Natural England - What is Green Infrastructure and what are the benefits?

What is Green Infrastructure and what are the benefits?

Green infrastructure is the network of green spaces, places and features that thread through and surround urban areas and connect town to country. This includes public and private spaces, such as parks, gardens, allotments, cemeteries, trees, green roofs and natural habitats such as woodlands, grasslands and wetlands.

The benefits of Green Infrastructure are often described as ‘ecosystem services’ There are four main ways that the natural environment can deliver these services in urban environments:

  • Delivering locally distinctive places - “expressing local Natural Signatures”: This means reflecting the underlying natural characteristics of a site and its surrounding landscape in design.
    Evidence: Landscape Character in Government Planning Policy
    See also London’s hidden natural landscapes re-discovered!

  • Delivering places that respond to the challenges of climate change -“- Natural Resilience”: Making places liveable for the future; delivering innovative urban environments, incorporating natural features, enabling cooling, flood amelioration, thriving wildlife as part of delivery of low carbon neighbourhoods.
    Evidence: Wild weather warning: a London climate impacts profileexternal link (PDF)

  • Delivering health benefits through nature– designing in a Natural Health Service”: providing accessible high quality open space near to where people live enabling healthy lifestyles, improving mental and physical health.
    Evidence: Our Natural Health Service

  • Delivering places that provide “Natural Connections”: ensuring community participation for green space provision in place making. Places where people can use, enjoy and learn about the natural environment.
    Evidence: Helping out: a national survey of volunteering and charitable givingexternal link

The cumulative economic and social benefits of green infrastructure is considerable. Maximising the ‘natural value’ of places through delivery of green infrastructure within a development will improve well being, happiness, and prosperity.