urban green nation: building the evidence...
TRANSCRIPT
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Urban green nation:Building the evidence base
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Contents
Foreword 3
1 Introduction 4
2 Quantity of urban green space 11
3 Quality of urban green space 15
4 How often people visit urban green space 20
5 Proximity of populations and access to urban green space 25
6 Management and maintenance of urban green space 29
7 How people value urban green space 36
8 Conclusions and next steps 39
Appendices 44
Bibliography 55
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Englandisnotabigcountryandeightoutof10ofusliveinurbanareas.Inourdenselypopulatedsurroundings,itisthenetworksofparksandgreenspacesthatsustainthequalityofoureverydaylife.
Tenyearsago,theparlousstateofEngland’sparksandgreenspaceswascausingseriousconcern.ThegovernmentsetupanUrbanGreenSpacesTaskforceandthenin2003chargedCABEwithchampioningeffortstoreversethislong-termneglect.Sevenyearson,wehavebroughttogetheralltheavailableevidenceonthestateofEngland’surbangreenspace.Itisthefirsttimethishasbeendone.
Thegoodnewsisthatthehistoricdeclineinthequalityofurbangreenspacehasbeenarrested,andisbeingreversed.Itisclearthatthehigherthequalityofgreenspace,themorelikelyitistobeused.Sopeoplearenowusingtheirparksandgreenspacesmoreand,importantly,theyvaluethemmore.Thisinterest,inturn,canbeusedtomobilisecommunityinvolvementindecisionsaboutthedeliveryoflocalservices.
Butthedataalsoshowsthatnoteveryonehasbenefitedequallyfromtheseimprovements.Theprovisionofgreenspaceisworseindeprivedareasthaninaffluentareas.
UrbanGreenNationshowshowbetterinformation,morewidelyavailable,cancreatebetterpublicservices.Thisisnotfanciful:itisessentialforthesuccessoflocalgovernment.Andtheevidenceshowsthatifpeoplearesatisfiedwiththequalityoftheirparks,theytendtobemoresatisfiedwiththeircouncil,too.
Weallknowbudgetsaregoingtobetightintheyearsahead.ButIbelievewemustkeepfocusingpoliticalattentionandfinancialinvestmentonthissector.Fortunately,havingamuchmoresophisticatedunderstandingofthestateofurbangreenspacesmeansbeingabletotargetresourcesmoreeffectively.Now,ifwechoose,wecanmatchprovisiontoneed.
Paul Finch OBEChair, CABE
Foreword
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1 Introduction
1 ResearchbyHeriot-WattUniversity.2 �Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,�
DTLR,�2002�and�Enhancing�urban�green�space,NationalAuditOffice,2006.3 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABE
Space,2009.
This report presents the findings of the first of two pieces of research commissioned by CABE Space to gauge the state of England’s urban green space and its impact on people’s health and well-being.1 It starts to fill the serious information gap highlighted by the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce and its recommendation that this problem should be resolved.2
Parksandgreenspacesarethebackboneofsustainableandhigh-qualityurbanenvironments.Agrowingbodyofrobustresearchdemonstratesthathigh-qualitygreenspacesbringconsiderablebenefitstolocaleconomies,topeople’sphysicalandmentalhealth,andtotheenvironment.
Despitearenewedinterestingreenspace,thereisverylittleaccurateinformationabouthowmanyparksandgreenspacesthereareinurbanEngland,wheretheyare,whoownsthem,whatconditiontheyarein,orhowmanypeopleareemployedinlookingafterthem.Withoutthisbasicdata,itishardtoensurethatscarcepublicresourcesareallocatedandtargetedtobestpossibleeffect.
Todate,muchmoreinformationhasbeengatheredonthenation’sruralspaces.3Thisisthefirstreviewoftheurbanevidence.Thisstudydrawstogetherallthedatafromtheresearchthathasbeendone.
Thestudyinvestigatedover70majordatasources,andassembledaninventoryofmorethan16,000individualgreenspaces.WehaveanalysedthisquantitativedatatodiscoverwhatitsaysaboutEngland’spubliclyownedandmanagedurbangreenspace.
Wefoundthat(andsomeofthisisnotsurprising): Almostnineoutof10peopleuseparksandgreen
spaces,andtheyvaluethem
Ifpeoplearesatisfiedwithlocalparks,theytendtobesatisfiedwiththeircouncil
Theprovisionofparksindeprivedareasisworsethaninaffluentareas
Peoplefromminorityethnicgroupstendtohavelesslocalgreenspaceanditisofapoorerquality
Thehigherthequalityofthegreenspace,themorelikelyitistobeused.
Chapter8setsoutthefindingsfromouranalysisofthedata.
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Using existing data sources to establish baseline information
Despitethelackofcomprehensive,nationwideinformationaboutthequantity,qualityanduseofEngland’surbangreenspaces,therehavebeenmanystudiesthathaveresearchedvariousaspectsofgreenspaces.Sothereisalargebodyofoverlappingdatacollectedbydifferentorganisationsthatfordifferentreasons,priortothisstudy,hadneverbeendrawntogetherandanalysed.
Therefore,thisresearchprojectaimedtousethequantitativedataalreadyavailabletodiscoverwhatitcantellusaboutEngland’spubliclyownedandmanagedurbangreenspace,andtoestablishbaselinedatafromwhichfuturechangescanbetracked.ItrelatestoothersourcesofinformationabouttheenvironmentinEngland.4
Specificallytheresearchsetoutto:
makebestuseofexistingsourcesofrelevantdataaboutgreenspacesinEngland’surbanlocalauthorities5
deviseasuiteofindicatorsthatcouldbeusedtotrackchangestoEngland’surbangreenspacesandformabaselineformeasuringtrendsinthefuture
interpretandanalysealldataaroundcorethemes identifysignificantgapsintheexistingdata.
ThisreportisthefirstoftwopiecesofresearchfromCABESpacethatshouldhelptostarttofilltheinformationgap.Thesecondpartofthisresearchexaminesinmoredepththeimpactofthequalityofgreenspacesonthewell-beingofpeoplelivinginsixdeprivedurbanareas.
4 SuchastheState�of�the�environmentreportspublishedbytheEnvironmentAgencyandNaturalEngland.http://cabeurl.com/baandhttp://cabeurl.com/ab
5 ThisresearchprojectusedtheNationalAuditOffice’slistof154urbanauthoritiesfromEnhancing�urban�green�space,2006.
6 ResearchbyOPENspaceResearchCentre,EdinburghCollegeofArt,incollaborationwithHeriot-WattUniversity.
7 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.
8 Seewww.magic.gov.uk9 CommunityandLocalGovernment’s(CLG)greenspacesdatahubisnolonger
operationalbutthisdidprovideoneco-ordinatedresourcefordataabouturbangreenspace.
10 Public�parks�assessment:�a�survey�of�local�authority�owned�parks�focusing�on�parks�of�historic�interest�Urban�Parks�Forum,2001.Thiswasusedinpreferencetotheupdatecarriedoutin2004/05fortheNationalAuditOfficeasthedataismorecompleteandestablishesabetterbaseline.
11 Unfortunatelytheassessmentonlyrecordeddetailedinformation–suchasthenameoftheparkanditssize–forthe1,300urbanparksthatwereconsideredtohavehistoricvalue.
Thesecondpartfocusesonblackandminorityethniccommunitieswithintheseareasandtherelationshipbetweenperceptionsofqualityofurbangreenspaceanditsuse–anareaofresearchthathastodatereceivedlittleattention.6Italsoshowshowinvestinginparksandgreenspacescanhaveapowerfuleffectintacklingsocialdisadvantage.
Inaddition,theCABESpacebriefingThe�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spacessetsouttheinformationthatismissingaboutEngland’surbangreenspacesandcallsforanumberofspecificactionstoaddressthis.7The�green�information�gap�drawsupontheresearchwhichissetoutinmoredetailinthisreport.
Making best use of existing information
Thisstudyexploredover70majoranddiversedatasourcestofindoutwhatitcantellusaboutthestateofEngland’spubliclyownedurbangreenspaces.Thestudydidnotconsiderprivatelyownedgreenspacessuchascommunalorprivategardensorthegroundsofinstitutionssuchasuniversitiesandartgalleries.Instead,itconcentratedonlyonpubliclyowned,managedandmaintainedspacesthatare,intheory,openandaccessibletoall.
MAGICisthemaingovernmentdataportalthatbringstogetherindividualdatasetsaboutdifferenttypesofgreenspace.8Thiswasthefirstweb-basedinteractivemapofinformationonkeyruralenvironmentalschemesanddesignationsandwasdesignedtosupportpolicymaking.
ThereisnourbanequivalenttoMAGICandthelackofco-ordinationinregardtodatacollectionisonefactorlimitingpresentunderstandingoftheurbanenvironment.9Instead,anumberofnationalorganisations,suchasNaturalEngland,theNationalTrustandSportsEngland,holdinformationaboutparticulartypesofopenspace(table1).
ThePublic�parks�assessment�(PPA),carriedoutin2001,istheonlyattempttosurveyurbangreenspacesinEngland.10ThePPAprovidesanoverallestimateofthenumberofparksandrecreationalspaces–givingafigureofaround14,600parksforurbanEnglandasawhole,coveringatotalof69,500hectares.11
Thedetailedlistofdatasourcesreviewedforthepurposesofthestudyisinappendix1ofthisreport.
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Data Data owner Available from Public�parks�assessment AuditCommission AuditCommission/GreenSpaceFieldsinTrustplayingfields FieldsinTrust FieldsinTrustGreenSTAT GreenSpace GreenSpaceAllotmentsites2004-05 Communitiesandlocal
government(CLG)CLG
Communitygardensandcityfarms2004-05
CLG CLG
Areasofoutstandingnaturalbeauty NaturalEngland MAGICCountryparks NaturalEngland MAGICRegisteredcommonland NaturalEngland MAGICNationalnaturereserves NaturalEngland MAGICLocalnaturereserves NaturalEngland MAGICSitesofspecialscientificinterest NaturalEngland MAGICSpecialareasofconservation NaturalEngland MAGICSpecialprotectionareas NaturalEngland MAGICBurialgrounds2006 Departmentfor
constitutionalaffairsCLG
Doorstepgreens NaturalEngland MAGICMillenniumgreens NaturalEngland MAGICGreenPennantparks2004-05and2005-06
CLG KeepBritainTidy
GreenFlagparks1998-2007 CLG KeepBritainTidyGreenHeritageSitewinners2004-05 CLG KeepBritainTidyGreenbelt CLG MAGICVillagegreens DEFRA MAGICHeritagecoast NaturalEngland MAGICNationalparks NaturalEngland MAGICRamsarsites NaturalEngland MAGICCommunityforests ForestryCommission MAGICWoodsforpeople ForestryCommission ForestryCommissionWoodlandTrustsites WoodlandTrust MAGICGrasspitches SportEngland Active�places�powergatewaySyntheticpitches SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayAthleticstracks SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayGolfcourses SportEngland Active�places�powergatewayRegisteredparksandgardens EnglishHeritage MAGICScheduledmonuments EnglishHeritage MAGICRSPBreserves RoyalSocietyforthe
ProtectionofBirds(RSPB)
MAGIC
NationalTrustlandholdings NationalTrust NationalTrust
Table 1: Examples of sources of data about green and open space in England
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possibleusingthedatathatalreadyexists,amulti-facetedviewofgreenspace:
1 quantity:bytypeofgreenspace,includingbothabsoluteandrelativeamounts,availableinurbanareas
2 quality:includingsubjectiveassessmentssuchasresidentsatisfactionandobjectivemeasuressuchasbiodiversity
3 use:howpeopleusegreenspace
4 proximity:thephysicallocationofgreenspaceinrelationtowherepeoplelive,andhowfarpeoplehavetotraveltoaccessdifferenttypesofgreenspace
5 management and maintenance:includinginformationaboutspending,staffingandhowwellaspaceislookedafter
6 value:capturinghowimportantgreenspaceistopeople.
Thesethemesformedthestructureofthesubsequentanalysis.Inparticular,welookedforconnectionsbetweendifferentaspectsofgreenspaceandthelocalenvironment,takingaccountofwidersocio-demographicfactors,location,housingdensityandotherissues.
Subsequentchaptersofthisreportsetouttheresultsofthisanalysis.
Establishing core indicators
Theprojectdevisedasetofcorekeyindicatorstoformabaselineformeasuringtrendsinthefuture.Theseindicatorshadtoachievevariousthings:theyneededtoprovidearoundedpictureofurbangreenspacecoveringalltheidentifiedthemes;theyneededtoberobust,basedonreliableandrespecteddatasourcesavailableconsistentlyacrossmostofurbanEngland;andtheyhadtobeeasilyreplicablesothattheycanbeupdatedwithoutdifficultyinthefuture.
Thesedatasetsnotonlycontaininformationabouttypesofgreenspace,butalsorecordinformationaboutpolicydesignationsandothercharacteristicsofgreenspaces,suchaswhethertheyaredesignatedasgreenbeltorsitesofspecialscientificinterestorareoperatedasbirdreservesorwoodlandsites.Inmanycases,informationinthesedatasetsoverlaps.Forexample,oftenasinglegreenspaceincludesarangeofdifferenttypesofspace,forinstancebothanaturereserveandasportspitch.Thisspacecould,therefore,appearintwoormorecategories.
Thelistabovedoesnotexplicitlyincludetheopenspacethatisownedandmanagedbyregisteredsociallandlordsasthesespacesareinvisibleinnationaldatacollection.
Furthermore,thereiscurrentlynosinglesourceofinformationaboutplayspacesavailableatanationallevel.12PlayEngland,theorganisationthatpromotesplaynationallyandishelpingtodeliverthegovernment’splaystrategy,isworkingonaprojecttoevaluatecurrentpracticeforrecordingplayspaceinformationandisassessingthefeasibilityofcreatinganationalmapofplay.13
Identifying themes to structure research analysis
Thereviewofdatasourceslookedindetailatthedifferentmeasuresandindicatorscontainedwithinexistingdatasourcesthatcapturesomeelementofgreenspace,itsqualitiesandpeople’sattitudestowardsit.Commonthemeswereidentifiedacrossdisparatedatasetsandmeasureswereidentifiedthatcouldbeusedtostructureandorganiseourextractionofdata.
Thisreviewwaswide-ranging,lookingacrossEurope,NorthAmericaandAustralasiaforrelevantexamples.Itconcentratedonextensivemeasurescoveringawholecountryorterritoryoragroupofcities,ratherthanindicatorscoveringonespaceoragroupofspaces.Thelonglistoftheindicatorsidentifiedasrelevantisinappendix2.
Fiftytwoindividualindicatorswereanalysedinmoredetailtohelpusunderstandwhatinformationcanbecollectedaboutgreenspace,andprioritiseissueswithinouranalysis.Theresultsofthisreviewaresummarisedinappendix3.Basedonthisreviewthefollowingthemeswereselectedtorepresent,asfarasis
12 ThisstudyusedOrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformationthatlistsmoststructures,buildingsandlandusesotherthanresidentialhomesandincludesplayparks.
13 www.playengland.org.ukandwww.playengland.org.uk/localplayindicators
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Sourcesofexistingdatawerescrutinisedinrelationtotheirunderlyinggeography—thelowestspatialunitforwhichresultscouldbeanalysed—andtheircontent.Surveyquestionsandvariablelistswereconsideredindetailinordertoestablishwhatfreshdataanalysiscouldbecarriedoutbycombiningdatasourcesorbyisolatingspecificquestions.Appendix4setsoutthelonglistofpotentialindicatorsconsidered,withtheirdatasourceidentified.
Thefollowingkeyindicators,identifiedbytheme,wereselected:
QuantityQN1greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulationQN2area(hectares)usedforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation
QualityQL1numberofGreenFlag-awardedparksperlocalauthorityQL2percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithlocalareasasaplacetolive
UseU1percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequencyU2percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive
ProximityP1numberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectaresP3measureofproximitytogreenspaceforthoseinthemostdeprivedareas
Management and maintenanceMM1residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceserviceMM2annualspendonparksperheadofpopulationMM3cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspaceMM4statusofgreen/openspacestrategies
Value to local peopleV1percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetoliveV2percentageofpeoplewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant.
Asagroup,theseindicatorscoverarangeofdimensionsofurbangreenspace.However,thedataforsomeindicatorsismorerobustandcomprehensivethanitisforothers.Forinstance,weknowmuchmoreaboutthecleanlinessofparksthantheirvaluetopeople.Datasetsprovideinformationontheconditionofpublicspacesbutnotontheirdesignorfunctionalquality.Weknowhowcleanandwellmaintainedspacesarebutnothowvaluable,vibrantorwellusedtheyare.14
Itwastheintentiontoconsidertheskillsofthegreenspacesector.However,existingdatacollectionrecordsverylittleinformationaboutthegreenspaceworkforce.CABE’sSkills�to�grow�strategysetsoutsevenprioritiestoimprovegreenspaceskills.15Thisprogrammeofworkincludesresearch,forthefirsttime,onthesizeandscopeofthegreenspacesectornationallyandaimstoprovidebenchmarkstomeasureprogressintacklingskillsdeficitsinthegreenspaceworkforce.16
Creating an inventory of urban green space
ItwasbeyondthescopeofthisprojecttobuildacomprehensiveinformationresourceonurbangreenspaceinEngland.TheCABESpacebriefingThe�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spacessetsoutthechallengesinvolvedindoingso.Therearewaysforward,however.
Forinstance,inScotland,GreenspaceScotland,withsupportfromtheScottishExecutive,hasalreadymadegoodprogressincreatinganinventoryofurbangreenspaceusingGISmaps,aerialphotographyanddatafromlocalauthorities.Theinventoryincludesdataaboutquality,quantityanduseofgreenspaceandwillprovideavaluablebenchmarkfromwhichpolicycanbeformulatedanditsimpactmonitored.17
Ourresearchstudy,intheprocessofdrawingtogetherallnationaldatarelatingtourbangreenspace,hascreatedthefirstattemptataninventoryofurbangreenspaceinEngland.
14 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�life:�a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.
15 Skills�to�grow:�seven�priorities�to�improve�urban�green�space�skills,CABESpace,2008.
16 Green�space�skills�2009:�National�employer�survey�findings,�CABESpace,2009.17 State�of�Scotland’s�greenspace,GreenspaceScotland,2009.
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Theresultinginventoryincludesrecordsformorethan16,000individualgreenspacesin11categories(table2).Eachrecordcontainsanestimateofsize(hectares)andthespace’sgeographiclocation.18Althoughincomplete,thisisthefirsttimethatthisdatahasbeencollatedintoonedatabase.AlthoughtheinventorywillonlygosofarinfillingthegapinnationalinformationaboutEngland’sgreenspace,itisnonethelessanimportantstepintherightdirectionandprovidesthebasisformostmeasuresofquantityandproximityinthereport.
