Project description

Cities experience increasing signs of environmental stress, notably in the form of poor air quality, excessive noise, and traffic congestion. At the same time, the pace at which land is being consumed by urban development in Europe is a major concern. The enhancement of green areas has the potential to mitigate the adverse effects of urbanisation in a sustainable way, particularly because there is a broad societal support for more green in and around cities. The objective of Benefits of Urban Green Space (BUGS) is to develop a methodology to assess the impact of green space and settlement patterns on urban environmental quality (traffic congestion, air quality, noise) and social well-being, and to formulate recommendations regarding the use of green space as a design tool in urban planning strategies. Particular care will be taken to obtaining feedback from the potential end-users, and to the efficient dissemination of the results. Furthermore, a strategy will be developed to ensure the exploitation of the consortium’s expertise after the termination of the project.

During the first phase, the project pursues a mixture of environmental and socio-economic research regarding the impact of green areas on urban environmental quality and social well being, allowing the development and testing of specific tools. At the urban/regional scale, the impact of green areas on traffic congestion and emissions is modelled, with special attention for cycling/walking networks and for economic efficiency. Satellite-based maps are used to evaluate accessibility and connectivity of green areas. The potential of green space to help shaping compact and polycentric cities is studied, and the effect of land use on urban/regional air quality is simulated. At the smallest scales (street canyon, parks) measurements and model simulations are performed to estimate the effect of vegetation on microclimate, air quality, and noise propagation. Furthermore, case studies are performed to assess the impact of urban green areas on social well being. A harmonisation workshop is planned to ensure efficient inter-disciplinary collaboration, and a review/steering workshop, involving delegates of a representative sample of European cities, is scheduled to focus the work and ensure the relevance of the results to the end-user community.

During the second phase, tools and methods developed during the first phase by the different partners on different urban areas are applied to a common test case (cluster of cities in the Ruhrgebiet, Germany), including the entire consortium. The goal of this exercise is to couple the different models and methodologies, and to bring the integrated assessment methodology to perfection. Working in close collaboration with the local authorities of the test area, and employing participatory planning techniques involving local communities, design guidelines will be formulated regarding the use of green space as an urban design tool. Based on the findings of the test case, a scenario will be produced for the efficient implementation of the integrated assessment methodology, safeguarding its general nature so that it can be applied to any city within Europe. Simultaneously, a marketing strategy will be elaborated, the goal of which is to define and initiate an organisational structure permitting the exploitation of the consortium’s expertise after the termination of the project, offering the methodology as a service to urban and regional authorities.

It is expected that BUGS will increase current knowledge regarding the impact of green space on urban environmental quality and social well being. The final result will consist of a methodology to assess the benefits of urban green space, and a scenario for its effective implementation on European cities after the termination of the project. Ultimately, this should contribute to a better quality of life for millions of European citizens.