First published in 2019 by Lund Humphries
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Green Infrastructure Planning
Ian Mell, 2019
All rights reserved
ISBN (hardback): 9781848222755
ISBN (eBook PDF): 9781848222878
ISBN (eBook ePub): 9781848223028
ISBN (eBook ePub Mobi): 9781848223035
Concise Guides to Planning (Print): ISSN 25168177
Concise Guides to Planning (Online): ISSN 25168185
A Cataloguing-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the permission of the copyright owners and publishers. Every effort has been made to seek permission to reproduce the images in this book. Any omissions are entirely unintentional, and details should be addressed to the publishers.
Ian Mell has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
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Cover illustration by Stefi Orazi
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Images Ian Mell, p. 32 Puravankara
Dedication
For Theofila and Franciscothis hopefully explains why we talk about trees and grass and spend so much time in parks.
Contents
Foreword by Graham Haughton
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Introduction: Why Do We Need Green Infrastructure?
Chapter 2
What Does Green Infrastructure Do for Us? Connectivity, Access to Nature and Establishing Multi-functionality
Chapter 3
How Do People Interact with Landscapes? Understanding the Value of Green Infrastructure
Chapter 4
What Does Green Infrastructure Look Like?
Chapter 5
Bigger, Bolder and Better: Innovation in Green Infrastructure Practice
Chapter 6
How Do We Plan for Green Infrastructure? Linking Policy, Guidance and Practice
Chapter 7
What Next for Green Infrastructure?
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Foreword
This excellent book provides a unique introduction to green infrastructure, taking the reader through the basics of what it is and grappling with some of the intricacies of putting ideas into practice. One of the great strengths of the book is that it is a joy to read, helped by the copious use of well-illustrated case study material drawn from around the world, in particular China, France, Germany, India, the UK and USA.
I took home three key messages from this book, though I know there could have been many more. First, that green infrastructure is as much about people as it is about nature, particularly in cities. This is linked to the idea of multi-functionality: that we should be looking to create green infrastructure that can deliver environmental, social and economic advantages. The second message is that there is a fast-growing repertoire of tools that can be drawn upon, but which ones will work best in any particular area will depend on an areas existing landscape characteristics and what the people of the area want to do to improve it. Thirdly, that successful development of green infrastructure is a creative process that involves planners working together with environmentalists, scientists, engineers, developers and local communities, building up support and attracting investment by producing evidence of the multiple positive impacts that green infrastructure can generate from better health, to improving biodiversity and ecosystems, through to providing real estate value uplift.
Green infrastructure planning is more than anything a call to be imaginative in how to think about a better future world and who wouldnt want to be at the forefront of work that can achieve that. This book provides multiple inspiring examples of the benefits of working to improve green infrastructure in diverse situations around the world, along with salutary advice about difficulties that can sometimes be encountered along the way.
Graham Haughton, Series Editor
Preface
Green infrastructure planning has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. It has developed from a partial, specialist and limited approach to landscape resource assessment into a form of landscape planning that is increasingly used globally to meet a range of social, economic and ecological needs. Green infrastructure is not a panacea for urban and societal ills. Alternatively, it sets out a range of options that planners, architects, landscape specialists, engineers and the public can use to make their homes, neighbourhoods and cities more sustainable.
However, how we facilitate this process is not straightforward. We have had to provide evidence of what benefits, be they social, ecological or economic, green infrastructure can provide to a range of stakeholders. Furthermore, we are yet to convince the public and the business community of the added value that green infrastructure can provide. Although we have seen several key advocates in the UK and further afield promote the use of green infrastructure including the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and Natural England in the UK, the Conservation Fund in the USA and Institut fr Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung (ILS) in Germany there is also a certain amount of scepticism from the development sector and within government in some countries regarding the value of green infrastructure in practice, which will be discussed. We therefore see an enduring question within green infrastructure discussions asking how we reinforce the positives of investing in landscape resources, especially at a time when finances are becoming increasingly limited.
The following text aims to introduce these discussions outlining the ways in which green infrastructure planning can enable planners, landscape architects, engineers and environmentalists to understand how we can use landscape principles to deliver more sustainable urban planning. The book discusses the rise of green infrastructure as a concept, outlining its main principles: ecological and landscape connectivity, access to nature, promoting human-environmental interactions and valuation of the landscape and an understanding of the multi-functional nature of green and blue space highlighting the added value of investing in landscapes at a number of scales and in a number of ways.
To ensure clarity in these discussions the book uses key questions to provide a foundation to its explorations. These include: what is green infrastructure? Why should we develop it? Who uses it? What socio-economic and ecological value does it provide? Each of these questions will be debated to guide practitioners in their exploration of how green infrastructure can be used, in what situations it will thrive and what mistakes can be avoided.
Using multiple examples from practice in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia the book illustrates how good policy ideas, innovative practice and committed advocates can help develop more sustainable and ecologically focussed urban landscapes. It also examines the complexities faced by decision-makers and practitioners who are aiming to ensure that green infrastructure is considered alongside other built infrastructure resources.
