Abstract
Since the mid-1990s, the concept of Green Infrastructure (GI) has been gaining traction in fields such as ecology and forestry, (landscape) architecture, environmental and hydrological engineering, public health as well as urban and regional planning. Definitions and aims ascribed to GI vary. Yet, agreement broadly exists on GI’s ability to contribute to sustainability by means of supporting, for example, biodiversity, human and animal health, and storm water management as well as mitigating urban heat island effects. Given an acknowledged role of planners in delivering sustainable cities and towns, professional bodies have highlighted the need for spatial planners to understand and implement GI. This raises questions of what sort of GI knowledge planners may require and moreover by whom and how GI knowledge and competencies may be conveyed? Examining knowledge and skills needs vis-à-vis GI education opportunities indicates a provision reliant primarily on continued professional education and limited ad hoc opportunities in Higher Education. The resulting knowledge base appears fragmented with limited theoretical foundations leading the authors to argue that a systematic inclusion of green infrastructure knowledges in initial planning education is needed to promote and aid effective GI implementation.
Highlights
Since the mid-1990s, the concept of green infrastructure (GI) has gained increasing traction in built and natural environment associated fields
Using more standard survey methods looking at spatial/urban/regional planning degrees programmes in the UK, we found the following modules at Undergraduate or Postgraduate level with explicit titles incorporating GI: at the University of Manchester students of the BSc Planning and Environmental Management have access to a module on Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities, likewise the University of Liverpool offers an optional module on Green Infrastructure Planning for planning related degrees (BA in Geography and Planning/Urban Planning and integrated MA in Urban Planning)
Four decades from first introducing the concept of GI in spatial planning literature (e.g., Hauserman, 1995; Walmsley, 1995), a proliferation of reports and guidance on the subject have soundly established a central role for GI in planning for sustainable cities and regions (e.g., American Planning Association, 2007; Environmental Protection Agency, 2014; Royal Town Planning Institute, 2013; UN Habitat, 2017)
Summary
Since the mid-1990s, the concept of green infrastructure (GI) has gained increasing traction in built and natural environment associated fields. These include ecology, forestry, (landscape) architecture, environmental and hydrological engineering, public health, and urban and regional planning. Urban Planning, 2021, Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 63–74 management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle” (American Rivers, n.d.). As such it offers a cost-efficient approach to meet the requirements of the national Clean Water Act (Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic and the Environmental Policy Initiative, 2014). Benedict and McMahon (2002), coming from a landscape architecture and planning background, go as far as labelling GI as a life support system for communities, which contributes to but is essential for environmental and economic sustainability
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