Today’s seminar on The London Green Grid generated a huge interest and over 40 UDL members attended to our morning and afternoon session.  

As we know, determining the economic and social benefits of green infrastructure projects is difficult to do so. Resources such as the countryside, wetlands, urban parks, street trees and their ecosystem are seen as critical for sustainable economic and social growth, not just a way of supporting wildlife and the environment.  

Following an extremely interesting seminar on The London Green Grid and the East London Green Grid, this discussed the use of Green Infrastructure Valuation Toolbox which was developed over the past two years by a consortium led by the Northern Way, five Regional Development Agencies as well as Defra, Natural England and CABE. Consultants GENECON LLP have been working on to establish practical ways of valuing Green Infrastructure and raising awareness of the strategic importance of Green Infrastructure of sustainable growth.  

Speaker: Graeme Collinge – Genecon LLP  

Graeme’s work during 2009/10 has included leading the GENECON team developing an appraisal Toolbox for Green Infrastructure projects on behalf of a consortium of RDAs including the NWDA, Yorkshire Forward, One North East, AWM and the LDA, with Steering Group members also including the Northern Way, Natural England and CABE. Related to the Green Infrastructure agenda, at wider national level, Graeme has developed a particular specialism on the use and calculation of endowments for safeguarding the long term management of new green space assets created through the regeneration process, co-authoring English Partnerships’ Best Practice Note (BPN) on Endowments in 2005, and has since been responsible for assessing the scale of the endowments needed on more than 20 country park assets transferred from English Partnerships / HCA to bodies such as the Land Restoration Trust and local authorities.  

So what is the toolbox for, and how does it work?The toolbox provides a simple framework to identify and value the functional benefits of individual green infrastructure investments and existing green assets. It takes into account a wide spectrum of environmental, social and economic returns green investments have the potential to generate, and help articulate their value in qualitative, quantitative and when possible monetised terms.  

As Graeme explained, the standard valuation techniques for assessing the potential benefits provided by a project draws on:  

‘Scientific values’ e.g.: run-off coefficients  

‘Market Values’ e.g.: price of energy  

‘Benefit transfer values’ e.g.: recreational user values  

Benefits assessed in terms of the functions the GI may perform, support or encourage, depending on the type of project envisaged.  

For instance, to estimate recreation, tourism, health and property benefits, we will need to estimate the number of beneficiaries based on the local population and household numbers, and any visitors using a spreadsheet summary output of costs and benefits. Many of the tools use ranges of values which in the end are calculated, however for benefits which cannot be monetised, the Toolbox Guide may help to think about ‘qualitative benefits’.  

The session included two case studies ( 1. Dagenham Washland, East London Green Grid, London Thames Gateway Parklands Programme 2. Erith Marshes and Belvedere Links, East London Green Grid, also part of the London Thames Gateway Parklands Programme ) to illustrate how to apply the valuation toolbox.  

The user guide ‘Green Infrastructure –’Building Natural Value for Sustainable Economic Development Valuation Toolbox’ expected to be published in autumn 2010.  

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

   

 Speaker: Maia Lemlij   

Maia is a qualified architect who joined Space Syntax as a consultant in 2004 and become an associate in 2006. She has been involved in a number of interdisciplinary projects, which range from strategic urban design to strategic design of complex urban buildings both in the UK and abroad. Amongst other masterplanning projects, Maia has been involved in the Stratford City redevelopments in London, the redevelopment of Birmingham Eastside and a number of Area Action Plans for local authorities.                                                                 

Movement is a fundamental requirement for any urban area. The structure of our transport network and the way we understand and manage accessibility affects how places work.  

Today’s workshop session focused on understanding movement and spatial accessibility on a regional, master plan and local level by using Space Syntax, an advanced spatial technology that analyses spatial accessibility and movement patterns while looking at the impact that these have on land uses and spatial design. Such patterns include movement on foot, on cycles and in vehicles; way finding and purchasing in retail environments; vulnerability and criminal activity in urban settings.  

The general idea is that spaces can be broken down into components, analysed as network of choices than represented as maps that describe and illustrate the relative connectivity and integration of spaces. 

 As Maia explained, there is a direct relationship between patterns of movement and spatial accessibility, and therefore it is important to understand and apply this knowledge in design proposals and concept plans for different areas. The presentation and its context were illustrated by a number of interesting case studies such as the re-design of Trafalgar Square. Collaborating with Norman Foster’s team, Space Syntax analysed and modelled the existing pattern of space use and movement in and around the Square, and from this information evolved a series of proposals for design modifications that lead to a richer pattern of land use. Previously, some of the areas weren’t very well used and therefore this major public square wasn’t functioning properly. Fore instance, movement was pushed around to the edges of the square, originating from the physical design of the space and its spatial configuration. The overarching aim of the project was therefore to encourage people to move through the space following the re-design while improving connectivity to the immediate and surrounding area. 

The findings of the Space Syntax analysis have generated a number of key design ideas for Trafalgar Square and significantly contributed to the re-design proposal which included for instance:   

- Make important views available into the Square and outwards into the surrounding area.                                                                                                                                

- Creation of new, diagonal routes across the Square which are more pleasant, less time consuming and safer.   

The result is a new, more accessible and better used public square where both, stationary and pedestrian movement have significantly improved, creating a greater level of activity to the heart of the space that exist in the present.   

The workshop generated a number of questions and discussions on data collection, accuracy of the model, correlation between street layout and crime and how far Space Syntax models represent the ‘feeling’ or ‘intuition’ of professionals whom are involved in various urban design schemes.

Many many thanks to everyone who spent last Friday afternoon with us, and particular thanks to the speakers for your well prepared and fascinating insights into projects and issues.

It was great to see such diverse and well thought through work being taken forward by all.  I am sure lots of other London authorities are also doing interesting things but we could only showcase a small selection in the session.  If you would like to tell others about your approaches to characterisations studies and other forms of built environment evidence gathering, please add through the discussion forum on the link below.

Thanks too to GOL, English Heritage, DfL,  the GLA, HCALondon, RTPI and RIBA  for  your input – all very helpful.

During the tricky issue session it was particularly interesting to see how ideas around characterisation have moved on, and the importance now given to thinking about how the information gathered will be used.

It was very clear that the purpose of evidence gathering needs to be thought through before work starts, and we could clearly see how the different reasons for studies helped to create very different, but equally valid, approaches.

And lastly – one attendee said he had had a ‘eureka moment’ after 5 hours of presentations and discussions.  He finally understand that character is not just about appearance and historic provenance, but about how a place is structured, how it works, who uses it, what they do, how intense activity is etc.

Presentations from the events can be found in the network section of our on line Learning Space here.  If you have not used this before then please create a log on for yourself and enjoy.   There is also a discussion forum on this page if you would like to add your own observations, thoughts or questions to the network.