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Green Infrastructure
Who benefits? Who pays?
Dr Chris Sherrington
Principal Consultant – Environmental
Economics & Ecosystem Services
21st April 2015
Journey to Work #1
Journey to Work #2
‘Green Infrastructure’
‘Green Infrastructure’
• All green and blue spaces in and around
our towns, cities and rural areas
• Components include:
• parks, private gardens, agricultural fields,
hedges, trees, woodland, green roofs, green
walls, rivers and ponds
• RTPI (2013) Briefing on Green Infrastructure in the
United Kingdom
Green Infrastructure
• Multiple Benefits
• Temperature
regulation
• Air quality
• Mental and physical
health
• Biodiversity
• Flood risk reduction
Temperature Regulation
• Urban Heat Island Effect• 2003 heatwave – 9oC difference in night time
temperatures between London and surrounding areas
• Temperatures in excess of 23oC are associated with heat related stress and excess summer deaths• Department of Health (2008) Heatwave Plan for
England
• The temperatures reached during the heatwave in 2003 are likely to be a ‘normal’ summer by 2040• Public Health England & NHS England (2014)
Heatwave Plan for England 2014
Temperature Regulation
• Cooling effects of vegetation
• Evaporative cooling and evapotranspiration
• Reflectance
• Shading
• Restricts energy storage and thus subsequent
heating of local environment
• Reduces energy gain in building thus lowers
requirement for air conditioning
• Shelters people from direct exposure to the sun
Temperature Regulation?
Temperature Regulation
• Heat related stress
• 2003 heatwave led to more than 15,000
additional deaths in the UK and France
• 676 additional deaths in London between 4th
and 13th August as temperatures rose from
22oC to 29oC
• 9.6 extra deaths each day per degree
increase
• Mainly due to respiratory and cardiovascular
diseases
Temperature Regulation
• Valuing the effects of
trees and greenspace
• 20% of London’s land
area is under the
canopy of trees and
38% is greenspace
• Forest Research
estimate these prevent
2oC of additional
warming in London
Temperature Regulation
• Valuing the effects of
trees and greenspace
• Trees and greenspace
saving 16-22 lives a
day during spells of
hot weather
• Collectively London’s
greenspace valued at
£27m to £38m per day
during heatwaves
• £460 to £630 per
hectare per day during
heatwaves
Air quality
• Air pollution in UK leads to circa 29,000 deaths per year• Urban canopy of
London estimated to remove between 852 and 2121 tonnes of PM10 annually.
• Annual value of £163m to £406m
• Value of circa £5k to £13k per hectare per year.
Air Quality - Green Walls
Air quality - Green Roofs
Mental & Physical Health
• Mental ill health
• 22.8% of the total
burden
• 15.9% - cancer
• 16.2% - cardiovascular
disease
• Economic and social
costs of mental illness
in England are circa
£105 billion, including:
• £21.3 on direct
healthcare costs
• £30 billion in lost output
Mental & Physical Health
• The natural environment contributes to
improvements in mental health:
• Directly, through the restorative benefits
provided by exposure to nature;
• Indirectly, by providing a space for positive
social contact; and
• Through providing a space for physical
activity
Mental & Physical Health
• Nature:
• Promotes recovery
from stress and
attention fatigue
• Has positive effects
on mood,
concentration, self-
discipline and stress
• Views from windows
of key importance
Front Gardens?
Who benefits?
Who Pays?
• Local Authorities?
• Now have public health responsibilities
• Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
• Victoria BID in London focused on GI to
enhance appeal of the area and increase
footfall
• Local Enterprise Partnerships
• Enhancing quality of life to boost inward
investment and economic growth
Payments for Ecosystem Services
PES - Front Gardens
