Our Vision and Definitions for Green Infrastructure

In this section:

Natural life support system

Benefits and Functions

Visions 

Definitions

Green Infrastructure – Our 21st Century natural life support system

The South West enjoys a spectacular natural environment that has long been recognised as highly significant in delivering major social, economic and environmental benefits. Much of the area is protected and rightly attracts many people to live, work and visit.

The challenge is to secure a healthy environment that enables the local population to benefit from the natural environment close to where they live. This can be achieved by the planning for, delivery and management of Green Infrastructure.

Green Infrastructure is the network of natural environmental components and green and blue spaces lying within the cities, towns and villages which provides multiple social, economic and environmental benefits and values. It is strategic and delivered to a landscape scale.

Benefits and Functions

Green Infrastructure can provide major benefits for people and nature. Just as growing communities need to improve and develop their grey infrastructure (ie. roads, sewers, energy distribution etc.), their green infrastructure needs to be upgraded and expanded too. The South West needs Green Infrastructure that supports communities to be healthy, productive, socially just and live within environmental limits.

Green infrastructure differs from conventional approaches to open space planning because it considers multiple functions and benefits in concert with land development, growth management and built infrastructure planning and landscape character.

Table showing benefits and functions matrix

In order to have truly sustainable and resilient communities in the South West we want to proactively integrate green infrastructure needs with all other considerations for growth, design and development; clearly promoting the links between the multi-functionality and environmental, social and economic benefits.
 

Visions of Green Infrastructure

Map showing a Green Infrastructure Geographic spatial vision for the SW Region

Biodiversity and designated land. The Green Infrastructure assets overlain by sub-regional economic zones and Growth Points.

This provides a spatial view of the extent of green infrastructure across the region, those areas of greatest environmental value in terms of climate change adaptation, biodiversity and landscape quality. When combined with sub-regional economic zones and the 10 growth points it indicates where there may be greatest pressure, or most opportunity for enhancement and protection.

Map showing one of the key functions of green infrastructure – Provision of Accessible Green Space.

This map indicates the amount of free and accessible green space within super output areas across the South West. The areas with little accessible green space per head of population provide us with an indication across the region of those areas lacking green space when considering enhancements to green infrastructure. (Some of the urban data is not yet up to date, so this map shows the worst case scenario within some cities.)

Protected Landscapes

Those areas that show marked change with the character of the countryside include Somerset, Wiltshire, North Dorset and Cornwall. Green Infrastructure developed in this area should ensure that countryside character is enhanced.

We hope to develop a map giving us a clear picture of those areas in the region with greatest need interms of environmental equality  - a bundled measurement of a range of environmental and social indicators. The provision of high quality green infrastructure can improve all these indicators.

Some Definitions of GI

“Green Infrastructure provides a framework that can be used to guide future growth and future land development and land conservation decisions to accommodate population growth and protect and preserve community assets and natural resources. In areas anticipating growth, a green infrastructure plan can pre-identify key lands (and waters) for future conservation and restoration efforts and help shape the pattern and location of future growth.”

Green Infrastructure: Linking Landscape and Communities - Benedict and McMahon(2006)

Natural England, the government’s advisor on the natural environment, is promoting the concept of Green Infrastructure (GI) as a way to deliver a wide range of benefits for people and the natural environment together. It believes Green Infrastructure should be an integral part of new development everywhere, delivered via the spatial planning system and through the communities that need it for their day to day living. It should also form a key part of proposals to regenerate existing urban and rural areas.

They define Green Infrastructure as “a strategically planned and delivered network of high quality green spaces and other environmental features. It should be designed and managed as a multifunctional resource capable of delivering a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities..” Read more about Natural England's guidance on Green Infrastructure.

The Draft Regional Spatial Strategy defines Green Infrastructure as:
Strategic networks of accessible, multifunctional sites (including parks, woodland, informal open spaces, nature reserves and historic sites) as well as linkages (such as river corridors and floodplains, wildlife corridors and greenways). These contribute to peoples well-being, and together comprise a coherent managed resource responsive to evolving conditions.


The England Forestry Strategy Review sees green infrastructure as “having evolved in recent years within Governments wider social and regeneration policies, to describe an environmental network of protected sites, nature reserves, green space and green way links. This evolution has led to a growing need to identify GI not only in terms of its physical characteristics but also the wider “functionality” it is expected to deliver. In this context GI is seen as 'a key to healthier lifestyles, sustainable urban drainage and lifelong learning, providing space for relaxation, encouraging more sustainable transport and promoting economic development'”.