18 Syntheticpitches,skislopesandrunningtrackswereexcludedfromtheinventory,andonlygrasssportsfacilitieswereincluded.
Table 2: Contents of the inventory (all urban authorities, England)
Green space type Count Area (ha) DataAllotments 997 1,356.8 Allotmentsites2004-05Cemeteries 1,643 3,679.1 Burialgrounds2006Communityfarms 197 472.8 Communitygardensandcityfarms2004-05Countryparks 72 5,756.9 CountryparksDoorstepgreens 82 140.3 DoorstepgreensGolfcourses 361 5,720.6 GolfcoursesGrasspitches 10,243 8,170.4 SportEngland/FieldsinTrustMillenniumgreens 91 164.5 MillenniumgreensNaturereserves 663 14,308.0 Nationalnaturereserves;localnaturereservesParks 1,770 52,243.2 Registeredparksandgardens2008;
Public�parks�assessment;GreenFlagparks2005-06;GreenFlagparks2006-07
NationalTrust 128 14,537 NationalTrustAll types 16,247 106,549.6
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Intermsoftherobustnessandreliabilityoftheinventory,thefollowingpracticalitiesshouldbenoted.
First,asfaraspossible,theinventoryaimedtoavoidduplicationofspacesacrossdifferentcategories.Someofthedatasetsincludedanunderlyinglistofspacesthatcouldbeextractedfromthedatafileandoverlapcouldbeidentified.However,becausedifferentsourceswereheldindifferentformatsandwerecreatedbydifferentorganisationsfordifferentpurposes,variationsinnamingconventions,particularlylocalauthoritynamesandindividualsitenames,madeeliminatingduplicatestime-consuming.Thereforeinevitablytherewassomedouble-ortreble-countingofspacesthatincludemorethanonefacility,suchasaparkwithsportspitchesandnaturereservestatus.
Second,itwouldhavebeendesirableforasmuchdataaspossibletobesuppliedwithshapefilesorboundaryfiles,sothatparksandgreenspacescouldbemappedinGIS.Someshape/boundaryfileswereavailabletoourresearchers,andthesewereusedwhereverpossible.However,manyoftheentriesintheinventoryhadnoboundarydataattachedtothem,andsowererepresentedbycirclesequivalenttotheknown,orestimated,sizeofthespace.
Third,theinventorydevelopedforthepurposeofthisstudywascomparedwiththePPA,theonlyotherattempttosurveyurbangreenspacesinEngland.19Thiswasinordertoobtainaquickandcrudecomparisonofextentofcoverage.TheCABEinventoryrecordsatotalofapproximately12,000parksandrecreationalspaces.ThePPAdatasetrecordsatotalof14,600suchspaces.ThustheCABEinventoryseemstoincludeabout82percentoftheparksandrecreationalspacesincludedinthePPA.Ifthefiguresforparkareaarecompared,theCABEinventorycoversaround87percentoftheareaaccountedforbythe2001PPAdataset.
Finally,somesourcesofdataprovedtobeparticularlyusefulinthisresearch;butdespitetheirusefulness,eachhassignificantshortcomings.Theseshortcomingsaresummarisedinappendix5.
Glossary
Thestudyanalysedstatisticallyanumberofkeyindicators,andothersetsofdata,toseeifanyusefulunderlyingtrendsorcorrelationscouldbefound.Theprocessesreferredtoinclude:
Regression analysisThislooksatthestrengthofrelationshipsbetweenthedifferentdatacollected.Inparticular,welookedforconnectionsthatmightbeapparentbetweendifferentaspectsofgreenspaceandthelocalenvironment,whiletakingaccountofawiderrangeofissuessuchassocio-demographicfactors,locationalfactors,andissuestodowithurbanform—suchashousingdensity.
Logistic regressionThisisaregressionanalysistechniqueusedwhenthedataisexpressedinbinaryform,suchas‘good’or‘bad’;‘satisfied’or‘unsatisfied’.
Ordinary least squaresThisisatechniqueusedtoanalysevariablesthattakeacontinuousform,suchasthenumberoftimespeopleusetheparkinayear,whichcouldbeanynumberbetween0and,say,500.
19 ThereissomelackofclarityaboutwhichtypesofspaceswereincludedinthePPA.Itis,however,unlikelythatitincludedcemeteries,allotmentsorgolfcourses,sothesewereexcludedfromthecomparison.
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20 Mitchell,RandPopham,F,‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmentonhealthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,The�Lancet:372(2008),1655-60.
21 ForexampledeVries,S,Verheij,RA,Groenewegen,PPandSpreeuwenberg,P,‘Naturalenvironments–healthyenvironments?Anexploratoryanalysisoftherelationshipbetweengreenspaceandhealth’,Environment�and�PlanningA,35:1717-31,2003.
22 Grey�to�green:�how�we�shift�funding�and�skills�to�green�our�cities,CABE,2009.23 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�
life:�a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.
2 Quantity of urban green space
It may seem extraordinary that no one knows how much publicly accessible urban green space there is in England, but quantifying it does pose some methodological questions. One issue is how to define exactly what should be counted — for instance, some very well-used urban green spaces are not ‘official’ parks or gardens at all, some do not even have names and many are not easily identifiable as a single space. Many provide multiple functions, making their classification tricky. Even those parks and gardens that are run by local authorities can be known locally by different names, adding to the potential confusion. The problem is compounded by the fact that those organisations that do collect data on the quantity of urban green space tend to use different definitions, and usually exclude spaces around social housing that, for many people, could be their most important local green space.
Measuring the quantity of green space: about the data
Quantityisanimportantmeasureofgreenspacebecause,regardlessofitsquality,thetotalamountofgreenspaceavailabledoesstillmatter.Lowaverageamountsofgreenspacemaymeanthatinsomeneighbourhoodsthereiseffectivelynoneavailable,whileevenwherethereissomegreenspaceitmaybedegradedthroughoveruseorconflictinguses.
Researchdemonstratesthatpeoplewholiveinthegreenestneighbourhoodsexperiencelowerall-causemortalityandlowermortalityfromcirculatorydiseasesthansimilarpeoplelivinginlessgreenneighbourhoods.20This,andotherevidence,demonstratesthatlivinginaliterallygreenerandleafierneighbourhoodisgoodforyourhealthregardlessofyoureconomiccircumstances.21
Thequantityofgreenspaceavailablealsodeliverscriticalenvironmentalservices,offeringaworkinglandscape:livingroofs,largetreesandsoftlandscapeareastoabsorbheavyrainfall;anetworkofareasforeffectivefloodprotectionandthecleaningandcoolingofair.22Theabilitytodelivertheseserviceseffectivelyisinfluencedbythelevelofquality,whichisdiscussedinmoredetailinthefollowingchapter.
Furthermore,thequantityandqualityofgreenspaceisanimportantfactorinattractingpeopletoareasandretainingresidents.IntheBritishHouseholdPanelsurvey,respondentswereaskedtogivereasonswhytheirareawasagoodorbadplacetolive.44percentofthereasonsgivenrelatedtopublicspace.Furthermore,theSurveyofEnglishHousingaskedrespondentstolistthethreemainthingsthatwouldimprovetheirlocalarea.Issuesrelatingtoaspectsofpublicspacewerecitedasmanytimesasfactorsrelatingtoemployment,healthandhousing.23
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24 TherearenotableproblemswithcalculatingQN1:first,whethertousethe‘broad’measureofgreenspacederivedfromGLUDwhichincludesfarmland,golfcoursesandsoon,ora‘narrower’measurederivedfromtheCABEgreenspaceinventoryorCIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08combinedwiththeMunicipal�year�book2008data.Second,officialpopulationestimatesarenotavailableforsmallareas,whichhasanimpactonaccuracy.
25 http://cabeurl.com/adandwww.cipfa.org.uk2008Municipal�year�bookdataused.26www.sportengland.org
Generalised Land Use Database ThemostcompletesourceofdataabouttheareaofgreenspaceinurbanEnglandistheGeneralisedLandUseDatabase(GLUD),heldbyCommunitiesandlocalgovernment(CLG).GLUDwasderivedusinganautomatedmethodofclassifyingOrdnanceSurveymapdataintoninelandcategoriesandone‘unclassified’category.ItprovidesfiguresforlandtypeforallofEnglandasatJanuary2005.FromthepointofviewofquantifyingurbangreenspaceinEnglandthedatafromGLUDhasseveralstrengths.
First,itiscomplete,inthatitcoversallofEngland’surbanareas.Second,thecategoriesaremutuallyexclusivesothatnoparceloflandcanbeincludedmorethanonce.Third,itseparatesoutbothpathsandroads,meaningthatthemeasureofgreenspaceisrelativelyaccurate.
However,GLUDalsohasamajordrawback:its‘greenspace’categorycoversawiderangeofgreenspacetypesincludingfarmland,woodland,allotments,parks,playingfieldsandcemeteries—althoughexcludingdomesticgardens.Muchofthis,particularlyfarmlandandwoodland,isprivateland.Consequently,anydataaboutthequantityofpublicurbangreenspacederivedfromGLUDisover-generous.
Thisstudythereforeadoptstwodefinitionsofquantityofurbangreenspace:a‘broad’definitionwherebyGLUDdataisused;anda‘narrow’definitionwhereothersourcesofinformationaboutquantityofspaceareusedwiththeaimoffocusingonparksandpublicgreenspacesonly.
Allofthesedatasetshavedisadvantages:someofthemareincompleteinthattheydonotcoverallofEngland’surbanareas;someofthemaremissingvitalinformation,suchasthenameofeachspaceoritsarea.Furthermore,informationongreenspaceownedandmanagedbysociallandlordsisabsentinnationalinformationcollection.
The quantity indicators
QN1Greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulation
QN2 Area(hectares)usedforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation
Thestudycalculatedurbangreenspacequantityintwoways:greenspaceinhectaresperthousandpopulation(QN1)24andareainhectaresforsports/leisureperthousandpopulation(QN2).
QN1wascalculatedasa‘broad’measureofgreenspaceusingGLUDdata.Andasa‘narrow’measureusingdatafromthisproject’sgreenspaceinventoryorothersources,suchastheCharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy(CIPFA)Leisure,�culture�and�recreationstatistics(2007/08)andtheMunicipal�year�book(MYB),whichholdsincompletedataongreenspace.25
QN2wascalculatedusingthestudy’sgreenspaceinventory,whichincludesameasureoftheareaofrecreationgroundstakingtheformofgrasspitches,derivedfromSportEnglandFacilitiesdata(2009)thatiscomprehensive.Thisexcludesall-weatherpitchesandsomeothertypesoffacilities.26
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What the quantity indicators tell us
Regional variationsThegeneralpictureacrosstheregionsoutlinedbelowisthattheSouthEast,SouthWestandEastMidlandsscorerelativelywellwhileLondonandtheWestMidlandsscoreratherpoorly(table3).
ThemeanscoresforurbanEnglandare1.79(ifthequantitydataistakenfromtheinventory),or1.98(ifquantitydataisderivedfromCIPFAandMYB).
TheAssociationofPublicServiceExcellence(APSE)managesabenchmarkingclubenablingauthoritiestobenchmarkagainstotherauthoritiesintheUK.Dataonanumberofperformanceindicatorsiscollected.Performanceindicator30measureshectaresofmaintainedpublicopenspaceper1,000population.Datawasavailablefor64localauthorities.AmongthelocalauthoritiesintheAPSEgroupthemaximumscorewas7.8hectaresper1,000population;theaveragescorewas4.17;andthelowestscorewas1.33.TheAPSEgroupincludessomeruralareaswhicharelikelytohavegreaterquantitiesofgreenspace,andsowouldhavehighervalues.27
Quantity varies according to urban typologyWhenconsideringurbantypologies,suburbanareasappeargenerallytohavealargerquantityofparksandgreenspacethanurbanareas.However,urban/cityareasarebetteroffforrecreationgroundsandsportspitches.Thisis,perhaps,whatmightbeexpected.Thesepatternsarealsoassociatedwithdensity
—generally,thereisagoodquantityofprovisioninthelowestdensityareas,withlessgreenspaceinintermediateandhigherdensityareas.Forinstance,wardswithfewerthan20dwellingsperhectarehavethreetimesasmuchgreenspaceaswardsinallhigherdensitybands.AlthoughinnerLondonscoresgenerallypoorlyintermsofquantityofgreenspace,itappearstobebetterprovidedwithchildren’splaygrounds.
Deprived areas have far less green space than affluent onesOnmostindicatorstested(includingboth‘narrow’and‘broad’definitionsofquantity)deprivedareashavemarkedlylessgreenspacethanaverage,whiletheleastdeprivedareashavethemost.Figure1illustratesquantityandtypeofgreenspacesbythelevelofanarea’sdeprivation.
Table 3: Green space (hectares) per thousand population – ‘narrow’ measure
Region Green space (hectares) per thousand populationCABEinventorydata
CIPFAandMYBdata
NorthEast 1.77 1.55YorkshireandtheHumber 1.82 1.83NorthWest 1.61 1.86EastMidlands 1.92 3.25WestMidlands 1.36 1.67SouthWest 2.45 2.70EastofEngland 1.49 2.37SouthEast 2.86 3.25London 1.24 1.24
PublicparksGeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)RecreationgroundsSportsgroundsPlaygrounds
Figure 1: Quantity and type of green space and area deprivation
Inde
x
Levelofdeprivation
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0Worst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% Leastdepr
Sources:CIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08andMunicipal�Year�Book(recreationgrounds);CABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory(publicparks);GeneralisedLandUseDatabase(generalgreenspace);SportEnglandFacilitiesdata2009(sportsgrounds)OrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformation(playgrounds).Allmeasuresbasedonarea(hectares)ofgreenspaceper1,000population.DeprivationcalculatedusingtheIndexofMultipleDeprivation2004.
27www.apse.org.uk
14
Themostaffluent20percentofwardshavefivetimestheamountofparksorgeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)perpersonthanthemostdeprived10percentofwards.Peoplewhoarenotworkingbecauseofunemploymentorsickness—individualmarkersofdeprivation—tendtoliveinareaswithalowerquantityofgreenspace.Similarly,peoplestudyingortrainingalsohavelowerquantityscoresforgeneralgreenspaceandparks.
Formosttypesofgreenspace,socialrentersandprivaterentershavelessquantitythanowner-occupiers,exceptforchildren’splaygroundsandrecreationgrounds.Itisimportanttonotethatitwasnotpossibletoincludesocialhousinggreenspacesinanalysis.Thiswillhaveanimpactonresults.
Datawasalsoanalysedbyethnicity(figure2).Peoplefromminorityethnicgroupstendtohavelesslocalgreenspace.Theinequalityofprovisionalsocorrelatesstronglywiththeproportionofblackandminorityethnicpeoplelivinginanarea:placeswithhighproportionsofblackandminorityethnicresidentshavefarlessgreenspace.Areasthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(fewerthan2percentoftheirpopulation)havesixtimesasmanyparksthanwardswheremorethan40percentofthepopulationareblackorminorityethnicresidents.Usinga‘broad’definitionofquantityofgreenspace,notjustparks,thisdifferenceisaround11times.28
Thismaybebecauseinnerurbanareas,whichtendtohavealowerquantityofgreenspace,alsotendtohaveahigherproportionofblackandminorityethniccommunities.Wealsorecognisethattheresultsareintimatelyrelatedtothecircularityofdisadvantage–blackandminorityethniccommunitiesaremorelikelytobelivinginareasofdeprivationwhichhavemarkedlylessgreenspacethanaverage.
Thepictureismorepositiveinregardtorecreationfacilitiesandplaygrounds.Indeed,areaswithanintermediatelevelofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between6and20percentofpopulation)havearelativelyhighlevelofprovisionofrecreationgrounds,whileplaygroundprovisionisalsorelativelyhighforwardswithbetween11and40percentblackandminorityethnicresidents.
Figure 2: Quantity and type of space by black and minority ethnic population
Inde
x
Percentageblackandminorityethnicpopulation
340
320
300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0Under2% 2-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% Over40%
Sources:CIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationstatistics2007/08andMunicipal�Year�Book(recreationgrounds);CABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory(publicparks);GeneralisedLandUseDatabase(generalgreenspace);SportEnglandFacilitiesdata2009(sportsgrounds)OrdnanceSurveyPointsofInterestinformation(playgrounds).Allmeasuresbasedonarea(hectares)ofgreenspaceper1,000population.
28Gardensnotincluded.
PublicparksGeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)RecreationgroundsSportsgroundsPlaygrounds
15
29 Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayorofLondon,2009.
30 Greenspace�quality:�a�guide�to�assessment,�planning�and�strategic�development,GreenspaceScotland,2008.
31 www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag
3 Quality of urban green space
The quality of parks and green spaces is one of the most important elements of their value, both to individuals and to society as a whole. For instance, if a local park is derelict and overgrown, it is unlikely to be used much by many of the people who might benefit from it, such as children, parents and the elderly. Because of this, a small, well-designed and well-maintained park may be far more valuable to a community than a large but neglected space. This can be true of environmental performance, too: a large area of mown grass might have little ecological value, whereas a small well-planted space could be rich in biodiversity. In other words, simply knowing the size of a green space tells us little about its value. Other aspects need to be understood and enumerated — and there are many different sources of data that attempt to do this.
Measuringthequalityofgreenspace,likemeasuringitsquantity,isnotstraightforward.Thereisnonationalstandardforqualityornationalqualitycriteriaforopenspaces.Assessmentswillrelyonacombinationofobjectiveandsubjectiveobservationsandprovideasnapshotintimeonly.CABESpace’sbestpracticeguidance,Open�space�strategies,discussestheseissuesinmoredepth.29Inaddition,GreenspaceScotland’sguidetogreenspacequalitysetsoutspecificgreenspacequalityindicators.30
Measuring the quality of green space: about the data
Thereare,however,avarietyofmeasuresthatcaptureaspectsofthequalityofurbangreenspace,coveringanumberofdimensionsofquality.Theseincludeimportant,butsubjective,aspectssuchasuserperceptionsandratings,foundinBestValuePerformanceIndicators(BVPI),thePlace�surveyandGreenSTAT,andmoreobjectivemeasuressuchasbiodiversity,whicharereflectedinGreenFlagawards,anddatafromtheRoyalSocietyfortheProtectionofBirdsandtheEnvironmentAgency.
However,whiletherangeofmeasuresisveryuseful,manyoftheunderlyingdatasourcesarenotcomprehensiveinthattheyonlyincludeaproportionofurbangreenspaces.
The Green Flag awards TheGreenFlagawardschemeisavoluntaryannualawardsschemeforalltypesofpublicgreenspaceandprovidesanationalqualitybenchmarkforgreenspaces.31Localauthoritiesorotherownersormanagersofgreenspacescanenterspacesforanaward,andhavetopayafeeforeachspacetheyenter.Uniquely,theawardsarebasedonaholisticviewofwhatmakesagoodgreenspace,ratherthanasingleindicator.
Thespaceisjudgedintwoways.First,managementinformation—inparticularthesite’smanagementplan—isassessedandjudgedagainstanumberofcriteria.Second,accreditedGreenFlagjudgesvisitthesiteandareabletoaskquestionsofthesite’smanagers,maintenanceworkers,andoftenmembersofcommunitygroupstoo.Thesiteisthenscoredagainstthefollowingcriteria:Isitawelcomingplace?Isithealthy,safeandsecure?Isitwellmaintainedandclean?Isitmanagedsustainably?Doesitrespectandenhance
16
32 www.greenstat.org.uk33 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�quality�of�life:�
a�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.
