Plan to enhance one of the world’s greenest capital cities: London infrastructure ‘should be 50% green by 2050’, recommends Task Force
In London, major green space projects and nature is the focus of new housing developments.
Natural Capital: Investing in a Green Infrastructure for a Future City
London should be made up of 50% green infrastructure by 2050.
That’s according to a new report by the Green Infrastructure Task Force which suggests targets for the mayor by 2050.
It states ensuring half the city is made up of green buildings would allow it to maintain its status as “one of the world’s greenest capital cities”.
This would require an increase in green infrastructure of around 9000ha – three times the area of the London Borough of Haringey, it adds.
That could help the city be prepare for the potential impacts of a changing climate, it claims.
It also suggests London should maintain its “urban forest” by increasing tree cover from 20% to 30% – continuing to have one tree for every Londoner as the population grows.
The report adds 80% – or nine million – of Londoners should be walking, jogging or cycling at least two miles per day and surface water flows into the sewer network should be reduced by at least 25%.
Matthew Pencharz, Deputy Mayor for Environment & Energy, and Chair of the Task Force said: “To meet the challenge of a growing population, future investment in traditional infrastructure, public health programmes and regeneration, needs to include more green infrastructure-based solutions, so London continues to be recognised as one of the greenest and most liveable big cities in the world.”
New York’s much-praised Highline project, a mile-long aerial greenway on an elevated section of disused railway, is the inspiration for a linear park at Nine Elms, one of London’s biggest regeneration zones, where up to 20,000 homes are in the pipeline.
Green Infrastructure Task Force Report
A Green Infrastructure Task Force was established following the publication of the London Infrastructure Plan 2050, which sets out the infrastructure needs for London over the coming decades. The plan acknowledged that green infrastructure must be considered as an integral part of the city’s vital systems; as essential as the city’s transport, energy, water, waste and digital infrastructure.
Planned, designed and managed as an integrated green infrastructure, London’s existing green spaces and features such as green roofs, street trees and rain gardens, can provide benefits including: healthy living, more space for walking and cycling, flood mitigation, improved air and water quality, enhanced biodiversity and a cooler urban environment.
Natural Capital: Investing in a Green Infrastructure for a Future City identifies why this approach is increasingly necessary, and the changes to policy, governance, valuation and funding that are needed to ensure long-term investment in London’s green infrastructure. Recommendations include the need to appoint a Green Infrastructure Commissioner; further refinement of the All London Green Grid; new approaches to revealing the economic value of green infrastructure; and working with others, such as the National Park City initiative, for example, to find better ways of engaging the public.
The recommendations in the report are reinforced by technical evidence provided in Valuing London’s Urban Forest and the Beam Parklands natural capital account.
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