Strategic green infrastructure planning in Germany and the UK: a transnational evaluation of the evolution of urban greening policy and practice

Abstract

The evolution of Green Infrastructure (GI) planning has varied dramatically between nations. Although a grounded set of principles are recognized globally, there is increasing variance in how these are implemented at a national and sub-national level. To investigate this the following paper presents an evaluation of how green infrastructure has been planned for in England and Germany illustrating how national policy structures facilitate variance in application. Adopting an evaluative framework linked to the identification of GI, its development and monitoring/ feedback the paper questions the impacts on delivery of intersecting factors including terminology, spatial distribution and functionality on effective GI investment. This process reviews how changing policy structures have influenced the framing of green infrastructure policy, and subsequent impact this has on the delivery of green infrastructure projects.

Implementing Green Infrastructure in Spatial Planning in Europe

“…Previous studies highlighted that the GI concept was not yet being implemented in an integrated manner and that it was being interpreted slightly differently depending on context [1,5,6]. Some even noted a growing number of sub-national and local variations for GI assessments and outcomes [3]. The results presented in this study indicate similar trends, which should come as no surprise, given the range of different governance structures and national policies in Europe.…”

“…Interest in green infrastructure (GI) has grown in research, policy and planning in recent decades [1][2][3]. The central idea behind GI is the understanding of the physical non-built-up environment as an infrastructure capable of delivering a wide variety of benefits to society [4], including the ability to preserve biodiversity; to provide food, feed, fuel and fibre; to adapt to and mitigate climate change and to contribute to enhanced human health and quality of life [1,2,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…The central idea behind GI is the understanding of the physical non-built-up environment as an infrastructure capable of delivering a wide variety of benefits to society [4], including the ability to preserve biodiversity; to provide food, feed, fuel and fibre; to adapt to and mitigate climate change and to contribute to enhanced human health and quality of life [1,2,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Although no global definition has been agreed upon, the concept has a number of key components or ideas: connectivity (e.g., between green areas, non-built-up land and water), multifunctionality (e.g., areas that have multiple functions and social values tied to them) and "increased greenery" (e.g., the ambition to enhance the quantity and/or quality of green and blue areas) [3,[12][13][14][15].…”

The Implementation of Green Infrastructure: Relating a General Concept to Context and Site

“…This is also needed for urban planning and management purposes, in order to provide the best foundation for public and private initiatives and negotiations. From the most recent publications on GI [49] and project reports (from the ongoing EU project GREENSURGE) [12], it is obvious that there is no lack of energy or research ambition for the field of implementation of GI. Inclusive representations, however, as important media for collaborative implementation, for understanding of site specific evolvement of GI, are still missing in the discourse.…”

Green and Blue Infrastructure in Darwin; Carbon Economies and the Social and Cultural Dimensions of Valuing Urban Mangroves in Australia

“…These combined services and multiple or co-benefits of urban vegetation mean that increasing vegetation cover is a key issue for urban municipalities and planners seeking to improve liveability, resilience, and social and ecological connectedness [9]. How to get more plants in, and where they will fit, are focus questions for contemporary urban research policy and practice [10]. However, often overlooked is the protection and management of existing vegetation in cities or acknowledgement and prioritisation of the services plants are already known to provide [11][12][13].…”