Greening towns and cities needs to be part of the Green New Deal, as much as technology

A major shift of public money towards the greening of towns and cities is needed, to tackle both climate change and the recession and create places we all want to live in.

With the next budget fast approaching, CABE and Natural England are calling on the government to prioritise funding for green assets such as parks, trees and open spaces.

The two government advisors on urban design and the natural environment are organising a conference this week which will start a debate about how we can create more liveable places.

They argue that since we are faced with two urgent and fundamental challenges – climate change and the recession – investment in grey and green infrastructure needs to be rebalanced.

The spend on grey schemes, like building and expanding roads, is out of kilter with spend on assets like street trees and parks and green spaces, and the public funding pot cannot be realistically expected to fully accommodate both.

Richard Simmons, CABE chief executive, points out that we have to redesign our towns and cities in response to the imperative of climate change. Design is the signal of intent - and the intention of urban design should be to reduce, absorb and capture more carbon dioxide.

“Greening towns and cities needs to be part of the Green New Deal, as much as technology” he says.

http://www.cabe.org.uk/news/green-cities-and-tackle-recession