From cycle lanes to allotments, agencies call for greener cities

Two leading government advisory bodies have this week called on Ministers to increase funding for green urban projects as part of any stimulus package, arguing that projects to build new parks and improve transport networks represent a cost-effective means of cutting emissions, limiting climate change impacts and improving public health.

According to new figures from Natural England and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe), just 10 per cent of the national £10 billion budget for widening and building roads could pay for 40 new parks, half a million new street trees, 1.5m square metres of green roofs, and 1,000 miles of safe greenways for cyclists and pedestrians.

Speaking ahead of a green urban design conference to be hosted today and tomorrow by the two organisations, Cabe's chief executive Richard Simmons said there was an urgent need for the government to shift its capital expenditure away from "grey infrastructure" that will lock the UK into higher levels of carbon emissions.

"At a time when investment in grey infrastructure, such as the new road building and road improvement programmes, runs into billions, investment in green infrastructure remains tiny," he said. "We have to redesign our cities in response to the imperative of climate change, and this means investment in hundreds of thousands of green roofs, millions more street trees, more parks, and new urban greenways."

He added that any Green New Deal delivered as part of the forthcoming budget had to incorporate projects to "green" the UK's towns and cities alongside any increase in clean technology investment.

This week's conference follows a report earlier this month from CABE, which argued that investment in greener urban spaces, allotments, tree planting schemes, green roofs and cycling lanes would deliver a myriad of benefits, including reduced carbon emissions and air pollution, lower flood risk, and improved public health through a more active population and a reduction in the urban heat island effect.

A spokeswoman for the organisation said that successful green city projects had also been shown to deliver benefits for businesses, increasing levels of inward investment and bolstering staff satisfaction and productivity.

However, the report warned that currently few city councils take climate change seriously, while many remain wedded to investing in "grey infrastructure " that leads to increased congestion and often makes streets "unpleasant places to be unless you are inside a vehicle".