New York for some quite remarkable architecture that could revolutionise how we optimise green architecture.

Conceptual skyscraper reaches to the future

Oxman Design has showcased its Eden Tower conceptual skyscraper, which features a layer of rings progressively building higher, but in a way that allows it to include as much green space as possible.

While just a concept at this stage, the company is pursuing what they call ‘ecological programming’.

It is trying to figure out how to create masterplans, building layouts and building forms that increase biodiversity and resilience.

This means structures like the Eden Tower are important steps into thinking differently about green architecture and seeing what could be possible.

While there are no plans to construct the tower as of yet, it has announced a partnership with Australian developer Goodman Group for what it describes as “an integrated series of lab-tested master-planning scenarios that maximise the ecological presence and utility of the built environment.”

Yet New York is far from the only place which had exciting green development announcements in the past week.

Ghent gives green light for sustainable building

The Belgian city of Ghent is working with the Flanders regional government on a two-year, €5.5m project to make green-inclusive building the norm.

Three demonstration projects will be ongoing as a part of this, In the Rattendalepark in Ghent, a wildlife tower for tawny owls, stone martens and bats will be built.

A new competition tower at the Watersportbaan will have a roof where terns can breed and on the old abbey walls of the Saint-Bavo Abbey, a green roof with grass and plants that retains water so that it does not penetrate the walls will be installed.

As part of the project, methodologies and tools for support and participation are being developed to help nature-inclusive construction become the new normal, while project developers, builders, architects and policy officers are also being trained and retrained.

The project will run until the end of August 2026, but represents an exciting time for the green building in Belgium.

Now we head off to Hong Kong, for news of some awards.

Prizes for green perspectives

The winners of the Best Landscape Award for Private Property Development 2024 were announced at a prize presentation ceremony.

There were 13 properties with outstanding landscape design and quality horticultural maintenance which were rewarded with Gold Awards.

To commend organisations for their efforts in greening and enhancing public awareness of green issues, 30 Merit Awards and 12 Environmental Efficiency Awards were also given out at the ceremony.

It was organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and it represents one of its major activities to promote greening.

The LCSD is making a huge push for greener spaces and last year it installed 500 flowering trees in Sha Tin Park and along Shing Mun River and Yuen Long Nullah.

Over the next five years, it plans to plant an additional 2,500 trees in leisure venues and along roads across all the 18 districts to create more flower-viewing hotspots.

Now we head down to the Australian city of Adelaide, which is consulting on a truly massive plan.

Long-distance vision for Adelaide

The South Australian government is returning for more feedback regarding a 30-year vision for suitable development.

The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan previously obtained feedback last year across a three-month consultation period.

It covers a huge 11,000m2 area from Cape Jervis to Murray Bridge, it includes Barossa Valley and goes up to the edge of Port Wakefield.

It highlights suitable areas for a future 315,000 houses and emphasising green space for the area, which is home to 1.5 million people.

The consultation closes on 4 November of this year, with the plan to be finalised early next year. More information about the plan can be found online.

Now in a similar theme to last week, we head over to Canada for the light-hearted coda to the piece, with a slight reminder of Halloween.

Canadian family display true pumpkinship

A family in Vancouver won a contest after growing a huge, 1,161lb pumpkin in their front garden.

It was big enough to warrant its own nickname, being called Orangina by its growers, the Polay family.

It won the annual contest at Krause Berry Farms in Langley and remarkably, it’s victory was by a mere two pounds.

“My kids will tell you, I spend more time with the pumpkin than them sometimes,” says Mike Polay to CTV News.

Now, if 1,161lb sounds like a lot for a pumpkin, then you might be surprised to hear that it isn’t even half of the world record, which stands at 2,702lb and was set in Italy in 2021.