34 http://cabeurl.com/b7
conservationandheritage?Isthelocalcommunityinvolved?Isitwellpromoted?Isitwellmanaged?Iftheparkscoresaboveacertainlevel,itwillbegivenanawardwhichisvalidforoneyear.Thescoresareweighted,sothatifasitescoresveryhighlyonsomeaspects,butverypoorlyonothers,itwillnotwinitsaward.Similarly,themanagementsystemsandinformation,asjudgedbythemanagementplan,havetobeofacertainquality.Inotherwords,asitethatisverywellmaintained,buthaspoorstrategicmanagement,willusuallynotgetanaward—evenifthesiteitselflooksattractive.
AlthoughthefactthataspacehasachievedaGreenFlagawardisagoodindicationofitsquality,GreenFlagisavoluntaryscheme.Thefactthataspacedoesnothaveanawardshouldnotbetakentoimplythatitisofpoorquality—itmaysimplynothavebeenentered.
GreenSTATGreenSTATisasystemthatgiveslocalresidentstheopportunitytocommentonthequalityoftheiropenspacesandhowwelltheyfeeltheyarebeingmanagedandmaintained.32Itallowssitemanagerstocomparetheresultswithothersupanddownthecountry.GreenSTATdatacontainsuserfeedbackaboutuse,facilities,designandappearance,maintenanceandoverallsatisfaction.GreenSpacemanagesGreenSTAT.ItsdatasharingagreementwiththelocalauthoritiesthatsubscribetoitmeansthatresultsformeasuresbasedonGreenSTATcanonlybereportedhereinrelationtoregions,orgroupingsoflocalauthorities,ratherthanindividualauthorities.
BVPI and the Place surveyBVPIsurveysofresidentswereundertakeneverytwoyearsuntil2006.Thesurveyscollectedinformationaboutsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Thisincludedanumberofquestionsaboutlocalgreenspacesuchasthefrequencyofparkuse,viewsaboutnatureandsatisfactionwiththeauthority’sparksservice.From2008,theBVPIsurveywasreplacedbythePlace�survey�whichhasasimilarpurpose.
Place�survey�resultswerepublishedinearly2009.However,thedatareleasedforpublicationwasnotcomprehensiveatthetimeofthisstudy.Asaresult,themajorityofanalysisheredrawsonBVPIdata.
UK Sustainable Development IndicatorsTheUKSustainableDevelopmentIndicatorsareasuiteof68indicatorsthatareupdatedannually.Appendix2setsouttheindicatorsrelevanttothisstudy.Twoindicatorswereanalysedhere.Indicator60,thepercentageofpopulationslivinginareaswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions,andIndicator65,whichassesseslocalenvironmentalqualityusingKeepBritainTidydata.
What the data does not tell us
Someelementsofqualityinpublicparksandopenspacesarenevermeasureddirectlyoraremeasuredonlyrarely,forinstancedesignqualityorusability.33Manyofthese,suchasdesignquality,areverydifficulttomeasureandexpressnumerically—althoughtheGreenFlagawarddoesattempttocapturesomeofthesemoreelusivevaluesinanumericalform.However,thefactthatsomethingisnoteasytocapturestatisticallydoesnotmeanthatitisnotimportant,andthisshouldbeborneinmindwhenconsideringthedatabelow.
The quality indicators
QL1NumberofGreenFlag-awardedparksperurbanlocalauthorityQL2Percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithlocalareaasaplacetolive
Thestudyexaminedtwocoreindicatorsindicatingqualityofgreenspace:numberofGreenFlagawardsperurbanauthority(QL1)andpercentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive(QL2).
QL2isbasedondatafromthe2006BVPIsurvey.34Headlineresultsforsatisfactionwithlocalarea,usingPlace�survey�data,arereportedhereonly.InadditiontotheQL1andQL2coreindicators,otherindicatorsofenvironmentalandgreenspacequality,derivedfromBVPIandtheUKSustainableDevelopmentIndicators,wereanalysed.Theseincludedwhetherresidentsthinkthatopenspaceshavegotbetterorworse.
Indicatorsaboutthequalityof,andsatisfactionwith,thebroadergreenspaceserviceprovidedbylocalauthoritiesarediscussedinchapter6.
17
1-2greenflags 3-4greenflags 5ormoregreenflags
Map 1: Number of local authorities with Green Flag Awards, England and London (2009/10)
What the quality indicators tell us
Increasing numbers of Green Flag awardsGreenFlagawardsareoneindicatorofqualityinurbanparks.Thenumberofurbanparksreceivingawardsrosefrom487in2008/09,to594in2009/10.
In2008/09,120of154(78percent)ofurbanauthoritiesinEnglandhadoneormoreGreenFlagaward.In2009/10,135of154(81percent)ofurbanauthoritiesinEnglandhadoneormoreGreenFlagaward.
ThemapbelowshowstheincidenceofGreenFlagparksin2009/10.Amongotherthings,itdoesshowthatafewlocalauthoritieswinthemajorityoftheawards.
London detail
18
35 http://cabeurl.com/af.Datafrom2007release.
Thetablebelowsetsoutthetop14urbanlocalauthorityrecipientsofGreenFlagawardsin2009/10.Betweenthem,theseauthoritiesaccountedfor190outof594awards,32percentofthetotal.
What the Sustainable Development Indicators tell usIndicator60oftheUK’sSustainableDevelopmentIndicatorsmeasuresthepercentageofpopulationslivinginareaswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions.35Analysisofthisshowsthatahigherproportionofpeoplelivinginthemostdeprivedareasliveinplaceswiththeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions.Theindicatortracksairpollution,industrialreleases,greenspace,habitatsfavourabletobiodiversityandsoon.Inthemostaffluentareas,lessthan0.5percentofthepopulationexperiencemorethanthreeleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions;inthemostdeprivedareasitis22percent.
Inaddition,SustainableDevelopmentIndicator65assesseslocalenvironmentalqualityandisbasedonKeepBritainTidydatawhichevaluatesasampleofsitesinrelationtoarangeofissuesthatincludelitter,dogfouling,detritus,fly-tipping,graffitiandsoon.Analysisofthisindicatorfound53percentoflocalenvironmentsinEnglandaredeemedunsatisfactoryorpoor.
Satisfaction with area and quality of green spaceQL2measurestheproportionofrespondentsveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Place�survey�datashowsthat80percentofpeopleinEnglandareveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Thisisagoodgeneralindicatorbutpeoplecouldbereflectingotherattributesoftheirneighbourhoodintheirresponse.
PublishedPlace�surveydatawasnotcomprehensiveatthetimeofthisstudy.QL2figuresbelowuseBVPIdata.
InadditiontoQL2,twootherqualityindicatorsfromBVPIwereanalysed:theproportionofresidentsthatthinkthatthequalityofparksandopenspacesintheirareagotbetterorstayedthesameinthelastthreeyears;andtheproportionthatthinkthatparksandopenspacesareanaspectoftheareathatmostneedsimproving.Bothofthesedepend,tosomeextent,ontheexpectationsandaspirationsofresidents.
Patterns in quality of provisionOverall,therearequitestrongnorth-southandurban-suburbanpatternsinthesequalityindicators.QualityisbetterintheSouthWest,followedbytheEastofEnglandandSouthEast,andpoorerinthethreenorthernregions,particularlytheNorthWest.However,thesedifferencesarenotverydramaticinregardtothetwoindicatorsQL1andQL2.TheWestMidlandsscoresquitewellongeneralsatisfaction,whiletheEastofEnglandislessgoodonthisindicator.
Qualityisbetterinsuburbanareasgenerallyandsouthernurbanareasinparticular;betterincentralLondonbutpoorininnerLondonandtosomeextentouterLondontoo.Townfringeareasscorewellinthesouthbutlesswellinthenorth—moreofthesemaybeperipheralcouncilestatesorperi-urbanformerindustrialareas.ThereissomeevidenceofaU-shapedrelationshipwithdensity.
Quality in deprived areasImportantlyandincommonwiththemeasuresofquantityinchapter2,qualityissystematicallyworseindeprivedareasandbetterinlessdeprivedareas.ThedifferenceismarkedonQL2withresident
Table 4: Top Green Flag award-winning local authorities 2009/10
Authority Number of awardsManchester 30Westminster 18Liverpool 16CityofLondon 14Hillingdon 13Halton 12Stockport 12Haringey 11Nottingham 11Bury 11Tameside 11Wirral 11Sheffield 10NewcastleuponTyne 10
19
satisfactionwithlocalareafallingfromover80percentinthemostaffluentareastoaround50percentinthemostdeprivedareas(figure3).Qualityisworseinareaswithhighlevelsofsocialrentingandthosethatarelong-termsick,disabledpeopleandunemployedpeoplereportworsequality.
Young people’s satisfactionYoungpeopleagedbetween16and24reportlowerqualityacrossallindicatorsanalysedforthestudy.15percentof16-24yearoldsthinkparksandopenspacesaretheaspectoftheirareathatmostneedimprovement,comparedwith8percentof55-74yearolds.Thisgreaternegativityamongyoungerpeoplemayberelatedtothefactthattheyuseparksandopenspacemore,andtherebyhavemoreexperienceonwhichtoformaview.Itcouldbethatparksandopenspacesarenotbeingdesignedandmanagedtomeettheirneeds.36
Black and minority ethnic people fare worseAnalysisofthedatashowsthatqualityisalsoworseinareaswithahigherpopulationofblackandminorityethnicresidents.ThedifferencesaremoremarkedonthegeneralareasatisfactionindicatorQL2.Only50percentofresidentsinwardswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationfromblackandminorityethnicgroupsaresatisfied,comparedwith70percentinwardswithlessthan2percent.
Blackandmixedgroupsarelesslikelytothinkparkshaveimproved,andAsianresidentsaremorelikelytosayparksmostneedimproving.However,thesedifferencesinscorearenotverylarge.Interestinglythereisamorepositivepictureinareaswithbetween11and20percentblackandminorityethnicresidents-70percentreportthattheyareveryorfairlysatisfiedwiththeirlocalareaasaplacetolive.Thesecondpartoftheresearchexploresthisinmoredetail.37
Modelling satisfaction with areaIfwebringinevidencefromtheuseofmoresophisticatedstatisticaltechniques(regressionanalysisandlogisticregressionanalysis)topredicttheincidenceofgeneralneighbourhoodsatisfaction,thestrongestexplanatoryvariabletested38turnsouttobesatisfactionwiththelocalauthority’sgreen/openspaceservice.39Thismattersforlocalauthorityperformance.Thereisastronglinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirlocalparksandtheirsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhood.
Takentogetherwithpositiveeffectsfromquantityofbroadergreenspaceandaccessibilityofparks,thisprovidestangibleevidenceoftheconnectionbetweenqualityofgreenspaceandqualityoflife.Alsoverysignificantandpositiveistheeffectofwhetherpeoplethinkthatparksandpublicopenspaceoraccesstonatureisimportant,discussedinchapter7.Peoplewhovalueparksornaturearemorelikelytobesatisfiedwiththeirneighbourhoodasaplacetolive.
36 Youngpeopleareoftenoverlookedincommunityengagement.Spaceshaper9-14aimstogettheminvolvedinimprovingtheirlocalparks,streets,playgroundsandotherspaceswww.cabe.org.uk/public-space/spaceshaper-9-14
37 Seewww.cabe.org.uk/publications38 Thedatasetcreatedforthisanalysisdidnotincludealltheotherneighbourhood
satisfactionorqualityoflifeindicatorscollectedinBVPI,wherethesedidnotrelateinsomewaytogreen/openspace.Thereforewecannotruleoutthepossibilitythatsomeofthe‘explanation’fromthegreenspacesatisfactionvariablemaybe(jointly)attributabletootherorwiderneighbourhoodsatisfaction/problemissueswhicharecorrelated–forexample,crime/securityissues.
39 Chapter6looksatresidentsatisfactionwithparksandopenspaceservices.
Figure 3: Percentage of households satisfied with local area by level of deprivation
Worst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% LeastDepr England
Levelofdeprivation
Per
cent
age
gene
raln
eigh
bour
hood
sat
isfa
ctio
n
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Source:BVPI2006survey.Informationforurbanauthoritiesonly.
20
4 How often people visit urban green space
How many people use parks, and how often they use them, demonstrates people’s appreciation of an area’s green assets and reflects how valuable parks and green spaces are to communities.40 Until recently, however, data on green space use was scarce. At a local authority level, parks often compete for funding with other leisure services such as swimming pools and libraries, both of which count their users. Without knowing how many people use parks, compared with these other services, it is difficult to make a strong case for funding them and plan across different timescales strategically.41
Forthoseworkinginpublichealth,aswellasthoseinthegreenspacesector,informationaboutparkuseis,therefore,veryvaluable.Visitingparksandopenspacesprovidesbothphysicalandmentalbenefitsandformanypeopleislessoff-puttingandexpensivethangoingtoagym.Researchhasshowntheimportanceofgreenspaceasasettingforphysicalactivity–andmanyofthesportspeopleplaytakeplaceatoutdoorsportsfacilities,forinstancefootball,rugby,andgolf.42Includingthisdataheremakesitpossibletolinkgreenspacetopolicyagendasaroundhealthandobesity.
TheCABESpacepublication,Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assets,exploresthepracticalitiesofmeasuringparkuseinmoredetail,includingthelimitationsofthisasanindicator.43
Measuring the use of parks and green spaces: about the data
Anumberofdatasourcesincludeinformationabouttheuseofparksandgreenspaces.Forinstance,thePlace�survey2009and,beforethat,theBVPIsurveys,reporthowoftenpeopleuseparksandopenspacesgenerally,whereasGreenSTAT,forinstance,looksathowmuchanindividualspaceisused.
DEFRA’sregularsurvey,Public�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environment�tracker�study,asksrespondentsabouttheirattitudestowardskeyenvironmentalissuessuchasenergyuse,climatechangeandthenaturalenvironment.Thisincludesquestionsontheuseofgreenspace.44
GreenSTATistheonlydatasourcethatoffersinformationaboutwhypeopleuseparksandopenspaces.Itdoesnothavecomprehensivedatacoverageasitisaself-completionquestionnaire.
Inaddition,alessdirectmeasureofparkuse,thathasbeenincludedhere,isaphysicalactivitymeasurebasedontheSportEnglandActive�peoplesurvey2005/06.Thisisalargescalesurveyofpeople’sleisureandphysicalactivityinEngland.
TogetherthesemeasuresprovideausefulaccountofhowwellparksandopenspacesareusedinEngland’stownsandcities.
40 Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assetslooksinmoredetailatmeasuringparkusetoindicatethevalueofgreenspace.
41 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/making-the-invisible-visible42 Physical�Activity�and�the�Natural�Environment,�Natural�England�Evidence�Sheet�3,�
2003�and�Building�Health:�Creating�and�enhancing�places�for�healthy�active�lives,NationalHeartForum,inpartnershipwithLivingStreetsandCABE,2007.
43 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/making-the-invisible-visible44 http://cabeurl.com/9v
21
Table 5: Use of urban parks and open spaces in England
Howfrequentlyhaveyouusedthefollowingpublicservices?
Service Percentage of people in
last six months
Percentage of people in
the last year
Parksandopenspaces 79 87Localtips/householdwasterecyclingcentres
79 87
Localtransportinformation 54 68Localbusservices 58 67Sport/leisurefacilities 46 57Libraries 49 60Museums/galleries 24 38Theatres/concerthalls 29 45Source:Place�survey(2009)Informationforurbanauthoritiesonly.
The use indicators
U1Percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequency
U2Percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive
Thestudylookedattwocoreindicatorsofuse.Thefirstindicator,U1,givesfrequencyofvisitstoparks,takenfromBVPI2006.Itisbasedonbandedresponsestothequestionaboutfrequencyofusingparksandopenspaces,insevenbandsrangingfrom‘almosteveryday’to‘withinthelastyear’,‘longerago’and‘never’.
Publishedfiguresforthe2009Place�surveyincludedataaboutuseofparksandopenspacesinthelastsixmonthsandthelastyear.AtpresenttheavailabledataisfarlessdetailedthantheBVPIfigures.Therefore,headlinefiguresonlyarereportedhere(table5).
Thesecondindicator,U2,giveslevelsofphysicalactivity,takenfromtheSportEnglandActive�people�survey,2005/06.Itisbasedonthenumberofdaysinthelastfourweeksrespondentshavewalked,cycledordonesportingactivitiesofatleastmoderateintensityforatleast30minutes.
Use: what the data tells us
ParksandopenspacesarethemostfrequentlyusedserviceofallthepublicservicestrackedaspartofthePlace�survey,withrespondentsreportinghigheruseofparksthantheotherculturalandleisureservicessuchassportandleisurefacilitiesandlibraries.45InEngland81percentofrespondentshaveusedtheirlocalparkoropenspaceinthelastsixmonths.Thiscompareswith32percentthathaveusedconcerthalls,and26percentthathavevisitedgalleries.
Inurbanareas,87percentofthepopulationhaveusedtheirlocalurbanparkoropenspaceinthelastyear,and79percenthaveuseditinthelastsixmonths(table5).Thisshowslittlechangesince2006(table6).
However,itisworthnotingthatGreenspaceScotland’sresearch46showsthattherehasbeenamarkedincreaseinparkuseinScotlandduringthelastfewyears,with63percentofpeoplenowusinggreenspacesatleastonceaweekcomparedwith49percentin2005.UnfortunatelyitisnotpresentlypossibletotrackwhethertherehasbeenasimilarupliftinweeklyparkuseinEnglandusingup-to-datePlace�surveyinformation,asthislevelofdetailhasnotbeenreleased.
TheDEFRAtrackerstudyPublic�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environmentasksrespondentshowoftentheyvisitpublicgardens,parks,commonsorothergreenspaces.47IncontrasttotheresultsfromScotland,thisreportsanoveralldecreaseinweeklyuseinEngland:in200754percentofrespondentssaidtheyusedgreenspacesatleastonceaweek,48comparedwith48percentin2009.49
2006 BVPI surveyAnalysisofBVPIdataalsofoundthat87percentofrespondentshadbeentotheirlocalparkinthelastyear.ThefrequencyofparkusewasmarkedlyaboveaverageinLondon,theSouthEastandSouthWest,andbelowaverageinthethreenorthernregions,especiallyYorkshireandtheHumber(table6).
45 http://cabeurl.com/ahServicestracked:parksandopenspaces;localtransportinformation;localbusservices;sport/leisurefacilities,libraries,museums/galleriesandtheatres/concerthalls.
46 ��State�of�Scotland’s�greenspace,GreenspaceScotland,2009.47 Responserateofaround1,700individuals.48 http://cabeurl.com/ai49 http://cabeurl.com/ai
22
Table 6: Percentage of people using parks and green space by frequency of use
Generallyspeaking,peopleinLondonandthesouthofEnglanduseparksmorethanpeopleinthenorthofthecountry.Thispatternissimilartothepatternfoundbythequalityindicators—generallybetterqualityinthesouth,poorerinthenorth—andthetwoarelikelytoberelated.
