Abstract
Green infrastructure (GI) is globally recognised as an essential component of liveable and sustainable places. It is valued for its multifunctionality and the connectedness of the individual features to each other, the surrounding countryside and urban populations. It brings together many land uses (e.g. parks, gardens, cemeteries, allotments, nature reserves, surface water), urban design (e.g. street trees, landscaping) and functional features (e.g. sustainable urban drainage systems, green roofs) operating at differing spatial scales. It is widely acknowledged that GI is the primary mechanism for delivering ecosystem services in towns and cities, and there is a substantial body of research demonstrating the multiple benefits of GI to urban populations. Despite this evidence base, there is still considerable uncertainty about the best way to design, deliver and maintain GI. This paper presents an emerging benchmark that has been developed through a combination of literature review and engagement with key stakeholders. It provides a suite of standards that are flexible enough to be used across different spatial scales depending on the specific needs of the location, covering the form and function of GI including nature conservation, water management, health and well-being, environmental and design quality. It allows an assessment of GI policy, and the planning, design, delivery and long-term management of GI in new and existing places, ensuring that current good practice is adopted at all stages. The development of the benchmark to date is summarised along with the outcome of preliminary testing using the outline planning applications for two contrasting mixed-use developments. This found that the benchmark performed well, with standards set at a level to ensure that high-quality GI is rewarded but without requiring a level of GI provision and quality that would only be expected on truly exemplary developments. Plans for the future development and testing of the benchmark are provided.
Highlights
Green infrastructure (GI) is recognised globally as an essential component of liveable and sustainable places
Reference was made to the local planning policy to ascertain to what extent local policies and priorities had been considered in the proposed GI
The primary reasons for this are that the individual features of GI do not form a multifunctional network and there is very little information provided on the specific features of GI that will be included in the development and how they relate to the needs and priorities of the area
Summary
Green infrastructure (GI) is recognised globally as an essential component of liveable and sustainable places. These include those operating at a societal level, for example, through improvements to health and well-being and reduced risks to property and infrastructure (e.g. from flooding); and to the local economy through increased inward investment [13], increased tourism and visitors [14] and property prices [15,16,17]. The evidence base for GI demonstrates that successful delivery is a multi-disciplinary and multi-sector endeavour It requires the effective collaboration of a range of built environment professionals (e.g. architects, planners, developers, urban designers, landscape architects, civil engineers) and other disciplines including ecologists, environmental scientists, arboriculturalists and public health experts. What is lacking is a benchmark that provides a full assessment of GI, including its design, features, connectivity and long-term management This is important as often the provision of GI set out during the planning stages of a development is not delivered during construction.
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