Urban nature improves public health, protects critical infrastructure from climate change impacts and saves the public purse the cost of treatment and repair later on.
The World Health Organisation recommends that urban residents should be able to access public green spaces of at least 0.5–1 hectare within 5 minutes’ walk of their homes.
Local governments are often responsible for the provision and maintenance of urban nature. Once green spaces are in place, businesses in their vicinities profit through increased income and lower costs.
Some committed cities in Europe are navigating these dynamics to find new ways to fund the green spaces citizens want and that the environment needs. Hamburg (Germany) has introduced a programme whereby property owners are eligible for subsidies of up to 60 percent of the cost of installing green roofs. For example, the subsidies provided for the installation of a green roof with 300m² net vegetation area could save the owner €4,468.
Poznań (Poland)’s Project Coordination and Urban Regeneration Office teamed up with the Department of Education to use the education budget for green makeovers of publicly-owned kindergarten playgrounds. Mini installations were placed in 10 kindergartens, including a house for insects, flowerbeds, a weather station, a rainwater collection system, a green table and natural huts. The old asphalt surface was replaced with natural grass and sand.
“Following the successful pilot implementations in 3 kindergartens, we decided to create an internal City Hall financial mechanism – by linking money from the yearly city budget earmarked for investments in 10 kindergartens with the money from the Connecting Nature project devoted for ‘natural design’ and eco-education for teachers and children,” explains Natalia Madajczyk, Head of Unit for Interdisciplinary Projects, Poznań City Hall.
Poznań used the Business Model Canvas technique as part of their work on this project. Training in this technique will be provided to local governments free of charge at the European Urban Resilience Forum in June 2019.
Local governments are concerned above all with their citizens’ needs and wellbeing. According to Martin Krekeler of the Senate Chancellery of Hamburg and coordinator of the CLEVER Cities project, “it might be difficult sometimes to argue for the calculation of a monetary price to urban green spaces, since the provision of green spaces can be seen as a basic public service: that should be provided to all residents independently from what it costs.”
CLEVER Cities is prioritising social inclusion and regeneration of urban areas, and Krekeler emphasises the importance of considering the needs of all citizens.
“On the other hand, and this is what I think is more valid,” he adds, valuing nature “might improve the standing of green space in the competition on land-use in an urban area where space is scarce and highly demanded. And it could also be a good tool for awareness-raising – both of inhabitants and of professionals in public administration and the private sector.”
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