Commonsensetellsusthataspacethatiswelldesignedandwellmaintained—inotherwords,thatisofahighquality—islikelytoattractmorepeople.ResearchfromtheHeritageLotteryFund(HLF)showsthatparksthathavebeenrestoredwithmoneyfromthefundhaveincreasedtheirvisitornumbersby68percentonaverage.Thissuggeststhatthelinkbetweenthequalityofthespaceanditsuseisverystrongindeed.TheHLFresearchalsoreportsthatthereare1.8billionvisitstoparksinEnglandeveryyear.50
TheindicatorU2,percentageofpeoplewhoarephysicallyactive,showsasimilarpattern,althoughtheregionaldifferencesarelessmarked.TheSouthEast,SouthWestandLondonhavethehighestlevelsofphysicalactivity,whiletheWestMidlandshasthelowest.
Use of parks by urban typologyInareasofhigherbuildingdensity,parksandopenspacesareusedmore.Thismaywellbebecausepeoplelivingindenserurbanareastendtolackgardens.CentralandinnerLondonhaveamarkedlyhigheruseofparksthancitycentresinotherregions.
ThiscouldbebecauseofthepresenceoftheeightRoyalParks,andthe4,000hectaresofparksandopenspacesrunbytheCorporationofLondon—allofthesespacesareofagenerallyhighquality.GiventhestronglinkbetweenqualityandusesuggestedbytheHLFresearch,theavailabilityoftheseparksmightbeonefactoraccountingfortheparticularlyhighparkuseinLondoncomparedwithothercities.
50 HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.
Source:BVPIData.
Government region Daily Weekly MonthlyTwice yearly Yearly
Less than yearly Never
NorthEast 12.0 24.1 20.7 17.8 9.7 7.3 8.4YorkshireandtheHumber 10.5 23.0 21.4 18.6 10.1 8.2 8.3NorthWest 12.0 26.5 20.6 17.0 8.7 7.1 8.1EastMidlands 13.3 25.6 20.7 16.3 9.3 6.9 7.9WestMidlands 11.5 24.7 20.9 16.9 9.3 8.2 8.5SouthWest 16.2 30.3 20.9 14.7 7.4 5.2 5.3EastofEngland 14.7 26.7 21.2 16.5 8.5 6.5 5.8SouthEast 16.2 30.0 20.9 15.2 7.1 5.0 5.6London 16.7 31.9 21.4 13.5 6.3 4.6 5.6Average 13.7 27.0 21.0 16.3 8.5 6.6 7.1
23
Use of parks in deprived areasWehavealreadyseenthatdeprivedareashavesmallerquantitiesofparksandopenspace,andwhattheydohave,isofapoorerqualitythanaverage.Itisperhapsnotsurprising,then,thatthedataaboutuseshowsthatindeprivedareasfewerpeopleuseparksandopenspace,andthosethatdousethemvisitlessthantheaverage.
Themostdeprived10percentofwardshaveafrequencyof51visitsperyear,comparedwith62visitsperyearinthemostaffluentwards.However,thesecondmostdeprivedbandhasafrequencyof60,underliningthattherelationshipisnotsostrongaswithsomeotherindicators.Theurbanform–thelevelofdensityofhousing–doesimpactonuseofparks.Thoseareasthataredenser,withfewgardensandahighernumberofflats,tendtohavehigherlevelsofuse.Asexpected,useofparksandformalgreenspaceishigherintheareaswhereresidentshaveaccesstolessprivategreenspace.Deprivedareastendtobeofahigherdensitythusthenatureofurbanformcouldbeoffsettingdeprivationtosomedegree.Parkuseisnotparticularlyrelatedtohousingtenure.
However,people’slevelsofphysicalactivityseemtoberelatedquitestronglytoaffluence,orthelackofit.Themostdeprivedwardshaveonly40percentofadultsdoingmoderatephysicalactivityregularly,whilethisrisessteadilyacrossthebandstonearly60percentinthemostaffluentwards.
Takenasawhole,thestrongcorrelationsbetweenthepoorqualityandquantityofspacesindeprivedareas,andthelowlevelsofphysicalactivityofresidents,suggestthatpolicymakerswhoarekeentoencouragebetterhealthindeprivedareasshouldconsiderinvestinginimprovingthequalityofparksandpublicspaceasonewayofhelpingtoachievethis.
Use of parks by different people TheUrbanGreenSpacesTaskforceobservedthatsomesectorsofsocietyusegreenspacelessthanothers,particularlyolderpeople(agedover65),peoplewithdisabilities,women,blackandminorityethnicpeopleandchildrenandyoungpeopleaged12-19.51Thisstudyconfirmedthesefindings.
Overall,acrossthestudy,limitinglonger-termillnessordisabilitywasfoundtobeassociatedwithlowersatisfactionwithneighbourhood,perceivedlowerqualityofparksservice,lowerparksuseandmuchlowerphysicalactivity.
Thepatternsofuseofparksbyblackandminorityethniccommunitieswereinterestingandechotheresearchfindingsonquantityandqualityofgreenspace(chapters2and3).Areaswithintermediateproportionsofblackandminorityethnicpeople(between11and40percentofwardpopulation)madethegreatestuseofparksandopenspaces(figure4).
BlackAfricanandAfrican-Caribbeanpeopleusedparkstheleast,peoplefrommixed/otherethnicgroupshadahigherfrequencythanaverage.Asianpeoplewereslightlymorelikelythanotherblackandminorityethnicpeopletouseparksatleastonceayear.ThesecondpartofresearchbyCABESpacelooksatethnicityanduseinmoredetail.
51 Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,DTLR,2002.
Figure 4: Frequency of use of parks and green space by proportion of black and minority ethnic population
0-2% 3-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% 41%+ England
Percentageblackandminorityethnicpopulation
Visi
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Source:GISanalysisofCABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory,linkedtoBVPIsurveyanddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).
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Intermsofphysicalactivity,moderatephysicalactivityislowestintheareasthathaveapopulationofmorethan40percentblackandminorityethnicpeopleandhighestinthoseareasthathaveapopulationofbetween10and20percent.
What can statistical modelling tell us about use and activity?Usingordinaryleastsquaresregressionforusefrequency,wefoundsomeusefuladditionaltrendsemergingfromthedata.
First,thereisamoderatebutsignificantlinkbetweentheamountthatpeopleuseparksandthedistancetheylivefromthenearestpark:livingclosertendstoincreaseuse.
Thereisalsoapositivelinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththelocalparksservice,howmuchtheyvalueparksornature,andtheamounttheyuseparks.Inotherwords,thedataconfirmswhatwemightexpect:peoplewhovalueparks,andthinktheirlocalparksaregood,willtendtousethemmore.
Onefindingthatislessself-evident,however,isthatspendingmoreonparksdoesnot,initself,leadtohigheruse.Thiscouldbebecausespendingmaybeaproxyformoreproblematic,andhencecostly,areas.Wemaynotbespendingenoughtoachievebetteruse.
Wheretheproportionofgardenareaisgreater,theuseofparksisless,suggestinganexpectedelementofsubstitution.
25
5 Proximity of populations and access to urban green space
The proximity and accessibility of green space is especially important to people living in urban areas. The physical access to a place affects how people will benefit from it. Easy access to good-quality green places will provide enhanced well-being: a greater sense of belonging and feelings of security, stretching people’s boundaries, promoting mobility and improving health.52 However, there is no nationally established methodology for measuring proximity.
Withoutanestablishedmethodologyformeasuringaccessibilityofgreenspacetherearevarioustechnicalchallengestoberesolved.Theseincludewhethertousedistances‘asthecrowflies’ortheactualdistancesthatpeoplehavetotraveltoreachagreenspace;whethertomeasuretothenearestparkgate(ifoneexists)orthecentreofthespace;andwhattodoaboutneighbourhoodsthatareclosetolocalauthorityboundariessothatthenearestspaceisprovidedbyanotherauthority.Theseissuesmakedatagatheringcomplexbutnonethelessofgreatimportance.
Proximity: about the data
ResearchbytheGreaterLondonAuthority(GLA)intohowaccesstonaturecanbeimproved
considersproximityinrelationtoactualwalkingdistancesandentrancestospaces.53Italsotakesintoaccountopeninghours,entrycharges,andthenatureofthesiteitself.ThisapproachiscomprehensiveandcouldformthebasisforthemeasurementofproximityoutsideLondon.
However,thismethodologyrequiresarobustinventoryofgreenspacesanddetailedinformationaboutboundaries,accesspointsandopeninghours.TheinventoryofurbangreenspacesacrossEnglandestablishedforthisprojectdidnotalwayshaveevenbasicinformationaboutthesizeorboundariesofsomespaces.ItwasthereforenotpossibletoemulatetheGLA’sapproach.
Instead,thisprojectconstructedthreemeasuresofproximityusingexistingdata.Essentially,theyareallconcernedwiththedistancestoparksorgreenspacesandthesizeofthegreenspaceswithinshortdistances.Therewereconsiderabletechnicalproblemsandchoicestobemadeinconstructingthesemeasures.
Theproximityindicatorsarebasedondemographicdataanddataaboutthedistancefromgreenspace.Theyhadtobecalculatedusingseveralrathercrudeapproximations.First,itwasassumedthatallofthepopulationlivesinthecentreofasmallarea(unitpostcodes,orsmalltomediumsuperoutputareas).54Second,thedistancesusedwereasthecrowflies,ratherthantheactualdistancesomeonewouldhavetotravelfollowingtheroad.52 Inclusion�by�design:�equality,�diversity�and�the�built�environment,CABE,2008
exploresthisinmoredetailwww.cabe.org.uk/publications/inclusion-by-design53 �Improving�Londoners’�access�to�nature:�London�plan�implementation�report,
MayorofLondon,2008http://cabeurl.com/ak54 Formoreinformationonsuperoutputareassee:http://cabeurl.com/al
26
Theindicatorsarepotentiallyparticularlyusefulatthesmallarealevel,buttheirusefulnessisdependentonthequalityofinformationaboutgreenspaceswithinagivenarea.Thisresearchprojectcalculatedproximitytoformalspacesthataredocumentedindatacollection.Itwasnotpossibletoconsiderthemultiple,informalgreenspacesthatarearguablymoreimportantinthevaluethattheycontributetocommunities.
The proximity indicators
P1 Thenumberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares
P2 ‘Proximatehectares’(willnotbetrackedasacoreindicator)
P3Theproximitytogreenspaceofpeoplelivinginthemostdeprivedareas
ThestudyanalysedthreeindicatorsofproximityusingtheCABEgreenspaceinventorydata.IndicatorP1aimstomeasurethenumberofhomeswithin300metresofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.ThisisNaturalEngland’saccessiblenaturalgreenspacestandard(ANGSt)55,whichsetsaseriesofbenchmarksforensuringaccesstospacesneartowherepeoplelive.
Becauseofdatalimitations,anotherindicator,P2,wasalsocalculated,thatof‘proximatehectares’.Thismeasuredtheareaofgreenspaceindistancebandsfromagivenresidentiallocation,anddividedtheareabythesquareofdistanceinkilometres.Sogreenspaceatonekilometredistancecountsasoneunitperhectare;attwokilometresitcountsas0.25units,andsoon.Theresearchersthenaddedupalltheseweightedunitsacrossallthedistancebandstogivethenumberof‘proximate’hectares.
ThethirdindicatorP3,measuresproximatehectarescalculatedforthoselivinginthemostdeprived20percentofneighbourhoods.
Giventhedatacurrentlyavailable,itwasonlypossibletogainapproximateresultsforP1.Usingtheinventoryconstructedforthisproject,weknowthenumberofmetrestothenearestpark/space;andwehaveanestimateofthesizeofthisnearestspace.However,weknowourinventoryisprobably
missingsomeparksandgreenspaces,andforthosespacesthatwedoknowaboutwelackcomprehensiveinformationabouttheirboundaries.Consequently,althoughfromthepointofviewofwhetherhouseholdshaveeasyaccesstogreenspacethismeasureisveryuseful,fromthepointofviewofwhatrobustinformationcanbederivedfromexistingdata,thedistanceof300metresistoosmall.Therefore,theamountofgreenspacewithin500metreswasalsoexamined,butthisraisedsimilarissues.
Inviewofthis,athirdproximitymeasurewasdevised,thatof‘proximate’hectares,P2.Thiscountsallspaces,regardlessofwhetherornottheyareinthesamelocalauthorityareaasthehouseholds.Inotherwords,ifyouliveneartheboundaryofonelocalauthorityarea,butyournearestgreenspaceisjustovertheboundaryinanotherlocalauthority’sarea-thenitwillstillbecountedasyournearestgreenspace.Thisisdespitethefactthatthepopulationdatawillcomefromonesource,andthegreenspacedatafromanother.Becausethegreenspacedatacomesfromourinventory,itignoresanyparksthatareinadjacentnon-urbanlocalauthorities.Thiscreatesapotentialdistortionnearurbanboundaries.
Theproximatehectaremeasurewascalculatedseparatelyforthreepopulationgroups:thoselivinginthemostdeprived20percentofneighbourhoods(indicatorP3);blackandminorityethnicpeople;andthoseagedover65(thesegroupsoverlap).
Proximity: what the data tells us
IndicatorP1looksathouseholdsthathavegreenspacewithin300metres(ANGStstandard).Bearinginmindthelimitationsofthedata,asdiscussedabove,itindicatesthatbetween7percentand18percentofhouseholdsmeettheANGStstandard.ThehighestproportionsareintheWestMidlands(18percent)andtheNorthWest(17percent),followedbyLondon(16percent);thelowestproportionsareintheSouthEast(8percent)andYorkshireandtheHumber(7percent).
Thenumberofhomeswithin300metresofnaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectaresisillustratedinmap2overleaf.Table7setsoutthepercentageofhomeswithin300metresand500metresofanaturalgreenspace.
55 http://cabeurl.com/am
27
29.4to62.4 16.7to29.4 10.2to16.7 5.6to10.2 0.3to5.6
Londondetail
Region The percentage of homes within 300 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares
The percentage of homes within 500 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares
NorthEast 8.4 17.5YorkshireandtheHumber 7.4 15.9NorthWest 16.7 32.9EastMidlands 9.6 20.5WestMidlands 18.0 35.0SouthWest 13.6 24.9EastofEngland 11.8 23.6SouthEast 7.9 15.0London 15.9 30.4England 12.9 25.4
Table 7: Percentage of homes within 300 metres and 500 metres of a natural green space
Source:GISanalysisbasedontheinventoryofgreenspace.
Map 2: Homes within 300 metres of a natural green space of at least two hectares (percentage of addresses)
28
Proximity and urban formThebroaderproximityindicator,P2,showsthehighestscoresinLondonandtheSouthEast,withthelowestscoresintheEastMidlands,YorkshireandtheHumberandtheNorthEast.Overall,25percentofhomeshaveagreenspaceofsomesortwithin500metres.ItmayseemsurprisingthathouseholdsinLondonhavethehighestproximitytogreenspace,butthatispartlybecauseproximitywasmeasuredby‘asthecrowflies’distance,andLondonisthedensestconurbation,whereeverything,includingpeopleandgreenspaces,isclosertogether.
Proximity and deprivationProximityisonedimensionwhichislessnegativefordeprivedareas.Deprivedareas,includingthosewithmoderatedeprivation,haveproximityscoresthatareslightlyaboveaverage,althoughtheleastdeprivedareashavethehighestscores(figure5).Onereasonforthisslightlymorepositivepicturewouldbethedensityeffectdescribedabove.Moredeprivedwardsaretypicallyalsosmallerandthusclosertootherwardsthatmayhavebettergreenspaceprovision.Anotherreasonmaybethatareaswithhighproportionsofsocialrentinghavebetterphysicalaccessibilitytourbanopenspace.Thisprobablyreflectsthelegacyofpost-wartownplanning.Itwasnotpossibletoexplorethisrelationshipingreaterdetailowingtotheabsenceofnationaldataongreenspacesonsocialhousingestates.
Proximity, socio-economic background and ethnicityAnalysisbysocio-economicfactorsfoundthatthosethatare‘long-termsick‘anddisabledpeoplehaveslightlypoorerproximity,whereasprivaterentersandthosestudyingortraininghaverelativelyhighproximity.Aswithuse,accordingtodataanalysedhereproximityisbetterforplacesthathaveintermediatelevelsofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between11and40percentofareapopulation).
Owingtothecomplexitiesofaccuratelycalculatingproximitytogreenspace,thisareaofresearchwillespeciallybenefitfromfurtheranalysisandexploration.Theresultsofanalysisreportedherefocusonlyonaccesstothegreenspacesthataredocumentedinnationaldatacollectionandthereforewerepresentinthestudy’sinventory.
Source:GISanalysisofCABESpaceurbangreenspaceinventory,,linkedtoBVPIsurveyanddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).
Figure 5: Proximate green space area by level of deprivation
EnglandWorst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% Leastdepr
Levelofdeprivation
Acc
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6 Management and maintenance of urban green space
Successful parks and green spaces are underpinned by good-quality management and maintenance. This will include a skilled and motivated workforce, sufficient capital and revenue resourcing and well-evidenced strategic planning. As vital local spaces for recreation, parks and green spaces need to be welcoming, well maintained and clean, and to meet the needs of local people. However, there is very little data about the way in which parks are managed and maintained, and almost nothing about who is doing this work, what skills they have — or even how many are employed in the parks and open space sector as a whole.
Thethemeofmanagementandmaintenanceanalysedabroadrangeofinformationsources.Theseincludedevaluationofsourcesoffinancialdata,cleanlinessandmaintenancedata,analysisofthestatusofgreen/openspacestrategiesandconsiderationofexistingdatasourcesonskillswithinthegreenspacesector.Inaddition,thelevelsofresidentsatisfactionwiththeirparksandopenspaceswasanalysedasameasureofoverallsuccessinthemanagementandmaintenanceofthisservice.
Management and maintenance: about the data
TheGreenFlagawardis,arguably,theonlysystematicassessmentofthemanagementofindividualparksandgreenspaces,includingreferencetopolicyandstrategywhereappropriate.Thissourceofdatahasbeenconsideredintheanalysisofqualityinchapter3andisnotdiscussedfurtherinthissection.
PerformancemanagementframeworkssuchasTowards�an�excellent�service�for�parks�and�open�spaces56andtheCulture�and�sport�improvement�toolkit57assessperformanceoftheoverallgreenspaceservice.GreenFlagawardscanbeusedaspartoftheseassessmentstoprovideevidenceofusingqualitystandards.Suchframeworkscanbeapplieddifferentlytosuitlocalcircumstancesandsodataisnotnecessarilyconsistent.Moreover,thisdataisnotcapturedonanationalscaleandhasnotbeenconsideredinthischapter.
Cleanlinessisoneofthefewaspectsofparkmaintenancethatiswelldocumentedinnationaldatacollection.58KeepBritainTidy’sLocalenvironmentalqualitysurvey(LEQSE),59forinstance,providesanumberofdetailedmeasuresofcleanliness,basedonobjectiveinspectionsofspaces.Inaddition,parkusers’viewsaboutlitterarecapturedintheBVPIsurveyandGreenSTATdatasets.60Togetherthesedatasourcesofferareasonablyrichaccountofhowwellcaredforaparticularparkorpublicspacefeels.
