This French city was once a crime hub. It could teach Melbourne how to green its laneways

Instead of submitting to top-down ideas, maybe it’s time for the people of Melbourne to let their green thumbs go wild.

The street I’m currently living on in Marseille, France, is the width of a car. I know this because the last time someone drove down it, no one could get in or out until the car slowly backed out again. On either side of the narrow road, old, once-elegant apartment blocks – four stories high and three windows wide – are hung with faded shutters. They give the residents a facade of privacy. Open them, and I know what my neighbour is watching on TV, what they’re having for dinner, and the colour of their pyjamas. This is the kind of high-density living we’ve yet to truly embrace in Melbourne, but I’m loving it.

My skinny street might be narrow, dusty, and in need of a good makeover, but it does have one redeeming feature. Outside every building is a random collection of sturdy containers – bins, buckets, troughs and pots – all filled with plants, some tall enough to reach the second floor. And even though the street often smells like urine, and every morning there are beer bottles strewn along it, the plants are thriving, a green wall that adds privacy, beauty and shade.

As a result of a project called the Visa vert (Green Visa), implemented by the City of Marseille in 2015, streets like mine have been transformed all over the city. The visa enables people to install plants in public spaces (provided they don’t get in anyone else’s way) so they can contribute to the greening of the city while taking “shared responsibility for public spaces”. Residents who sign up agree to look after the plants, ensure they don’t present a safety hazard and meet general aesthetic and size ground rules.

Unlike the City of Melbourne’s $2.2 million spend for its recent greening program, the budget for the Green Visa in 2015 was just €150,000 for one full-time employee and plant supplies. Since then, additional funding has been added to continue supporting visa holders. One local I spoke to, said that where properties are rented, some landlords even have care for the plants mandated in the lease.

To get participants started, the city issues interested people with a guide. Its ambition is to help participants “express your creativity and your sensitivity while giving you pleasure”. OK, it might be weird if councils started issuing pamphlets with those exact words in Victoria, but the ambition should be applauded. Imagine being helped to transform our streets ourselves instead of having expensive pilot schemes imposed upon us. The cost of failure would be far less and giving people ownership would be more likely to deliver a positive result.

We’ve seen this outcome across Melbourne with the guerrilla gardening movement, where people take over nature strips without asking permission. The results are often quite beautiful, enhancing the look of the street, reducing heat, and increasing biodiversity. The guerrilla gardeners are committed to their spaces and keep them well-maintained. These gardens also create community – like taking a dog for a walk, seeing someone planting or mulching invites conversation. It’s a great option for people living without outdoor spaces, and in a few cases, councils have even gotten on board to support them, but usually not without years of lobbying. Only a few of us can live in leafy suburbs on blocks with large gardens. It’s why so many people have embraced indoor plants. If you live in an apartment or a street without trees, potted plants bring colour, fresh air and life to your space.