Greening our cities

Greening our cities would help tackle recession

23 March 2009

A major shift of public money towards the greening of towns and cities is needed, to tackle both climate change and the recession and create places we all want to live in.

Green roof on Chicago City Hall by William McDonough and Partners
Photo by Morris K. Udall Foundation

With the next budget fast approaching, CABE and Natural England are calling on the government to prioritise funding for green assets such as parks, trees and open spaces. The two government advisors on urban design and the natural environment have just brought together international experts for a conference, ParkCity (March 2009), to help share understanding about how to create more liveable places.

CABE and Natural England argue that since we are faced with two urgent and fundamental challenges – climate change and the recession – investment in grey and green infrastructure needs to be rebalanced.

The spend on grey schemes, like building and expanding roads, is out of kilter with spend on assets like street trees and parks and green spaces.

Richard Simmons, CABE chief executive, spoke at the conference of the need to redesign our towns and cities in response to the imperative of climate change. Design is the signal of intent - and the intention of urban design should be to reduce, absorb and capture more carbon dioxide. “Greening towns and cities needs to be part of the green new deal, as much as technology” he said.

The creation and maintenance of green infrastructure will generate new and sustainable jobs in the private sector as well creating desirable areas to live and work.

Investment in green roofs, for instance, would not only protect cities from flooding by absorbing heavy rain, cool the air in summer, improve air quality and support biodiversity, but it would also create many new jobs.

Just 10 per cent of the nation’s £10 billion budget to widen and build roads could pay for 40 new parks, half a million new street trees, one and a half million square metres of green roof, and 1,000 miles of safe greenways for cyclists and pedestrians.

The ParkCity conference brought together world experts with leaders from the public, private and third sectors to debate how green infrastructure can deliver energy and transport solutions, economic regeneration, improved public health and climate change adaptation.

Read our interviews with:

Edward T McMahon – the founding father of the concept of green infrastructure is a leading conservationist, environmental lawyer and an inspirational public speaker

Wade Crowfoot – San Francisco’s director of climate protection initiatives is at the front line of the Californian city’s not-so-quiet climate revolution

Klaus Bondam – Copenhagen’s mayor of environmental administration is leading that city’s drive to become provide the world’s best urban environment by 2015.