Incontrast,theavailabilityofdataaboutthemanagementofparksandopenspace—includinghowmuchisspent—ismorepatchy.Thereareseveralreasonsforthis.Thefirstmajorproblemisthatparksandopenspacesareaccountedforinverydifferentwaysindifferentlocalauthoritiesandoftendatarelevanttogreenspaces,includingdataabouttheamountspentonthem,isbundledupwithotherinformation.Thegreen�information�gap61reiterates
56 www.cabe.org.uk/public-space/parks/taes57 http://cabeurl.com/anAPSEalsoco-ordinatesalocalgovernmentbenchmarking
servicewww.apse.org.uk/performance-network.html58 Understanding�the�links�between�the�quality�of�public�space�and�the�quality�of�
life:�A�scoping�study,Heriot-WattUniversityinconjunctionwithOxfordBrookesUniversityforCABESpace,2007.
59 http://cabeurl.com/ao60 TheEnglishHouseConditionSurveyalsoincludesinformationonlitterprovided
byanassessor.However,thesemeasuresareconcernedonlywiththeenvironmentimmediatelyadjacenttothebuilding,forexample,thestreet.Thisdatacannotbeassociatedwithaparticularparkorgreenspaceandhasthereforebeenexcludedfromthestudy.
61 The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.
30
62 CIPFApublishestwosourcesofinformationaboutspendingonopenspace.TheFinanceandgeneraldatahasaheadlinefiguresimilartothatreportedinCLGoutturndata,andisvirtuallycompleteforurbanauthorities.TheCIPFALeisure,cultureandrecreationdataontheotherhandincludesmoredetailedinformationaboutspending,includingnetspending,incomeandspendingpercapita,butismuchlesscomplete.Statisticsbasedontheyearsanalysed(2007/08).
63 www.cipfastats.net64 http://cabeurl.com/ap65 http://cabeurl.com/aq66 www.apse.org.uk/performance-network.html67 http://cabeurl.com/ar
theNationalAuditOffice’srecommendationfortheadoptionofacommonnationalframeworkforcollectingdataaboutresourcinggreeninfrastructure.
LocalauthoritiesprovidesomeinformationabouttheirspendingonparksandopenspacestoCLGandtoCIPFA.TheyarenotrequiredtoprovideinformationtoCIPFAhoweverandasaresultthisdataonlycoversaround50percentofurbanlocalauthorities(andaslittleas33percentforsomedata).62DatagatheredbyCLGincludesfiguresforoverallexpenditureonopenspace,splitintocapitalspendingandrevenuespending.ThesearecomparabletothegeneralfinancestatisticspublishedbyCIPFA.63
Overall,thelackofconsistencyinthewaythatlocalauthoritiesrecordspendingonparksmakesbenchmarkingverydifficult.Spendingdatacannotgenerallybedisaggregatedtoindividualparksorneighbourhoods,andthereareconsiderableproblemswithmissinglocalauthorityspendingreturnsandinconsistentuseofaccountingcategories.Furthermore,responsibilityforgreenspaceservicesisoftenfragmentedacrossdifferentlocalauthoritydepartmentsandthusacrossdifferentbudgets.
Spend per person versus spend per hectareTherearetwoobviouswaystomeasuretheamountthatlocalauthoritiesspendonparksandgreenspaces:theamounttheyspendperheadofpopulation,andtheamounttheyspendperhectareofspace.Apartfromthedifficultyoffindingreliabledataforeitherofthesemeasures,bothmeasureshavetheirdeficiencies.
Theamountspentperpersonisdifficultforseveralreasons.Themostobviousisthatthenumberofpeoplewhohappentoliveinalocalauthorityareaisnotnecessarilyareflectionofthenumberwhousethatauthority’spublicspace.AnextremeexampleofthisproblemistheCityofLondon.Veryfewpeople(around8,000residents64)actuallyliveintheCity,butduringtheweek300,000peopleworkthereanduseitsspaces.65Moregenerally,however,inthecaseofmostlocalauthoritiesthespendperpersoncanbeausefulindicatorwhencomparingtheamountspentontheparksservicewith,say,otherservicesthatresidentsmayvalueless.
Theamountspentperhectareisalsoproblematic.Apartfromthedifficultyofquantifyingareasofpublicgreenspace(discussedinchapter2),thereisalsotheissuethatsometypesofgreenspacerequirefarmore
moneytomaintaintoareasonablelevelthanothers.Forinstance,aflowergardenisfarmoreexpensivetomaintainthanapatchofgrass—althoughitmightprovidemorebenefitstoitsusers.Simplyknowinganaveragespendperhectarewillnottellyouwhetherornotthespacesthatthelocalauthorityhappenstoownhaveenoughspentonthemtobewellmaintained.
Consequently,individually,figuresforspendperperson,orspendperhectare,shouldbetreatedwithcaution.However,theycanbeusefulcomponentsofasuiteofindicatorsandassucharevaluable.
ThemainsourcesoffinancialdataanalysedforthepurposeofthisreportwerecollectedbyCLGandCIPFA.DataheldbyAPSE,collectedaspartofitsperformancenetworks,66andCABEdatawasusedforcomparativepurposes.
Other sources of money for parksItisworthnotingthatmanylocalauthority-ownedparkshavebenefitedfromsignificantexternalinvestment,mostnotablyfromtheHeritageLotteryFund(HLF).Between1994andMarch2009,theHLFawardedmorethan£525millionto707parks.HLFmoneyhastobe‘matchfunded’bymoneyfromothersources.Someofthiswillhavecomefromthelocalauthoritiesthemselves,butsomeofitwillhavecomefromcentralgovernmentgrants,localbusinesses,orlocalfundraisingcampaigns.
Why London is a special case ThereareseveralreasonswhydataforLondon—inparticulardataaboutspendingandsatisfaction—shouldbetreatedwithcaution.First,therevenuesupportgrantgivenbythegovernmenttoLondonlocalauthoritiesismoregenerousthanitistotherestofthecountry.67
Second,LondonbenefitsfromtheRoyalParks,andtheparksandspacesrunbytheCityofLondonCorporation,bothofwhicharefundedandmanagedentirelyseparatelyfromthelocalauthorities.Bothorganisationsmanagesignificantareasofspace.68
31
AjointCABE,LantraandGreenSpacesurveyoflocalauthorityskillsin2008foundthattheCityofLondonspentmorethan£2,300ayearperheadofpopulation—clearlynotsomethingthatotherlocalauthoritiescouldemulate.69
Absence of data about the green space workforce and its skillsInadditiontothelackofdataaboutspendingongreenspace,thesecondmajorproblemintermsofdataaboutparkmanagementistheabsenceofdataaboutthegreenspaceworkforce.Itwastheintentionofthisstudytoincludeacoreindicatormeasuringtheextentofskillsinthegreenspacesector.However,forthereasonshighlightedbelow,thiswasnotpossible.
Peoplewhoworkinparksandgreenspaceshaveawiderangeofbackgroundsandskills:thereisnosingleprofessionalortradebodytowhichtheyallbelong,andnoeasywayofidentifyingthem.GreenspaceoccupationsfallwithinawiderangeofjobrolesandarenotadequatelydescribedbythecurrentStandardoccupationalclassifications(SOCcodes)andStandardindustrialclassifications(SICcodes)uponwhichnationaldatacollectiondepends.
CIPFAfinancialreturnsincludesomestafffigures.Butaswiththeweaknessofspendingfigures,owingtothedifferentwaysthatlocalauthoritiesorganisetheirparksandopenspaceservices,itisnotclearwhois,andisnot,includedinthepublishedfigures.
Somemoregeneraldatasets,includingtheCensus,theLabour�force�survey70andAnnual�business�inquiry,71includeinformationaboutthenumberofpeopleworkinginparticularoccupationalclassificationsthatwillincludepeopleworkinginthegreenspacesector.Analysisofthesedatasourcesdidyieldsomeresults,buttheyrevealedonlythenumberofemployeesinpublicadministrationwhofallundertheheadingof‘skilledagriculturalworkers’.Unfortunately,althoughthiscategoryincludeshorticulturalworkers,gardenersandgroundsmen/womenitalsoincludesfarmersandthoseworkinginagriculturalorfishingtrades.
Furthermore,thisinformationdoesnotprovideanyinformationaboutthelargenumberofstaffemployedbyprivatecontractorswhoworkinpublicparksandopenspaces.Neitherdoesthedatatellusanythingaboutthemanagement-levelorprofessionalstaffinvolvedinparksandopenspaceservices.
Thefactthatseniorparksservicemanagersarestatistically‘invisible’isaseriousweaknessgiventheimportanceofstrategicplanningtothelong-termsuccessofourparksandopenspaces.
Skills to grow: addressing the shortage of national dataInviewoftheproblemsoutlinedabove,CABESpaceisco-ordinatingthedevelopmentandimplementationofastrategythatsetsoutwhatisknownaboutskillsshortagesacrossthesector.Skills�to�growidentifiesactionstoaddressshortagesintheshorttermandproposalsforactionthatcanbetakeninthelongerterm.Alargenumberoforganisationsareinvolvedincreatinganddeliveringthisstrategy.72
Oneelementofthiswasthatin2008CABESpace,LantraandGreenSpaceundertookasurveyoflocalauthoritygreenspacemanagingdepartmentshighlightingthemainskillsissuesfacingthegreenspacesector(althoughthiscoversonly23urbanlocalauthorities).
Inaddition,in2009CABESpacecommissionedresearchintothegreenspaceworkforceinEngland.Thisprovidesforthefirsttimenationaldataonthetotalsizeandscopeofthesectoroperatinginpubliclyaccessiblegreenspaces.
Theresultsofbothsurveysareavailabletodownload.73
68 TheRoyalParksisanexecutiveagencyofgovernment,withanannualbudgetofover£20millionin2008/09,thatmanagesover2,000hectaresofhistoricparklandacrossLondon.WhilemostoftheRoyalParksareincentralLondon,three–Greenwich,RichmondandBushyparks–areinthesuburbs.TheCityofLondonCorporationownsandmanagesover4,000hectaresofparksandpublicspaces.Uniquely,theCityofLondonCorporationhasanindependentsourceoffundingderivedfrompropertyandtrustsaccumulatedover800years.ItisthismoneythatisusedtofundthegreenspacemanagedbytheCorporation.
69 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey70 LFSdataheldbyHWUisonlyavailableforGovernmentOfficeRegionsand
metropolitanornon-metropolitanauthoritygroupings.Itcannotbereportedatlocalauthoritylevel.
71 www.statistics.gov.uk/abi72 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey73 www.cabe.org.uk/publications/green-space-skills-2009andwww.cabe.org.uk/
publications/local-authority-green-space-skills-survey
32
The management and maintenance indicators
MM1Residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceservice
MM2AnnualspendonparksperheadofpopulationMM3CleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspaceMM4Statusofgreen/openspacestrategies
Thestudyanalysedfourindicatorsthatrelatetothemanagementandmaintenanceofgreenspace.IndicatorMM1,residentsatisfactionwiththeirauthority’sopenspaceservice,basedondatafromthe2009Place�survey,and2006BVPIsurvey;MM2annualspendbasedonfinancialdatafromCIPFAFinanceandgeneralstatisticsfrom2007/08;74MM3thecleanlinessandmaintenanceofspacesbasedondatafromKeepBritainTidy’sLEQSEsurvey2008;andMM4statusofgreen/openspacestrategiesbasedonCABESpacedata.
Management and maintenance: what the data tells us
Satisfaction with the parks serviceThe2009Place�surveyfoundthatgeneralsatisfactionwithparksandopenspacesinurbanareasis69percent,comparedwith70percentbasedon2006BVPIdata.Assumingthechangeisnottodowiththewayinwhichthetwosetsofdatawerecollected,thisshowsasmalldropinsatisfaction.
Itis,perhaps,unsurprisingthatmanagementandmaintenancehaveaclearcorrelationwithquality.UsingBVPIdata,whichisavailableinmoredetailthanthePlace�surveyandsocanbeanalysedtoagreaterdepth,satisfactionwiththeparksandopenspaceserviceseemstoshowsimilarpatternstothosereportedforqualityearlierwhichoveralldemonstratedquitestrongnorth-southandurban-suburbanpatterns.Residentsatisfactionwiththeirparksandopenspaceservicewashigherinthesouth,particularlyintheSouthWest,andlowerinthenorth,particularlyYorkshireandtheHumber(figure6).
TheindicatorMM3,cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspace,showsratherdifferentpatterns.Instead,scoreswerebetterintheNorthEastandWestMidlandsandpoorerintheEastMidlands,SouthWestandSouthEast(figure6).
Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).
Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).
Management and maintenance in deprived areasAswiththequalityindicators,satisfactionwithparksandopenspaceswaslowerindeprivedareas.Thistime,theresultisalsosimilarforthecleanlinessindicatorMM3(figure7).However,thedifferencebetweendeprivedandaffluentareasisless,at6percentagepointsratherthan13percentagepoints.Areaswithmoresocialrentingandareaswithahighblackandminorityethnicpopulation(morethan40percentofwardpopulation)alsoshowlowerscoresonbothindicators.
74 CIPFAdata(Financeandgeneralstatistics)wasusedhereinpreferencetoCLGoutturndatasimplybecauseitwasmoreuptodate.Thereislittletochoosebetweenthesetwodatasourcesastheyreportsimilarheadlinefiguresandoffercompleteorvirtuallycompletecoverageofurbanauthorities.ThemoredetailedCIPFAdataintheLeisure,cultureandrecreationreportsismorerefinedbutlesscomplete.
Per
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Figure 6: Satisfaction with parks service and cleanliness by region
ResidentssatisfiedwithparksandopenspacesCleaninessandmaintenanceofgreenspace
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Figure 7: Satisfaction with parks service and cleanliness by area deprivation
ResidentssatisfiedwithparksandopenspacesCleaninessandmaintenanceofgreenspace
100
80
60
40
20
0EnglandWorst10% 11-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% Leastdepr
Levelofdeprivation
33
Modelling satisfaction with parks service Statisticaltechniques(regressionanalysisandlogisticregressionanalysis)wereusedtoaccountforsomeofthevariationinsatisfactionwithparks.75Themodelsdidnotprovideaclosefittothedata,butbecausetherewerealargenumberofobservationswecouldstillidentifysystematicassociationsthatarestatisticallysignificantandplausible.
Satisfactionwiththeparksservice,andproximitytoparks,werepositivelyrelatedtosatisfactionwithopenspaces,aftercontrollingfordemographicsandotherfactors.Inplaceswherelocalauthoritiesspendmoreonparksandopenspace,satisfactionishigher.Peoplewhothinkthatparksandopenspacesarevaluabletendtobemoresatisfiedwiththeservice.
Satisfactionwiththeserviceislowerindenserresidentialareas,andishigherinneighbourhoodswithmoregardenspace.
Highersatisfactionisassociatedwitholderresidentsand,marginally,withowneroccupiers.Lowersatisfactionisassociatedwithworkingresidents,studentsanddisabledpeople.Highersatisfactionisassociatedwithgrossinwardmigration,singlepersonhouseholdsandhigheroccupationalmix.Lowersatisfactionisassociatedwiththeproportionofblackandminorityethnichouseholdsandthosewithoutacar.
Satisfaction with sports provisionWecanlookatsatisfactionwithlocalauthoritysportandrecreationservicesinasimilarwayusingdatafromSportEngland’sActive�people�survey.Thereisarelationshipwithdeprivation,notdissimilartothatfoundwithparks.Inthemostdeprivedneighbourhoodsonlyjustover50percentaresatisfiedwithsportsprovision,and20percentaredissatisfied.Thiscompareswith65percentand10percentintheleastdeprivedareas.
CleanlinessTheindicatorforcleanliness,MM3,isbasedonthefindingsofKeepBritainTidy’sLocalenvironmentalqualitysurveysofEngland(LEQSE)for2008.76
Thisisanobjectivemeasureoflitteranddetritus.AnotherpotentialsourceofinformationisthedatafromtheBVPI,whichisasubjectivemeasureofwhatpeoplethinkaboutthecleanlinessoftheirlocality.Thiswasusedtocross-referencetheLEQSEdata.
LEQSEdatawasprovidedforasampleof40urbanauthorities.Ineachauthorityasmallnumberofpublicopenspacesareselectedandanumberofobservationsaremadebyinspectorswhogradedifferentpartsofeachspaceagainstanumberofcriteria:litter,leaves,fly-posting,fly-tippingandgraffiti.Eachisgradedonascalefrom1(worst)to7(best).Intotaltheanalysisprovidesabout1,000observationpoints.
Ingeneral,themoststrikingfeatureofanalysishereisthelowdegreeofvariationinthegrading,whicharealltowardsthehigherendoftherange,between5and7.Thereisrelativelylittlesystematicvariationinsomeoftheindicators,butitappearsthatthelittergradeprovidesareasonablepictureofvariationsinquality.Thisisprobablymoremeaningfulthantheaveragegradeacrossthefiveindicators.
Forbothlitterandtheoverallindex,higherscoresareshownforCentralLondon,southerncitycentresandsoutherntownfringelocations.LowerscoresareshownfortheMidlandsandnortherncitycentresandothernorthernurbanlocations,andinnerandouterLondon.
Thereisasystematicrelationshipwithdeprivation,particularlyonthelittergrade,whichfallsfrom5.74intheleastdeprivedto4.94inthemostdeprivedlocations.Thislink,betweendeprivedareasandlesscleanpublicspaces,issupportedbyfindingsinresearchcommissionedbytheJosephRowntreeFoundation,whichshowedthatmoreaffluentareastendtohavecleanerstreetsthandeprivedareas.77
Theresearchfoundthatthetwobiggestfactorsinareaswithenvironmentalproblemswerethepresenceoflow-incomehouseholds,andhigher-densityhousing(irrespectiveofincome).
75 Fortheregressionanalysis,MM1usedwascalculatedasa‘netsatisfactionscore’(proportionofsatisfied–proportionofdissatisfied).
76 www.keepbritaintidy.org77 Streetcleanlinessindeprivedandbetter-offneighbourhoods,see
http://cabeurl.com/as
34
80%ormore 70-79% 60-69% 55-59% Below55%
London detail
Map 3: Percentage of residents very or fairly satisfied with parks and open spaces, England and London detail (2009)
Source:Place�survey(2009).
35
How much is spent on urban green space?UsingdatafromCIPFAtocalculatespendingongreenspaceperheadofpopulationsuggeststhatlocalauthorityspendingisrelativelyhighintheNorthEastandtoalesserextenttheEastMidlands.SpendingperheadisrelativelylowintheSouthWestandLondon.CIPFAdatasuggeststhattheaveragespendperpersonisaround£17ayear.TheequivalentindicatorthatismeasuredbyAPSE(performanceindicator17)suggestsanaveragespendof£23perpersonperyear.78
Althoughspendingperhectarewasnotchosentobeacoreindicatorforthisreport,itwasalsoanalysed.79Thisonlyagreeswiththe‘perhead’patterntoalimitedextent—itsuggeststhatspendingperhectareishighintheNorthWestandLondon,andlowintheEastMidlands,theSouthWest,andtheEastofEngland.Thethreesouthernregionsappearaslowerspenders,relativetotheiramountsofopenspace.London,however,appearsmuchhigheronthisindex,Resultshereareprobablydistortedbythefactorsdiscussedabove.
DataaboutspendingisalsoavailablefromCABE’sLocal�authority�green�space�skills�survey(2008)whichprovidesfiguresfor23urbanauthorities.Thisrevealsperheadspendingofbetweenalmostnothing(lessthan£1perpersonayear)and£30perpersonayearonparks,withaveragespendingamongthe23authoritiesat£15perpersonayear.ThisiscomparabletotheaveragespendsuggestedbytheCIPFAdata.
