start-with-the-park

Planning green infrastructure
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Design
Urban Initiatives and Studio Engleback
Partners and clients
Ashford’s Future, Ashford Borough Council,
Kent County Council, South East England
Development Agency, English Partnerships,
and the Environment Agency
Design codes will be adopted to help to create distinct
new developments that reflect underlying differences
in landscape character. The codes cover:
Green corridors
These normally follow rivers, national walking trails and
other existing routes. They should be multi-functional
spaces that incorporate transit and access to the
countryside, sustainable urban drainage systems
(SUDS), diverse habitat types and activity zones.
Primary parks/spaces
These large spaces relate to a regional and a
town-wide scale. Their different main functions
and characters reflect their surroundings and heritage.
They are designed to provide recreational, educational
and cultural opportunities, as well as having
environmental functions such as providing flood
defences and habitats. Being a large land bank
relatively close to the town centre, they could be
used for a special future project.
Primary green edges
Green infrastructure accommodates the transition
between buildings and the surrounding countryside.
Green edges are designed as an interface to protect
important natural conservation areas, provide
movement corridors for pedestrians and cyclists,
and provide environmental benefits. They will
improve the micro-climate for nearby homes,
produce energy crops and help treat grey water
and sewage through the use of reed beds, living
machines and other technologies.
Lessons learnt
• The masterplan’s successful approach involved giving
equal consideration to both the green structure and
the urban structure. Creating a strong and compelling
vision for high-quality green spaces can help to
overcome negative perceptions of growth
• All green spaces should be viewed as multi-functional
pieces of infrastructure, each of which provides
ecological, social, economic and cultural benefits
• Green spaces can respond to, reinforce or enhance
the character of the local landscape to enhance
biodiversity and create a greater sense of place.
Understanding the character of the landscape
depends on thorough field surveys and analytical work
• Design codes can be used to direct the principles
and qualities of green space development without
being highly prescriptive
• Ashford is exploring the use of strategic tariffs and a
development fund for the early provision of parks and
open spaces. Green spaces will be designed and
managed by the delivery agency and developed prior
to the construction of houses. Costs will be retrieved
from the housebuilders through a local land tax
• The role of parks and open spaces within the town
and the managed urban/rural fringe will become a
vital aspect of marketing housing development in
the face of competition from elsewhere.