Benefits of green infrastructure - Arbtalk

Executive summaryWhat is green infrastructure?Infrastructure can be defined as the basicstructures and facilities necessary for theefficient functioning of a given geographicalarea. Although there is no commonly acceptedor authoritative definition in the UK, greeninfrastructure refers to the combined structure,position, connectivity and types of green spaceswhich together enable delivery of multiplebenefits as goods and services. It is important toconsider green infrastructure holistically and atlandscape as well as individual site scale.Integration of urban green space with the builtenvironment that surrounds it is cruciallyimportant if benefits are to be maximised. Greenspace, whether connected or not, must be seenas providing facilities or services for the peoplewho live amongst it. Its real potential will onlybe realised if activities or operations undertakenin or on the green space are supported by thewhole local community.Benefits will be achieved most successfully ifgreen space creation and management are integrated with more traditional land development andbuilt infrastructure planning. An important consideration is the spatial positioning of the componentparts of the green infrastructure. Some goods and services depend on a strong connectivity betweenlocation and user. Others, such as wildlife habitat, may depend on the interconnectedness of thecomponent parts of the green space ‘jigsaw’.This report provides a synthesis of the evidence covering the benefits of green infrastructure, basedon expert evaluation of scientific and other related literature. Each section gives a concise review ofrelevant evidence and examples (case studies, research projects and summary points) of how greeninfrastructure has been applied to maximise benefits in a practical sense. The following are shortsummaries of each of these sections.Climate changeThe importance of green infrastructure in urban policy matters has risen up the agenda in recentyears as a response to climate change and the need to move towards a low carbon economy (e.g.the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, 2009). Urban green infrastructure is likely to play an increasinglyimportant role within ‘climate proofing’ of UK towns and cities. It also directly supports carboncapture, for example in building soil carbon reserves over time. Larger woodlands can support sometimber products, and by-products from street tree management can be usefully converted intorenewable energy or mulches and composts.4