APSEalsoprovidesacostindicator(performanceindicator2)basedonthecostofserviceperhectareofmaintainedland.Theresultsamongthe58authoritiesparticipatingintheirdatacollectionrevealcostsbetween£1,859and£11,935,withanaveragescoreof£5,545perhectare.
Green/open space strategiesAstrategicapproachtogreenandopenspacemaximisesitspotentialtoprovidepositivesocial,economicandenvironmentalvaluetoourtownsandcities.80IndicatorMM4trackedthestatusoflocalauthoritygreen/openspacestrategies,providingameasureoftheircommitmenttogreenspace.ThedatausedherewascollectedbyCABESpace,andcoversalltheurbanauthoritiesinEngland.81
Overall,99percentofurbanauthoritieseitherhaveagreen/openstrategyinplace,orareintheprocessofpreparingastrategy.Thisisasignificantstepforward:in2000only53percenthadastrategyorwerepreparingone;in2005itwas87percentandin2007itwas94percent.82
Datafromearly2010showsthat62percentofurbanlocalauthoritiesinEnglandhadinplaceacompletedgreen/openspacestrategy.Justunderhalf(41percent)ofthesestrategiesfollowPlanningPolicyGuidance17.
Thiscomparesfavourablywith2007when48percenthadcompletedagreen/openspacestrategy.
78 Caremustbetakenwhencomparingtheseaveragefigures,asthenumberandtypeofauthoritiesineachsampleisquitedifferent.APSEfiguresreportedhereincludereturnsfromruralandnon-Englishauthorities.
79 Usingthe‘broad’measureofgreenspacetakenfromGLUD.80 Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayor
ofLondon,2009.81 Withtheexceptionofdatafrom2000whichwascollectedbythe
NationalAuditOffice.82http://cabeurl.com/bd
36
7 How people value urban green space
There are many different ways of considering and calculating the value of green spaces. For instance, expressing the social, environmental and health benefits that they bring to society as a financial value is something that has attracted an increasing amount of interest from researchers.83 However, in this chapter we are concerned instead with the value that different sorts of people assign to parks and green spaces. How important are they to people? Do people from different backgrounds, or living in different areas, think that they are more or less valuable than people in other situations? What are the implications of this for those who plan, manage or make policy decisions about parks and green spaces?
Value: about the data
Theamountthatpeoplevaluegreenspaceswasoneofthemostelusiveelementstocaptureinthisproject.Itishardtofindinexistingdatasources,althoughitisarguablyveryimportant.Assessingvalueismorethanunderstandingwhetherandhowpeopleuseparksandopenspaces;itisaboutunderstandingwhatthosespacesmeantopeople.Inordertocapturethis,welookedfordirectmeasuresofgreenspaceanditsvaluetopeople,ratherthanconstructingvaluemeasuresbasedoninformationaboutthecostsavingsattributedtoparkfunctionssuchasreducingairpollutionorenhancingthehealthofvisitors.84
The2009Place�surveyand2006BVPIsurveyincludetwovariablesthatappeartoprovidesomemeasureofthevaluegreenspacehasforpeople.Theserecordthenumberofresidentswhothinkthatnatureisimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive;andthenumberwhothinkthatparksandopenspaceareimportant.
Inaddition,DEFRA’sPublic�attitudes�and�behaviours�towards�the�environment�tracker�survey�askspeoplewhetherhavingparksandopenspacesneartowheretheyliveisimportanttothem.ThisisoneoftheUK’ssustainabledevelopmentindicators.Thisdataisveryuseful,butcannotbedisaggregatedintosmallareas,andsocannotbecross-referencedforfurtheranalysiswiththedatafromthePlace�surveyorBVPI.
People’swillingnesstogivetheirtimeis,perhaps,oneofthemosttellingmeasuresofpublicvalueandsothisisconsideredheretoo.
83 ForinstancetheTrustforPublicLandinAmericahascalculatedthatthefinancialbenefitsthatparksinthecityofPhiladelphiaalonecontributetotheirusersas$1billion.ResearchcommissionedbyNaturalEconomyNorthwestcalculatesthattheNorthWest’senvironmentaddsanestimated£2.6billioningrossvalue.http://cabeurl.com/atandwww.naturaleconomynorthwest.co.uk
84 Thisisadifferenttypeof‘value’,basedoneconomicbenefits,andusedinthePhiladelphiaParkvalueworkhttp://cabeurl.com/at
37
The value indicators
V1Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive
V2Percentageofpeoplewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant
DatafromBVPI2006wasusedtocalculatebothindicators(figure8).
Value: what the data tells us
Peopleappreciatelocalgreenspaces,andthisappreciationisincreasing.In2007,91percentofpeoplethoughtitwasveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive,andby2009thishadrisento95percent.85
BVPIaskedpeoplewhetherdifferentthingsareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive.Thissortofindicatorismoreaboutthevaluesthatindividualpeopleholddear,ratherthanaboutthecurrentstateorperformanceofEngland’surbangreenspace.Item1is‘accesstonature’;item14is‘parksandopenspaces’.Theresponsestothetwoquestionsarenotthesame,andalthoughtheycanbecombinedtocreateanoverallpicture,thissomewhatbluntssomeofthemessages.
Theseindicatorstellastoryabouthowdifferentelementsofgreeninfrastructure—parksandothernaturalgreenareas—arevalued,bothbydifferenttypesofpeopleandbypeoplelivingindifferentkindsofareas.Takeninconjunctionwiththeevidenceputforwardearlierinthisreportonuse,thisprovidesapictureoftheneedforgreenspaceindifferenturbansettings.
Inregardtowhetherlocalparksandopenspacesareconsideredasimportant-thedatarecordshigherscoresinLondonandtheNorthWest,whicharethetwomosthighlyurbanisedregionsinEngland.TheyarealsoimportanttopeopleintheWestMidlandsandSouthEast,butarerecordedaslesssointheNorthEast,EastMidlandsandSouthWest,thelattertwobeingmoreruralregions(figure8).
Thisisconsistentwiththerelationshipfoundbetweenthevalueofparksandnature,anddensityofhousing.Inplaceswithfewerthan20dwellingsperhectare23percentthoughtparkswere
important.Thisroseto30percentinplaceswithmorethan70dwellingsperhectare.Somesimilaritycanthusbeseenwiththepatternandcommentsinrelationtogreenspaceuseandurbanform.
Communities value green spaces differentlyTheagegroupthatreportsthehighestvalueispeopleagedbetween25and44yearsold,withjustover30percentsayingthatparksareimportant.This,perhaps,reflectstheageatwhichpeoplehavechildrenandarelikelytomakeagreateruseofthisservice.
Overall,areasthathaveapopulationofbetween11and20percentblackandminorityethnicresidentsreportedhighestvalueinreferencetoindicatorV1.Inareaswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsandinareasthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(lessthan2percentofpopulation)parkswerereportedasvaluedtheleast.ThedatarecordshigherreportedvaluebywhitepeoplethanblackorminorityethnicpeoplewithBlackAfricanandAfrican-Caribbeanpeoplerecordingthelowestlevelofreportedvalue.
85 DatatakenfromSurvey�of�public�attitudes�and�behaviours�to�the�environment�survey,2007and2009http://cabeurl.com/av
Source:BVPIsurveyforurbanauthoritieswithlocationcodeslinkedtowarddatacompiledforTransforming�Placesstudy(Bramleyetal2007).
PercentagewhothinkthatlocalgreenspaceisimportanttomakingsomewhereagoodplacetolivePercentagewhothinkaccesstonatureneartowheretheyliveisimportant
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Per
cent
age
agre
e
NE NW EMid WMid SW
Region
E SE Lon EnglandYork&H
Figure 8: How people value nature and parks across the regions
38
Thesefindingsshouldnotbetakenatfacevalueandinterpretingtheseresultsisnotstraight-forward.Thisstudydidnotlookinmoredetailatthefactorsthatwillimpactonanswersthatpeoplewillgive,forinstancelevelofincomeandperceptionsofsafety,orthequantityandqualityofgreenspaceavailable.Thesecondpartofthisresearchexploresthisissueinmoredetailandlooksspecificallyatvalueandtheuseofgreenspacesanditsrelationshiptoethnicity.
ResultsforindicatorV2,accesstonature,showaninverserelationshipwithdensity.Itisreportedasvaluedmoreinthesuburbandistrictsandatthetownfringe,andlessincitycentres.Whereasvaluingparkscouldbeindicativeofaneedrelatingtocompensatingfortheenvironmentalconditionsofurbanliving,thepatternforvaluingnatureismoresuggestiveofaselectioneffect,wherebypeoplewhovalueaccesstonaturetrytolivewheretheycangainsuchaccessmoreeasily.Experiencemayreinforcevalues:livingclosertonaturemayfosteragreaterappreciationofit.
However,whenweconsiderdeprivation,deprivedarearesidentsarelesslikelytovalueaccesstonature(only10percentthinkitisimportant),comparedwithresidentsofaffluentneighbourhoods(20percentthinkitisimportant).The‘slope’ofthisrelationshipappearstobesteeperinrelationtovaluingnature.
Itseemslikelythatthedifferencesbetweenvaluingparksandvaluingnaturemaybesignificant.Perhaps
86 http://cabeurl.com/aw87 Basedonminimumwagelevels.
valuingparksmightbecharacterisedasreflectingabasicneedforgreenspaceassociatedwithurbanliving,particularlyforsomedemographicgroups.Whereasvaluingnatureinandofitselfcouldbeseenascapturinga‘higherorder’need,inthesensethatMaslowsuggestedinhishierarchyofneedswherebyonceothermorebasicphysiologicalneedsaresatisfied,individualsareabletofocusonotherneeds.86Thiswouldfitinwithacommonviewthatgreenenvironmentalvaluesaresomethingofamiddle-classpreoccupation,insofarastheyrepresentvaluesthatcometotheforewhenmorebasicneedshavebeenmet.Thisareaofresearch,likeproximity,willbenefitfromfurtheranalysis.
Volunteering as an indication of valueAnothermeasureofthevalueofgreenspaceiscapturedinfiguresthatshowthenumberofvolunteerdayscontributedtolocalparksandgreenspaces.
InCABE’s2008Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,thenumberofdaysvolunteersworkedingreenspacesineachlocalauthorityarearangedfrom0to1,650,withanaverageof443days.Assumingthatthisisafairlyrepresentativecross-sectionofurbanauthoritiesinEngland,thisdatasuggeststhatvolunteersmaybecontributingmorethan62,000daysofwork(or290workyears)tolocalgreenspaceseveryyearinurbanareasalone.Infinancialtermsthisisworthatleast£3.4millionperyeartourbanEngland,andintheregionof£22,000toeachauthority.87
39
8 Conclusions and next steps
For too long, policymakers and decision makers, and those working in the green space sector, have found their work restricted by the gap in the national information about England’s urban green spaces. This research set out to gather together all sources of existing information about England’s urban green spaces, to draw the most complete picture possible of their state. All of the data sources analysed for this study had shortcomings. Other areas of data collection continue to be overlooked, for instance spending on green space.88 Despite serious shortages of sound, longitudinal data on key themes, it was possible to use the available information to draw statistically robust conclusions about the quality and quantity of our urban green space — and who benefits from it most, and least.
Thepreviouschapterspresentedourfindingsaccordingtothekeythemesidentifiedattheoutsetofthisproject:quantity,quality,use,proximity,managementandmaintenance,andvalue.Inadditionthesefindingswerecross-referencedwithsocio-economicdatasuchaslevelsofdeprivationandethnicity.
Thequantityofurbangreenspacevariesconsiderablybetweenthegovernmentregionsandtypesofurbanlocation.TheSouthWest,SouthEastandEastMidlandstendtohavehigherlevelsofgreenspaceprovision,comparedwithLondon,theNorthWestandtheWestMidlands.Suburbanandtownfringeareastendtohavemorepublicopenspaceandgreenspacethancitycentres,althoughcitycentrestendtohavemorerecreationfacilitiesandplayareas.Furthermore,qualityindicatorsaregenerallymorefavourableinthesouthernregionscomparedwiththenorthernregions,andgenerallybetterinsuburbanthaninurban/cityareas,exceptforcentralLondon.
Region-by-regiondataanalysisrevealssomeinterestingvariationsinqualityandquantity,butthemostdramaticdifferencesinprovisionwereshownwhenanalysedagainstdeprivationandaffluence.Overall,thedatarevealshowmuchgreenspaceprovisiondiffersaccordingtopeople’ssocio-economicandculturalbackground.
Thesefindingshaveimportantimplicationsforpolicymakers,thoseprovidingandmanagingpublicservices,andthemanyorganisationsconcernedwithmakingaplacesucceed.
Understandingthenatureofplacesleadstomoreinformedpolicydevelopmentandservicedeliveryatalllevels.Themechanismstocreateandsolveproblemsarealmostalwaysgeographicallystructured.89
Publicresourcesneedtobetargettedtobestpossibleeffect,andcollectingandmanagingbaselinedataabouturbangreenspaceshelpstomaintainastrategicview,co-ordinateprovision,measuretheeffectsofinvestmentorpolicyinitiatives,andrespondtochangingcircumstances.Thedatacansupportmoreequitableaccesstopublicservices,regardless,forinstance,ofincomeorethnicity.
Abaselineofdatawillenablechangetobetrackedovertimeandenableplanningforachangingclimate.Accuratedataaboutquantity,qualityanduseofgreenspaceswillhelpconnectprovisiontoneed.
88 �The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.
89Placematters:thelocationstrategyfortheUnitedKingdom,CommunitiesandLocalGovernment,2008.
40
Thefollowingsectionsdrawoutthekeypointsfromeachofthesixthemesanalysedforthisprojectandbringtogetherthefindingsabouthowgreenspaceprovisiondiffersaccordingtopeople’ssocio-economicandculturalbackground.
Thechapterconcludeswiththoughtsonnextstepsforresearch.
1. Almost nine out of 10 people use parks and green spaces, and they value them. The2009Place�surveyfoundthatinurbanareas,87percentofthepopulationhaveusedtheirlocalparkoropenspaceinthelastyear,and79percenthaveuseditinthelastsixmonths.ThePlace�surveyshowsthatparksandopenspacesarethemostfrequentlyusedserviceofallthepublicservicestracked.Thiscompareswith32percentthathadvisitedconcerthalls,and26percentwhohadvisitedgalleries.Infact,HeritageLotteryFundresearchreports1.8billionvisitstoparksinEnglandeveryyear.90
Furthermore,peopleappreciatethesespacesandthisappreciationisincreasing:in2007,91percentofpeoplethoughtitwasveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive,andby2009thishadrisento95percent.91
2. If people are satisfied with local parks, they tend to be satisfied with their council. Thereisastronglinkbetweenpeople’ssatisfactionwiththeirlocalparksandopenspaces,andtheirsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhood.Satisfactionwithneighbourhoodisoneofthekeythingsthataffectspeople’sperceptionsoftheircouncil’sperformance.92Thisisparticularlyacuteinthemostdeprivedareas,whereneighbourhoodsatisfactionisatitslowest.
Thistallieswithinternationalresearchbasedontelephoneinterviewswithover28,000peopleintheUSthatfoundthequalityofthebuiltenvironment,includinggreenspaces,tobeamongtheveryimportantfactorscontributingtocommunitysatisfaction.93
Puttinginplaceanopenspacestrategyispotentiallyoneingredientofsuccess.Oftheauthoritiesthathaveshownthebiggestimprovementinresidents’satisfactioninthelastfouryears,nearlythreequartershavecompletedtheiropenspacestrategy.Furthermore,statisticalmodellingofgreenspaceservicesatisfactiondatashowsthatitispositivelyrelatedtothequantityandtheproximityofparksandrecreationareas,andtoservicespending.
90 HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.
91 Survey�of�public�attitudes�and�behaviours�to�the�environment�survey,2007and2009http://cabeurl.com/ax
92 http://cabeurl.com/b993 Beautiful�places:�the�role�of�perceived�aesthetic�beauty�in�community�satisfaction,
Workingpaperseries:MartinProsperityResearch.PaperpreparedbyRichardFloridaetal.,March2009.
41
3. The provision of parks in deprived areas is worse than in affluent areas.Peopleindeprivedareas,wherevertheylive,receiveafarworseprovisionofparksandgreenspacesthantheiraffluentneighbours.Theyoftendonothavegardensandsoaccesstogood-qualitypublicgreenspacemattersevenmore.Themostaffluent20percentofwardshavefivetimestheamountofparksorgeneralgreenspace(excludinggardens)perpersonthanthemostdeprived10percentofwards.
Soifyouliveinanaffluentsuburb,youarealsolikelytohaveanabove-averagequantityofgoodparksnearby.Ontheotherhand,ifyouliveinadeprivedinner-cityward,withhigh-densityhousing,youmighthavemanysmall,poor-qualitygreenspacesbutyouareunlikelytohaveaccesstolargegreenspaces,orgood-qualitygreenspace.Comparingdeprivedandaffluentareas,residents’generalsatisfactionwiththeirneighbourhoodfallsfromaround80percentinaffluentplacestoaround50percentinthemostdeprivedplaces.
Thewardswithhighoverallproportionsofsocialrentingtendedtoscorethelowestonthemajorityofmeasuresrelatingtothequalityofgreenspaces.Itwasnotpossibletoexplorethisinafinerlevelofdetailowingtotheabsenceofinformationaboutsocialhousinggreenspaceinnationaldatacollection.Thisisanimportantinformationgap.
Peoplewhoarenotworkingbecauseofunemploymentorsickness—anindividualmarkerofdeprivation—tendtobefoundinareaswithlowerquantityandqualityofgreenspace.Theimpactsarecumulative.Thestudyfoundthatlimitinglonger-termillnessordisabilityisassociatedwithlowersatisfactionwithneighbourhood,lowerqualityofparksservice,lowerparksuseandmuchlowerphysicalactivity.
4. People from minority ethnic groups tend to have less green space and it is of a poorer quality. Areaswithveryfewblackandminorityethnicresidentstendtohavemoregreenspace,anditisofagoodquality.Werecognisethatthisisintimatelyrelatedtothecircularityofdisadvantage–nearlyallminorityethnicgroupsarelesslikelytobeinpaidemploymentthanwhiteBritishmenandwomenandaremorelikelytobelivinginareasofdeprivation.94
Wardsthathavealmostnoblackandminorityethnicresidents(lessthan2percentofwardpopulation)
havesixtimesasmanyparksaswardswheremorethan40percentofthepopulationarepeoplefromblackandminorityethnicgroups.Theyhave11timesmorepublicgreenspace,ifonelooksatalltypes95andnotjustparks.
Thedifferencesaremostmarkedontheindicatorofgeneralsatisfactionwithneighbourhood,whenanalysedbyethnicity(ratherthanaffluence).Onlyhalfofresidentsinwardswithmorethan40percentoftheirpopulationsfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsaresatisfied,comparedwith70percentinwardswithlessthan2percent.
