Meristem’s tips on urban greening, office planting, parklets, living walls, plants and biophilia
Air pollution is rapidly emerging as a critical environmental health issue, prompting the public to become more aware of its dangers. Discover how urban greening, including parklets, greenery, and plants, can contribute to improving London's air quality. Explore the benefits of trees, living walls, and rain gardens, and learn about the role of biophilia and green infrastructure in creating a healthier and more sustainable city.
The Urban Greening Factor (UGF) originates from Berlin and has been adapted and adopted in several European and North American cities. A planning policy tool evaluates the quantity and quality of urban greening provided by a development proposal [6]. The UGF aims to accelerate the greening of urban areas and ensures well planned and high-quality interventions that add to a multi-functional green infrastructure network. This policy means green infrastructure is considered at the start of the design and planning process for new developments and buildings[7]. The UGF is set out in Policy G5 of the New London Plan and provides a simple way for Local Planning Authorities to score green infrastructure interventions[8].
Green infrastructure can be defined as the natural vegetative systems and green technologies that collectively provide the community with a multitude of environmental, economic, health, and social benefits. This includes: Rain gardens, SuDS, Bioswales, Green roofs, green walls, Urban forests and woodlots.
Green roofs or also commonly known as living roofs, are becoming more and more popular in the urban environment. This is due to their economic and environmental benefits, as well as the added bonus of creating a garden space for properties with little outdoor area. Land is a valuable asset in cities and is commonly utilised to its maximum capacity.
There is a rising trend for on-street Parklets popping up across the world, in the US there are over 3,000 of them, with Canada and Australia not far behind. In the UK their growth has been slow until now, however in the past year over 40 on-street Parklets have been installed in London alone with 100’s more in the pipeline.
