Abstract
The advocacy argument for green infrastructure has largely been won. Policy and statutory guidance for green infrastructure planning and development exists at international, national and regional/local levels and the functions and benefits of green infrastructure interventions are well evidenced in academic literature. To support this, professional bodies and experts from the built and natural environment have produced a multitude of practice guidance on the delivery of individual green infrastructure features. And yet, examples of high quality green infrastructure in new development schemes remain difficult to find, and the success of statutory guidance to accelerate this phenomenon surprisingly ineffective to manage change within the development sector. This paper presents a new framework for the delivery of high quality green infrastructure. Consultation with stakeholders in the UK suggested that a key factor affecting the translation of green infrastructure evidence, and policy and practice guidance, into delivery through planning and development is a lack of confidence amongst practitioners regarding the qualities and characteristics of high quality green infrastructure in the built environment. The key characteristics of high quality green infrastructure, based on a review of both academic and grey literature, and extensive work with stakeholders are grouped into principles that underpin high quality green infrastructure (including the presence of a multifunctional network, and provision for long-term management), and principles related to health and wellbeing, water management and nature conservation. The resulting framework is presented as twenty three principles for delivering green infrastructure. This can be used internationally as a set of standards to assess the quality of green infrastructure to ensure that it contributes to quality of life, health and wellbeing of individuals and communities, flood resilient towns and cities, and places where nature can flourish and be more viable as a result of development.
Highlights
There is a substantial body of evidence from research and practice that green infrastructure provides benefits to people and society
The framework for high quality green infrastructure has been developed to provide clarity for those engaged in the delivery of green infrastructure across the built environment sector
It is organised across four areas: core principles, and principles related to health and wellbeing, sustainable water management and nature conservation outcomes
Summary
There is a substantial body of evidence from research and practice that green infrastructure provides benefits to people and society. Frumkin et al, 2017; Hunter et al, 2015; Jeanjean et al, 2016); protect and enhance urban biodiversity (Sadler et al, 2010); contribute to a high quality built environment (Payne and Barker, 2015); reduce the urban heat island (UHI); and support environmental quality and adaptation to climate change (Demuzere et al, 2014; Zölch et al, 2016) This evidence has been important in making the economic case for green infrastructure investment, demonstrating its value to policy makers, planners, the property development sector and others responsible for the form and quality of the built environment (Sinnett et al, 2018a). Sustainable drainage (SuDS) features such as ponds and swales provide for water attenuation, contribute to enhancing water
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