Acrossthestudy,patternsofethnicmixwereinteresting.Areaswithintermediateproportionsofblackandminorityethnicresidents(between11and40percent)recordedthehighestlevelsofuseofparksandopenspaces.Inaddition,inwardswithbetween11and20percentofthepopulationfromblackorminorityethnicgroupsthestoryismorepositiveinregardtolevelsofsatisfaction,with70percentofthepopulationbeingsatisfiedwithgreenspaceprovision.
5. The higher the quality of the green space, the more likely it is to be used.Regardlessofyoureconomiccircumstances,accesstogreenspaceisbeneficialtoyourhealth.96Ifanareahashigh-qualityparks,itislikelythatmoreresidentswillusethemmoreoften.Parksinthemostdeprived10percentofwardshaveanaverageof51visitsperyear,comparedwith62inthemostaffluentwards.
ThispatternissupportedbyresearchwhichfoundthatparksrestoredwithmoneyfromtheHeritageLotteryFundhaveseenaveragevisitornumbersriseby68percent.
People’slevelofphysicalactivityisrelatedtoaffluence,orlackofit.Inthemostdeprivedwards,wherequalityofgreenspaceprovisionislower,only40percentofadultsengageinmoderatephysicalactivity,comparedwithnearly60percentinthemostaffluentwards.
94 An�anatomy�of�economic�inequality�in�the�UK�–�summary,ReportoftheNationalEqualityPanel,GovernmentEqualitiesOffice,2010.
95 Gardensnotincluded.96 Mitchell,RandPopham,F,‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmenton
healthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,The�Lancet372(9650):1655-60,2008.
42
Thereisgreatscopeforfuturework:
Exploring the economic benefitsPublicspacesaretheonepublicservicethateverybodyusesonadailybasis,thatarefreeandavailabletoallandthatimpactoneverybody’swell-being.However,provingthedirectimpactofinvestmentonwell-beingiscomplicatedbytheneedtotakeintoaccountlongtimescales:benefitsaccrueovermanyyears.Thosewhomaketheinvestmentandthosewhobenefitarenotalwaysdirectlyconnected,makingapolicycasecomplicatedtopresent.
Cityparkeconomicsisanemergingdisciplineandmoreresearchintotheeconomicvaluecontributedbygreenspacestotownsandcitiesisneeded.97Thefinancialbenefitshigh-qualityparksandgreenspacescontributetocitieshavebeenexaminedinresearchbytheTrustforPublicLandinAmerica.ItsstudyenumeratestheeconomicvalueoftheCityofPhiladelphia’sparksystemforcleanair,cleanwater,tourism,health,propertyvalueandcommunitycohesion.98
ResearchcommissionedbyNaturalEconomyNorthwest,ajointprogrammeoftheNorthwestRegionalDevelopmentAgencyandNaturalEngland,bringstogetherawiderangeofevidenceonthemultiplebenefitsofgreeninfrastructure,focusinginparticularonitsroleincreatingeconomicprosperityandstabilityfortheregion.TheresearchcalculatesthattheNorthwest’senvironmentgeneratesanestimated£2.6billioningrossvalueaddedandsupports109,000jobsinenvironmentandrelatedfields.99
Exploring the environmental benefitsProvingtheenvironmentalbenefitsofurbangreenspaceisanemergentscience,andtodatemostfocushasbeenonruralareasinEngland.Thevalueofgreeninfrastructure(thenetworksofparks,gardens,allotments,trees,greenroofs,cemeteries,woodlands,grasslands,moorsandwetlandareas)fortownsandcitiesrequiresfurtheranalysis.
97 http://cabeurl.com/az98 How�much�value�does�the�city�of�Philadelphia�receive�from�its�parks�and�
recreation�system?,TrustforPublicLand,2008.99 http://cabeurl.com/ay
Itisimportanttoprovidegreenspacesthatareappropriateforpeopleofdifferentages.Youngpeopleagedbetween16and24reportlowerqualityacrossallindicatorsanalysedforthestudy:15percentthoughttheirlocalparksandopenspacesweretheaspectoftheirareasthatneededmostimprovement,comparedwith8percentof55-74yearolds.
Overall,thestrongcorrelationsbetweenpoorqualityandquantityofspacesindeprivedareas,andthelowlevelsofphysicalactivityofresidents,stronglysuggestthatinvestinginthequalityofparksandgreenspacesisanimportantwaytotackleinequalitiesinhealthandwell-being.Thesecondpartoftheresearchexploresthisinmoredetail.
Therelationshipbetweenqualityanduseisnotasclear-cutasotherindicatorsanalysed.Theurbanform–thelevelofdensityofhousing–doesimpactonuseofparks.Thoseareasthataredenser,withfewgardensandahighernumberofflats,tendtohavehigherlevelsofuse.Asexpected,useofparksandformalgreenspaceishigherintheareaswhereresidentshaveaccesstolessprivategreenspace.Inaddition,peoplelivingindenserareasandcitycentresreportedhigherscoresintermsofvaluingtheirparksandopenspaces.Thisisalsoreflectedintheregionalpatternswhichtendtoshowhigherscoresonthis‘value’indicatorinmoreurbanisedregions.
Next steps
Provingtheeconomic,socialandenvironmentalvalueofurbangreenspaceisnotstraightforward.Inadditiontotheshortageofrobustnationaldata,analysisiscomplicatedbythefactthatgreenspacevalueconsistsofelementsthatarenoteasilymeasuredowingtothedifficultyofcontrollingforinterferingvariables.Greenspacesarebytheirnaturemultifunctionalandanalysisfallsbetweendifferentacademicareas.Todate,cross-disciplinaryinvestigationintothemanyvaluespresentedbyurbangreenspacehasbeenlimited.
Thisstudyshowswherethereisplentyofinformation,forinstancedatarelatingtocleanliness,andwherethereareseriousgaps,forinstancedataonspendandgreenspaceskills.Itclarifiesthestrengthsandweaknessesofexistingdata.Itwillhelptoinformaccuratedatacollection,locallyandnationally,andsuggestswheremoreworkwouldbebeneficial.
43
ThesecondpartofresearchcarriedoutforCABEbyOPENspaceResearchCentre,EdinburghCollegeofArt,incollaborationwithHeriot-WattUniversity,usesdatainthisreportasabaseline.Itexaminesinmoredepththeimpactofthequalityofgreenspacesonthewell-beingofpeoplelivinginsixdeprivedurbanareas.Itfocusesonblackandminorityethniccommunitieswithintheseareasandtherelationshipbetweenperceptionsofqualityofurbangreenspaceanditsuse–anareaofresearchthathastodatereceivedlittleattention.
100 StrategyUnit,Food�matters:�a�strategy�for�the�21st�century,London:CabinetOffice,2008.
101 ForexampleNeal,SandAgyeman,J,�The�new�countryside?,2006.
Thisanalysisshouldconsiderissuesatawiderscalethanhasbeenemployedtodate.Forinstance,theenvironmentalvalueofgreeninfrastructureforthemanagementoffloodwateriswiderthanthequantityofwaterthatisstored,andisalsoabouttheoperationofgreennetworksacrossdifferentspatialscales.
Exploring the social benefitsThereisgreatscopeforfurtherresearchonthesocialbenefitsofurbangreenspace.Therelationshipbetweenaccessanduseofgreenspaceandpositivehealthoutcomesisexplanatory,notcausal.Inparticular,moreworkisneededonchildren’suseandaccesstogreenspace.Childrenhavelesscontactwithnaturenowthanatanytimeinthepastanditisestimatedthatby2020halfofallchildrencouldbeobese.100
Thereisalsoanabsenceofresearchintothequalityandtypeofurbangreenspaceprovisionexperiencedbysocialtenantsandhowthisimpactsontheirwell-being.Thegreenspaceownedandmanagedbysociallandlordsisnotmapped,althoughapilotprojectbyNaturalEnglandisdevelopingamethodologytodothis.
Finally,thereisalackofin-depthinvestigationintodeprivation,ethnicityandthequalityandtypesofaccesstourbangreenspace.EvidenceofincomeandraceinequalitiesinaccesstourbangreenspaceintheUKislimitedtoahandfulofstudiesandmostoftheresearchonethnicityandlandscapehasfocusedonruralcontexts.101
However,accesstonatureismostlyoccurringinthelocal,urbanneighbourhoodcontextashistoricallyblackandminorityethnicpopulationsareconcentratedininnercitiesandurbanareas.Thereisalsoalackofquantitativeresearchusinglargersamplesofblackandminorityethnicgroupsinrelationtohealthandphysicalbehaviourandattitudestogreenspace.Researchonthewayinwhichurbangreenspacefacilitatessocialintegrationandcommunitycohesionislimited.
44
Appendix 1: Review of sources of data about green space in England
Data source Data owner CommentActive�peoplesurvey SportEngland Large-scalesurveyofpeople’sleisureandphysicalactivityin
England(around1,000perauthority).Collectedannuallyfrom2005to2010.
Allotmentsites2004/05
CommunitiesandLocalGovernment
GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.
Annual�business�inquiry
OfficeforNationalStatistics
Annualsurveyofbusinessescollectinginformationaboutemployment,enterprise,expenditureandstock.Doesnotappeartoofferinformationaboutpeopleworkinginthegreenspacesector.Notusedforthisstudy.
APSEperformanceindicators
AssociationofPublicServiceExcellence
APSEmanagesabenchmarkingclubthatallowsauthoritiestobenchmarktheirpracticesagainstotherUKauthorities.ThereisalargesuiteofperformanceindicatorswhichAPSEmaintains,includingseveralonpublicopenspaceandplaygrounds,althoughthenumberofsubscriberstoeachindicatorvaries.Itwasnotpossibletoaccessnon-aggregateddata.Asaresult,APSEperformanceindicatorsareusedinthisprojectasbenchmarkfiguresonly.
Areasofoutstandingnaturalbeauty
NaturalEngland AvailableviaNaturalEngland.
Athleticstracks SportEngland Coversbothgrassandsynthetictracks.AvailableviaActive�placespowergateway.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).
BigBirdWatch RSPB CapturesobservationsofbirdlifeindomesticgardensacrosstheUK.Severalmillionentries.Couldbeusedtoconstructsomeurbanbiodiversitymeasures,butnotstrictlylinkedtogreenspace.Notusedforthisstudy.
Burialgrounds2006 DCA Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).
BVPI/Place�survey CLG/AuditCommission
Regularsurveyofresidentscollectinginformationaboutsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Includesanumberofmeasuresrelevanttogreenspace,includingviewsaboutnature,parkusefrequencyandsatisfactionwithparksservice.Place�surveynowincludesself-reportedhealthstatus.Unfortunatelynotallofthemostrecentdata(Place�survey2009)wasavailableforthisstudysoitreliesonBVPIdatafrom2006wherenecessary.
Census2001 OfficeforNationalStatistics
Usedforavarietyofmeasuresincludingpublicsectoremploymentinagriculturalgradesandcontextualsocio-economicindicators.
CIPFAFinanceandgeneral;leisure,cultureandrecreation
CharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy
Localauthorityspendingdatacollatedannually.Thefinanceandgeneraldataincludesalmostallurbanauthorities.Theculture,sportandrecreationdataoffersalotmoredetailaboutspendingonpublicopenspace,butcoversonlyabout50percentofEnglishurbanauthorities.
45
CLGoutturndata CLG Informationaboutlocalauthorityspending;includesheadlinefigureforopenspace(grossofincome)andcoversallEnglishauthorities.Worksheetdoesnotallowcomparisonbetweenauthorities,makinganalysistime-consuming.Notusedinthecontextofthisproject(CIPFAFinanceandgeneralstatisticsusedinstead).
CommunityForests ForestryCommission AvailableviaMAGIC.Communitygardensandcityfarms2004/05
CLG AvailableviaCLG.Pointdata.
CountryParks NaturalEngland AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Doorstepgreens NaturalEngland AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.English�house�conditionsurvey
CLG Continuoussurveyfrom2002to2008collectinginformationabouttheconditionandenergyefficiencyofEnglishhousing.NowmergedintoEnglish�housingsurvey.Basedonassessorscores,andincludesinformationabouttheconditionofthestreet/environmentadjacenttothebuilding(eglitter).However,datacannotbelinkedtogreenspaceandwasnotincludedinthisproject.
Environmentalqualityindex(EQI)
EnvironmentAgency AmappingtoolcreatedfortheEnvironmentAgencythatcalculatescomparativeenvironmentalqualityscoresforEnglishlocalauthoritiesbasedon12underlyingenvironmentalfactors,includingairandwaterquality,greenspace(GLUD),derelictlandandIMD.
FieldsinTrustPlayingFields
FieldsinTrust DatabaseofplayingfieldsinwhichFIThasaninterest.Postcodesoraddressesnotalwaysincluded.
GLUD(GeneralisedLandUseDatabase)
CLG ProvidescomprehensiveinformationaboutlandusecoverinEngland.Includestwocategoriesrelatingtogreenspace:domesticgardensandgreenspace.ThegreenspacecategoryinGLUDcoversanythinggreenfromfarmlandtoparkstoforest.
Golfcourses SportEngland AvailableviaActive�places�powergateway.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).
Grasspitches SportEngland AvailableviaActive�places�powergateway.Coverssportspitchesanddetailsthetotalnumberofpitchesoneachsite.Pointdatawithlinkedinformationaboutsizeallowingnotionalboundarytobedrawn(circular).
Greenbelt CLG AvailableviaMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.GreenFlagparks1997-2009
KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV
AnnualcountofGreenFlagawardsbyauthority.Pointdatainallcasesexcept2005/06forwhichGISbasedboundarydataisavailable.
GreenHeritageSitewinners2004/05
KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV
Pointdata.
GreenPennantparks2004/05and2005/06
KeepBritainTidy,GreenSpaceandBTCV
Pointdata.
46
Green/openspacestrategydata
CABESpace Regularsurveyoflocalauthoritiesupdatingcurrentsituationre:green/openspacestrategies.
Greenspacepolicydesignations
Landmark GISdataillustratinggreenspaceandthepolicydesignationswhichapplytoit.Basedoninformationfromlocalauthoritydevelopmentframeworks,andcouldprovideavaluablealternativesourceofdataaboutthearea,numberandtypeofgreenspacesinurbanEngland.Thisdatawasnotincludedinthisstudyastherewasacosttouse.
GreenSTAT GreenSpace Park-by-parksurveyfilledinbyusersandgatheringdetailedinformationaboutusefrequency,durationofvisit,benefits,facilities,designandsatisfaction.
HeritageCoast NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.Indexofmultipledeprivation(2007)
CLG Usedtoprovidecontextualinformationonlevelsofdeprivation.
Labour�force�survey OfficeforNationalStatistics
TheLabour�force�survey(LFS)isaquarterlysamplesurveyofhouseholdslivingatprivateaddressesinGreatBritain.ItspurposeistoprovideinformationontheUKlabourmarket.
LEQSELocal�environmental�quality�survey�of�England
KeepBritainTidy Arepresentativedatasetassessingenvironmentalqualityinlocalauthorityareas.Databasedoninspectorassessmentsoflanduse,litter,graffiti,cleanliness.Forthepurposesofthisstudy,asampleofdatacovering40urbanauthoritieswasprovided.
Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey(2008)
CABESpace,Lantra,GreenSpace
One-offsurveyoflocalauthoritiesthatgathereddataaboutspending,staffingandskills.CoversonlyasmallproportionofurbanauthoritiesinEngland.
Localnaturereserves NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Millenniumgreens NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.Nationalnaturereserves
NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.
NationalParks NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.NationalTrustLandHoldings
NationalTrust ComprehensivedatabaseofNTlandholdingsacrossEnglandandWales,includingGISboundarydata.
Public�parks�assessment2001
AuditCommission Surveyoflocalauthoritiesdocumentingoverallnumberandareaofparksandrecreationspace,detailsofparksofnationalandlocalhistoricvalue,plusinformationonspendingamountsandtrends,staffingandmanagement.
Public�parks�assessmentupdate2005
NationalAuditOffice/GreenSpace
Similartotheoriginalsurveyin2001,butslightlylimitedinoverallresponserateandtopicscovered.
Ramsarsites NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.Registeredcommonland
NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.
Registeredparksandgardens
EnglishHeritage AvailablefromMAGIC.GISbaseddataincludingboundaries.
RSPBreserves RSPB AvailablefromMAGIC.Scheduledmonuments
EnglishHeritage AvailablefromMAGIC.
47
Specialareasofconservation
NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.
SpecialProtectionAreas
NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.
Sitesofspecialscientificinterest
NaturalEngland AvailablefromMAGIC.
Syntheticpitches SportEngland AvailablefromActive�places�powergateway.Notincludedintheprojectortheinventory.
Taking�partsurvey DCMS Ongoingnationalsurveyofvariousleisure,sportsandculturalactivities(around29,000participantseachyear).Notanalysedfully,butusedtobenchmarkotherdata.
Transforming�placesdatabase
JosephRowntreeFoundation
Includesvariablesfromvarioussources,egCensus,IMD,GLUD,NationwideBuildingSociety,planningdataandneighbourhoodstatisticscoveringtheperiod1998-2006.CoversallwardsinEngland.ProducedbyHeriot-WattUniversityforaJosephRowntreestudy,Housing�investment�and�neighbourhood�market�change(2007).
TreesinTownsII(2008)
CLG SurveyoftreesinthetownsandcitiesofEngland(updatingcarriedoutin1992/93).Includesinformationabouttreesinasampleof147townsandcitiesinruralandurbansettings.Underlyingdatadoesnotincludelocalauthoritynamesorcodes,andsamplesanumberoflandusetypesincludinggreenspace.
Villagegreens DEFRA AvailablefromMAGIC.Pointdata.WoodlandTrustsites WoodlandTrust AvailablefromMAGIC.WoodsforPeople ForestryCommission AvailablefromForestryCommission.
48
Appendix 2: Review of indicators that capture some element of green space
Non-UK indicators:
CEROI indicatorsECI104:availabilityoflocalpublicopenareasandservicesasmeasuredby:
Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofapublicopenareathatislargerthan5,000m2(%);
Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofhealthservices(%);
Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofpublictransport(%);
Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofrecyclingfacilities(%);
Numberofinhabitantslivingwithin300mofschools(%).Publicaccesstogreenspaces,asmeasuredbygreenspaceswithpublicaccess(m2/inhabitants).Qualityofurbanwildlife:numberofbirdspecies.Greenareas:percentageofbuilt-uparea.Investmentsingreenarea:maintenancecostsperyearasapercentageofcityproduct.
Urban Audit indicatorsGreenspacetowhichthepublichasaccess(m2percapita).Proportionofareacoveredbygreenspace.Proportionofareausedforsports/leisure.Land(m2)inrecreationalsportsandleisureusepercapita.
New Zealand, sustainable development indicators:Residents’ratingoftheirsenseofprideinthewaytheircitylooksandfeels.Residents’perceptionoftheiroverallqualityoflife.Extentandlegalprotectionofindigenousvegetationcover.
New Zealand quality of life indicatorsTotalhectaresofgreenspaceper1,000population(definedasopenspaceunderthemanagementorcontrolofcouncils).Residents’ratingofeaseofaccesstogreenspace(usinga5pointscalefromveryeasytoverydifficult).
Auckland Public Health Service (NZ) health and well-being measure102
Geographicaccesstogreenactivityspace,basedonproximity(distancetonearest),opportunity(sizeofnearest)andchoice(alternativewithindistance).Greenactivityplaceisdefinedaspublicorquasi-publicspacethatprovidesopportunitiesforphysicalactivityinagreensetting.Itdoesnotincludefarmlandandisrelevantonlytourbanareas.
