The green infrastructure valuation toolkit user guide

Building natural value for sustainable economic development: The green infrastructure valuation toolkit user guide
This network of natural assets and ‘green’ and ‘blue’ spaces that lies in and
around towns and cities provides raw materials for our economy. Like other
infrastructure, it sets the scene for recreation, tourism and investment and
underpins physical and mental health and wellbeing. It provides balance to our
urban centres and links them the countryside. Crucially, it is also our life-support
system, regulating the quality of our air, water and soil.
Why invest in green infrastructure
There is a growing interest in integrated development models. How can we
simultaneously achieve economic, environmental and social goals Can we
include and capitalise on the promotion of biodiversity, the services that our
ecological assets provide to our economy and society
Well designed, planned and managed green infrastructure can offer multifunctional
approaches to achieving sustainable economic development and
address genuine practical challenges. For example:
Supporting growth: investment in green infrastructure – for example
enhancing a river corridor with paths, an improved river edge and
opportunities for water-based activities – provides opportunities for
tourism, attracting visitors, increasing income and employment. As well
as providing opportunities for recreation, it can also enhance health and
boost productivity for users and onlookers.
Stimulating investment: green spaces and landscaping can enhance
the urban environment, influencing business location decisions and
leading to new inward investment and employment – as well as
increasing land and property values and improving quality of life.
Mitigating climate change impacts: open spaces used both as playing
fields and flood plains can provide effective temporary stores of flood
water, protecting residential and business property – as well as providing
resources for exercise and health benefits.
Improving health: green lungs in urban environments, like public parks,
green routes and trees close to offices, can provide resources for
healthy lifestyles for employees and residents alike - as well as helping
to reduce summer urban temperatures and supporting biodiversity.
Green infrastructure is increasingly being embraced across the country. There is
particular interest in the north of England and other areas facing ongoing
economic change, as they seek to develop sustainable approaches to
regeneration and improve the quality of life for people living in old industrial
centres.
As new thinking develops about how to achieve sustainable models of
development, there are opportunities to embed green infrastructure firmly within
local plans and economic development initiatives.
There is also an opportunity to secure better value for money by joining up
investment priorities from a number of agencies to address multiple issues
through approaches that have not traditionally been encouraged. Partly this is
because understanding of green infrastructure’s many benefits is not yet
widespread - and the tools for valuing these benefits are under-developed.
How can the toolkit help
The toolkit is intended to help bridge the current gap between evidence and
practice when it comes to environmental investments. It uses practical methods to
value the benefits of green infrastructure projects, making it easier to:
understand and make the case for investment across a broad suite of
partners
compare the benefits from green infrastructure with other developments
prioritise between the different opportunities that are available.
The toolkit is a self-contained, single resource, based on and including the best
available valuation approaches – although, inevitably, necessary simplification
has required some compromises.
Who is the toolkit aimed at
The toolkit can help land managers, developers and other organisations investing
in local sustainable development – whether local authorities, city regions, local
enterprise partnerships, economic development agencies or community and
voluntary sector organisations.
It gives those involved in the management or planning of urban centres and other
large land assets ready access to hard numbers on the unique economic returns
of their greening projects. This will be helpful for:
informing audits of land
reviewing development proposals
making the case for funding or improving green spaces.
Board members, councillors and other investors on the receiving end of funding
requests could equally use the toolkit to compare proposals, and select the
projects that perform best against their own priorities. For instance, an economic
development partnership might want evidence of how a project is likely to
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