Melbourne environmental indicators (Australia)AnnualnumberofvisitorstoMelbourne’sparksandgardens(millionsofvisits);ThemainreasonforvisitingoneofMelbourne’smajorparks;WhatvisitorsenjoyedaboutMelbourne’sparksandgardens.
49
San Francisco (US) sustainable city indicators:Percentage of the population with a recreational facility and a natural setting within a 10 minute walk.Number of neighbourhood green street corridors created annually.Number of volunteer hours spent annually on maintenance of open space.Annual municipal expenditure on parks, open space, and streetscapes.
Germany, State of the Environment report: Number, area and percentage of each state covered by nature reserves.103
Netherlands, green space indicators:104
Availability of green areas in cities — the number of parks, woods or other green areas within 500m. Birds in cities — a count of 16 species and their prevalence (winter census). Visits to woods, nature and recreational areas: % of residents visiting constructed recreational areas outside cities, urban parks and forests; and protected nature areas.
UK indicators:
UK sustainable development indicatorsEnvironmentalquality:populationslivinginareaswith,inrelativeterms,theleastfavourableenvironmentalconditions(2001/06).105Localenvironmentalquality:percentageofassessmentsthatarepoor/unsatisfactorybasedonlitter,dogfouling,detritus,weeds,fly-tipping,fly-posting,graffiti,physicalappearance,conditionandmaintenance.UsesKeepBritainTidydata.Satisfactioninlocalarea:percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwiththequalityoftheplacesinwhichtheylive(a)overall,(b)inNeighbourhoodRenewalFundareas.Greenspace:importanceofgreenspace—thenumberofpeoplewhothinkthatisveryorfairlyimportanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive.Frequencyofgreenspaceuse–theproportionofpeopleusinggreenspaceforsixfrequencybands.
Audit Commission area profilesProportionofdevelopedlandthatisderelict(basedonNLUDdata).Areaoflanddesignatedasasiteofspecialscientificinterest(SSSI)withinthelocalauthorityarea(basedonNaturalEnglanddata).TheperecentageareaoflanddesignatedasaSSSIwithinthelocalauthorityarea,whichisfoundtobeinfavourablecondition(basedonNaturalEnglanddata).Percentageofresidentswhothinkthatfortheirlocalarea,overthepastthreeyears,parksandopenspaceshavegotbetterorstayedthesame.(BasedonCLGBVPIdata.)
Natural England accessible natural green space standard (ANGSt)Everyhomeshouldbewithin300mofanaccessiblenaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.
Eachhomeshouldalsohaveaccesstoatleastoneaccessible20hectaresitewithin2km;atleastoneaccessible100hectaresitewithin5km;andatleastoneaccessible500hectaresitewithin10km.
50
Scottish Natural Heritage indicators106
Urbanlandcoveredbylocalplandesignationsorpolicies(greenbelt,landscapedesignations,natureconservationdesignation,semi-naturalgreenspaceandgreennetworks).Greenspaceperperson(fourScottishcities).
Greenspace Scotland (State of Scotland’s Greenspace report)Statusofopenspaceauditsandstrategies.Extentofgreenspacebylocalauthority(hectarage,percentageofurbanarea,perthousandpopulation).Typeofgreenspacebylocalauthority(hectarage,percentageofurbanarea,perthousandpopulation).Publicattitudestogreenspace.Localsatisfactionwithgreenspace.
Wales Assembly Government sustainable development indicators Indicator27a:percentageofpeoplestatingthattheycouldaccessaparkoropenspaceeasilyintheLiving�in�Walessurvey.Indicator27b:additionalindicatorfromrolloutofCountrysideCouncilforWales’s(CCW)greenspacetoolkit(tobedeveloped).Indicator29a:percentageoftotallengthoffootpathsandotherrightsofwaywhichwereeasytousebythepublic.Indicator29b:anindicatorofdamagingimpactsofaccess(tobedeveloped).Indicator29c:changeinnumberandextentoftranquilareasasdefinedinCCWmappingwork(tobedeveloped).Indicator29d:additionalindicatortobeconsideredfollowingthedevelopmentoftheOutdoor�recreation�survey(tobedeveloped).
102 http://cabeurl.com/b0103 http://cabeurl.com/b2104 http://cabeurl.com/b3105 IMDusedtodeterminedeprivation;environmentalconditionsareambient
airpollution,industrialairbornereleases,greenspace,habitatfavourabletobiodiversity,derelictland,floodrisk,riverwaterquality,housingquality.Ineachoftheseconditionsthepopulationlivinginthe10percentofareaswiththeleastfavourableconditionshasbeendetermined.
106 www.snh.org.uk/SNHi
Appendix 3: In-depth review of 52 indicators
Oftheseindicators,justunderhalfareUKbased,and17aredrawnfromEUmemberstatesorEuropeaninstitutions.Althoughthe52measurescaptureawiderangeofinformationaboutgreenspace,anumberofthemesareidentifiableandarecommontothethemeschosentostructurethisresearch.
1. Quantity:Indicatorsthatmeasurequantityareeitherabsolutemeasuresorrelativemeasures.Forinstance,theEurope-wideUrbanAudit107recordstheproportionofanareacoveredbygreenspaceorusedforsportsandleisure.Insomecasesrelativequantitymeasuresrecordtheareaofgreenspaceperthousandpopulationorperperson,forinstanceNewZealand’squalityoflifeindicators.108
2. Proximity:Indicatorsthatconceptualisetheamountofgreenspaceavailableratherdifferentlybylookingatproximityorphysical/geographicalaccessibilitytousers.Theseproximitymeasurestendtorecordthenumberorpercentageofinhabitantslivingwithinacertaindistanceofagreenspace.IndicatorsusedfortheCitiesEnvironmentReportsontheinternet(CEROI),109aprogrammethatispartoftheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme,useproximitytomeasurephysicalaccesstoopenspaceandpublicservices.ThisisalsoattheheartofNaturalEngland’saccessiblenaturalgreenspacestandard(ANGSt),110whichexpressesthetargetofeveryhomebeingwithin300metresofanaccessiblenaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.
3. Quality:Indicatorsthatcapturesomethingofthequalityofgreenspace,inmanycasesintermsofbiodiversityorconservationstatus.CEROIindicators,forinstance,includeameasureofurbanwildlifebasedonnumberofbirdspecies.IntheUKthereareseveralmeasuresexpressingboththeareaoflandthatiscoveredbyvariousdesignations,forinstancesitesofspecialscientificinterest,andtheconditionofthosesites.111
4. Use:Indicatorsfocusingonpeople’suseofgreenspaceandtheirfeelingsabouttheirneighbourhoodgreenspaces.InMelbourne,Australia,thecity’senvironmentalindicatorsincludethreemeasurestodowiththenumberofvisitorstoMelbourne’sparksandgardens,theirreasonsforvisitingandwhattheyenjoyedabouttheirvisit.112
5. Management:Averysmallnumberofmeasuresthatfocusonthemanagementofgreenspace.InCEROI,thisismeasuredasannualmaintenancecostsasapercentageofcityproduct,whileinSanFranciscoitissimplymeasuredasannualspendonparks,openspaceandstreetscapes.113
107 www.urbanaudit.org108 www.bigcities.govt.nz/index.htm109 www.ceroi.net110 http://cabeurl.com/b4111 Availablefromwww.magic.gov.uk112 http://cabeurl.com/b5113 www.sfenvironment.org
51
52
Appendix 4: Suggested indicators/proxies to measure the state of England’s urban green space
Suggested indicator/measure Data Source
Greenspace(hectares)perthousandpopulation. GLUDandCensus
Percentageofpeopleusinggreenspacebyfrequency(sixbands). BVPI/Place�survey
Totalgreenspaceperthousandchildren. GLUDandCensus
GreenFlagparks:numberperthousandpopulation. CLGandCensus
Percentageofhouseholdssatisfiedwithqualityofplacesinwhichtheylive.
BVPI/Place�survey
Annualspendonparksperhectareofgreenspace. CIPFAandGLUD
Percentageofresidentswhothinkthatlocalparksandopenspaceshavegotbetterorstayedthesame.
BVPI/Place�survey
Residentsatisfactionwithlocalauthorityparksandopenspaceservice. BVPI/Place�survey
Cleanlinessandmaintenanceofgreenspace. KeepBritainTidy
Percentageoflocalauthoritycoveredbygreenspace. GLUD
Qualityofurbanwildlife(numberofbirdspecies). RSPBBigbirdwatchdata
Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthataccesstonatureandparksandopenspacesareimportantinmakingsomewhereagoodplacetolive.
BVPI/Place�survey
Numberofhomeswithin300mofanaturalgreenspaceofatleasttwohectares.
CABEurbangreenspacesinventory
Numberofgreenspaceswithin500m. CABEurbangreenspacesinventory
Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforthoseinmostdeprivedareas. Census,IMDandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory
Annualspendonparksperperson. CIPFAandCensus
Reasonsforvisitingparksandopenspaces. GreenSTAT
Amountofareausedforsports/leisure. SportEngland(activeplacesgateway)
Measureofparkuse:frequencyofsummerandwintervisits. GreenSTAT
Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforpeoplefromminorityethnicgroups.
CensusandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory
Measureofaccessibilitytogreenspaceforpeopleaged65andover. CensusandCABEurbangreenspacesinventory
Percentageofpeoplewhothinkthatlocalaccesstonatureandparksandopenspacesmostneedimproving.
BVPI/Place�survey
Thenumberofpeoplewhothinkitisvery,orfairly,importanttohavegreenspacesneartowheretheylive.
BVPI/Place�survey
Measureofusersatisfactionwithparks. GreenSTAT
Greenspace(hectares). GLUD
Greenspacedensitymeasure(bands/quartiles). GLUDandCensus
53
Greenspacediversitymeasure. Various
Ratioofgreenspacetodomesticgardens. GLUD
Number/sizeofallotmentsites. CLG
Communitygardensandcityfarms(number/size). CLG
Millenniumgreensanddoorstepgreens. CLG
Historicsites,gardensandmonuments(number,size). CLG
Numberandareaofparksinlocalauthorityownership(2001). Public�parks�assessment
Changeinareaofparksinlocalauthorityownership. Public�parks�assessment
Land(m2)insports/leisureuseperperson. CLG
Numberandareaofsportspitches/playingfields. FieldsinTrust,SportEngland
Numberofplayareas. MasterMap
Numberofplayareasperthousandchildren. MasterMapandAPSE
PercentageofareaoflanddesignatedasSSSIwhichisfoundtobeinfavourablecondition.
NaturalEngland
Qualityofurbanwildlife:biodiversitymeasure. EnvironmentAgency
Number,areaandpercentageoflocalauthoritycoveredbynaturereserves,SSSIsandothernaturedesignations.
NaturalEnglandandCLG
GreenFlagparks:numberperlocalauthorityarea. CLG
GreenFlagparks:performancecomparedtolocalauthority‘average’. CLG
GreenFlagparks:changeinnumberoverlastxyears. CLG
RegionalGreenFlagnumberspermillionpopulation. CLG
Statusofopenspaceauditsandstrategies. CABESpacedata
Amountoflandcoveredbylocalplandesignationsorpolicies. Landmark
Statusofplaystrategies PlayEngland
54
Appendix 5: Important data sources — and their limitations
Discontinuous data setsBestvalueperformanceindicator(BVPI)informationwasoneofthemostsignificantsourcesofdataforthestudy.BVPIsurveysofresidentswereundertakeneverytwoyearsuntil2006,measuringsatisfactionwithneighbourhoodqualityandlocalauthorityservices.Theaimwastogivegovernment,localauthoritiesandresidentsasnapshotofhowwelleachlocalauthoritywasperforming;enablecomparisonsbetweenauthorities,andmonitorprogressovertime.114From2008theBVPIsurveywasreplacedbythePlace�survey,whichhasasimilarpurposeandisalsoco-ordinatedbythegovernmentdepartmentCommunitiesandLocalGovernment(CLG).115
Unfortunately,Place�surveydatapubliclyavailableatthetimeofthisstudy(2008/09)wasmorelimitedthanitwasforBVPI.Formorein-depthanalysistheresearchthereforereliesondatafromBVPI2006ratherthanonthemoreup-to-date�Place�survey.
Lack of small-area detail DespitetheadvantagesoftheBVPIdata,analysiswaslimitedbyavailabilityofpostcode,orwardcode,datawithinthedataset.Asaresult,therewerearound40urbanauthoritiesforwhichwewereunabletocalculateorreportwardlevelresults.
Anotherusefulsourceofdatawasthegovernment’sSustainableDevelopmentIndicators.116ThesemeasureprogressintheUKtowardssustainabledevelopmentandconsistofasuiteof68nationalindicatorsaroundsustainableconsumptionandproduction;climatechangeandenergy;naturalresourceprotectionandenhancingtheenvironment;andcreatingsustainablecommunitiesandafairerworld.Whiletheseindicatorsareextremelyusefulintermsoftrackingprogressagainstawiderangeofrelevantthemes,thedatacannotbedisaggregatedintosmallgeographicalareaswhichmeansitwasoflimiteduseintermsofourdeeperanalysesofurbanareas.
Datasets that do not cover all urban areasSomeofthedatasetsdidnotprovidecompletecoverageofurbanauthoritiesordidnotcoverallareasinsimilardepth.Forinstance,GreenSTAT,117whichtracksparkusers’views,includesvaluabledatafrommosturbanauthoritiesbutthesamplesizedoesvarybetweenareas.
Localauthorityspendingdataiscollatedannuallyandinformationonheadlinespendonparksand
openspacesisfairlycomprehensive.However,in-depthfinancialdataisincomplete.DatafromtheCharteredInstituteofPublicFinanceandAccountancy(CIPFA)118recordingspendonculture,sportandrecreationisbasedonthenumberofauthoritiesthatchoosetorespondtothissurveyeachyear.Thus,thisdatasourcehadabout40percentofurbanauthoritiesmissingfortheyearanalysed119.
One-off surveysSomeofthekeysourcesusedinthisresearchwereone-offsurveys,forinstancethePublic�parks�assessment,120andtheLocal�authority�green�space�skills�survey.121Wecannotpredictwhetherthesewilleverberepeatedinthesameformatandsoitmayprovedifficulttotracktheirfindingsovertime.
114 http://cabeurl.com/b7115 http://cabeurl.com/b8116 http://cabeurl.com/af117 GreenSTATisarollingdataset;seewww.greenstat.org.uk.Forthepurposes
ofthisproject,theGreenSTATdatausedheredatesfromlate2008.118 www.cipfa.org.uk119 2007/08120 Public�parks�assessment:�a�survey�of�local�authority�owned�parks�focusing�
on�parks�of�historic�interest,UrbanParksForum,2001.121 Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,CABESpace,Lantra,
GreenSpace,2008.
55
Beautiful�places:�the�role�of�perceived�aesthetic�beauty�in�community�satisfaction,Workingpaperseries:MartinProsperityResearch.PaperpreparedbyFloridaetal.,March2009.
Building�health:�creating�and�enhancing�places�for�healthy�active�lives,NationalHeartForum,inpartnershipwithLivingStreetsandCABE,2007.
Committee�of�Public�Accounts:�Enhancing�urban�green�space:�fifty-eighth�report�of�session�2005/06,HouseofCommons,2006.
Data�fields�of�glory,Hogg,T,the�GiGLer,Issue5(2008),pp6-7http://cabeurl.com/b6
Enhancing�urban�green�space,NationalAuditOffice,2006.
‘Effectofexposuretonaturalenvironmentonhealthinequalities:anobservationalpopulationstudy’,Mitchell,RandPopham,F,The�Lancet,vol.372(2008),pp1655-60.
Food�matters:�a�strategy�for�the�21st�century,TheStrategyUnit,2008.
‘Graffiti,greeneryandobesityinadults:secondaryanalysisonEuropeancross-sectionalsurvey’,Ellawayetal.,British�Medical�Journal�17(2005),p331.
The�green�information�gap:�mapping�the�nation’s�green�spaces,CABESpace,2009.
Green�spaces,�better�places:�final�report�of�the�urban�green�spaces�task�force,DTLR,2002.
Green�space�skills�2009:�National�employers�survey,�CABESpace,2010.
Greenspace�quality:�a�guide�to�assessment,�planning�and�strategic�development,GreenspaceScotland,2008.
Grey�to�green:�how�we�shift�funding�and�skills�to�green�our�cities,CABE,2009.
HLF�funding�for�public�parks�1st�April�1994�–�31st�March�2009,HeritageLotteryFundPolicyandstrategicdevelopmentdepartmentdatabriefing,October2009.
How�much�value�does�the�city�of�Philadelphia�receive�from�its�parks�and�recreation�system?,TrustforPublicLand,2008.Improving�Londoners’�access�to�nature:�London�plan�implementation�report,MayorofLondon,2008.
Inclusion�by�design:�equality,�diversity�and�the�built�environment,CABE,2008.
Local�authority�green�space�skills�survey,CABESpace,Lantra,GreenSpace,2008.
Making�the�invisible�visible:�the�real�value�of�park�assets,CABE,2009www.cabe.org.publications/making-the-invisible-visible
‘Natural�environments�–�healthy�environments?�An�exploratory�analysis�of�the�relationship�between�greenspace�and�health’,deVries,S,Verheij,R,.Groenwagen,PandSpreeuwenberg,P,Environment�and�PlanningA:vol.35(2003),pp1717-31.
The�new�countryside?,Neal,SandAgyeman,J,2006.
Open�space�strategies:�best�practice�guidance,CABESpaceandMayorofLondon,2009.Planning�policy�guidance�17:�planning�for�open�space,�sport�and�recreation,ODPM,2002.
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No one knows exactly how many green spaces there are in our urban areas, where they are, who owns them or what condition they are in. A CABE Space research project starts to fill this serious information gap, by compiling and analysing data at a national level. This report presents the main findings of the research. It will be of interest to policymakers and decision makers in central and local government and anyone interested in understanding more about England’s urban green spaces.
CABE1 Kemble StreetLondon WC2B 4ANT 020 7070 6700F 020 7070 6777E [email protected]
Asapublicbody,CABEencouragespolicymakerstocreateplacesthatworkforpeople.Wehelplocalplannersapplynationaldesignpolicyandadvisedevelopersandarchitects,persuadingthemtoputpeople’sneedsfirst.Weshowpublicsectorclientshowtocommissionprojectsthatmeettheneedsoftheirusers.Andweseektoinspirethepublictodemandmorefromtheirbuildingsandspaces.Advising,influencingandinspiring,weworktocreatewell-designed,welcomingplaces.
CABESpaceisaspecialistunitwithinCABEthataimstobringexcellencetothedesign,managementandmaintenanceofparksandpublicspaceinourtownsandcities.
Publishedin2010bytheCommissionforArchitectureandtheBuiltEnvironment
GraphicdesignbyDraughtAssociates
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,copiedortransmittedwithoutthepriorwrittenconsentofthepublisherexceptthatthematerialmaybephotocopiedfornon-commercialpurposeswithoutpermissionfromthepublisher.Thisdocumentisavailableinalternativeformatsonrequestfromthepublisher.