The module aims to introduce the field of Green Infrastructure and green space planning by addressing its principles, values and utility within urban planning. Drawing on a wide range of case study material the module examines the influence of landscape ecology and the politics of planning on urban development to question how, where and why we use Green infrastructure to meet quality of life and place agendas. By examining the relationship between the landscape, planning policy and human interactions the module will highlight opportunities to implement positive urban greening at a number of scales.

The module also draws links between the role of Green Infrastructure planning in supporting sustainability objectives and the process of management and monitoring. More particularly the module aims

1. To introduce the concept of Green Infrastructure from its historical antecedents to its current use.
2. To discuss the value of Green Infrastructure planning in urban planning as a mechanism for addressing biodiversity, climate change, health, water management and wider urban greening issues.
3. To examine the management frameworks of green space planning and debate the utility of a number of evaluation and monitoring techniques available to environmental managers.
4. To introduce the policy context of Green Infrastructure planning and examine the influences of political will, financial incentives and social needs in developing greener and more sustainable urban environments.
5. To develop an understanding of how Green Infrastructure can be, and is being, implemented through a more in-depth assessment of a series of global case studies.

By the end of the module students will be able to demonstrate:

1. An understanding of the multifunctional benefits of green infrastructure.
2. The planning mechanisms in place that govern the development of Green Infrastructure resources.
3. The skills required to evaluate the role and added value of Green Infrastructure in real world planning scenarios.
4. An ability to assess what methods are appropriate in the evaluation of urban and landscape development.

Lecture 1. Green Infrastructure: characteristics and principles.

This lecture will explore the development of Green Infrastructure, its characteristics and principles and highlight how these have been brought together into a single form of urban planning.

Lecture 2. The role of perception and interpretation in understanding Green Infrastructure value

This lecture will outline a range of ways in which the landscape, and its parts, can be perceived and how this impacts on how the valuations we make of the environment. This will draw on a number of philosophical issues developed in geography, ecology and psychology to explore how and what we see in the landscape.

Lecture 3. Governance, Government and Policy of green space planning

This lecture will outline the structures and mechanisms of planning that influence the development of Green Infrastructure. It will examine how policy in different geographical regions apply alternative approaches to Green Infrastructure planning and debate how these have hindered or extended our knowledge of its value.

Lecture 4. Environmental Management Techniques for green space management

This session will continue the discussions of governance by examining a number of environmental management techniques commonly used to monitor Green Infrastructure resources. It draws out the complexities of integrating different techniques into the framework of green space management and provides case study material of applications and barriers to successful development.

Lecture 5. The historical antecedents of Green Infrastructure: parkways, greenways and garden cities

The lecture will trace the development of Green Infrastructure in the UK, North America and Europe. It will review the role of greenway and garden city planning on the spatial and conceptual understanding of Green Infrastructure to provide a grounding in the greening of urban planning.

Lecture 6. Green Infrastructure, Green Urbanism, Smart Growth and Sustainable Communities

This lecture will discuss the rising value of Green Urbanism, Smart Growth and the Sustainable Communities agenda in the UK, Europe and North America. By examining how alternative planning agendas with similar objectives have been developed this lecture will compare and contrast a number of ways in which urban greening has been integrated with landscape planning.

Lecture 7. Green and Blue Infrastructure: the role of water in urban planning

This lecture will examine the growing acknowledgement of water management in the development of Green Infrastructure. It will discuss the role of sustainable drainage (SuDS), water catchment planning and water policy in establishing appropriate water sensitive forms of urban development.

Lecture 8. Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity:  Landscape Ecology, connectivity and the changing form of urban greening

This lecture discusses the central notion that ecological resource management, ecosystem services and biodiversity are at the centre of Green Infrastructure thinking. This will examine how government and regional policy influences the management of ecological resources and whether they have been attributed with sufficient value in policy.

Lecture 9. Urban Greening: Green Infrastructure, the economics of greening and eco-cities

This lecture debates the growing literature exploring the economics of Green Infrastructure in developing eco-cities. This will examine the economic evidence for and against urban greening and highlight the links between these arguments and proposals for eco-city developments.

Lecture 10. The role of green technology in urban development

This lecture discusses the rise of green technology as a positive approach to managing changing urban form. It will debate and evaluate the utility of different forms of green development in a number of locations to highlight how and where innovative contributions to urban metabolism have been seen.

Lecture 11. The future of Green Infrastructure in urban planning and revision session

This final lecture looks at the chronology of Green Infrastructure planning and the opportunities for its continuing growth in the future. This includes a discussion of climate change, changing policy issues and the role of urban greening in creating attractive and multi-functional urban environments.

Seminar programme:

1. North America –The development of urban greening following Olmstead

2. UK, London and the Olympic Park – Garden Cities, green grids and the regeneration of East London

3. China and India – Integrating Green Infrastructure resources within a dynamic and expanding city context

4. North-West Europe and Scandinavia - Integrating Green Infrastructure within compact urban forms

5. Green Infrastructure student project

The module will utilise lectures to develop students’ knowledge of the core principles, history and processes of implementation of green infrastructure. Understanding and evaluation of the processes and impacts of green infrastructure will be explored through detailed case studies, explored and discussed in seminars and group work. The assessment strategy of exams and coursework, enables students to demonstrate the core learning outcomes and choose examples of practice that are relevant to their particular needs, circumstances and interests.

Beatley, T. (2000) Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities. Washington DC, Island Press. 

Benedict, M.A. & McMahon, E.D. (2002) Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st  Century. Renewable Resources Journal, Autumn Edition, 12-17.

Benedict, M.A. & McMahon, E.D. (2006) Green Infrastructure: linking landscapes and communities. Washington, DC, Island Press.

Blackman, D. & Thackray, R. (2007) The Green Infrastructure of Sustainable Communities. North Allerton, North Yorkshire, England’s Community Forests. www.roomfordesign.co.uk.

Cambridgeshire Horizons (2011) Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Strategy, 2^nd Edition. Histon, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire Horizons.

Fábos, J.G. (2004) Greenway planning in the United States: its origins and recent case studies. Landscape and Urban Planning, 68(2-3), 3 21-342.

Gill, S.E., Handley, J.F., Ennos, A.R. & Pauleit, S. (2007) Adapting cities for climate change: The role of green infrastructure. Climate Change and Citie,. 33(1), 115-133.

Kambites, C. & Owen, S. (2007) Renewed prospects for green infrastructure planning in the UK. Planning Practice and Research, 21(4), 483-496.

Little, C.E. (1990) Greenways for America. Baltimore, Maryland, The John Hopkins University Press.   

Mell, I.C. (2009) Can Green Infrastructure promote urban sustainability? Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering Sustainability, 162(ES1), 23-34.  

Mell, I.C. (2012) Green Infrastructure: Concepts, perceptions and its use in Spatial Planning. Developing Green Infrastructure planning in the UK, Europe and North America. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken

Mell, I.C. (2012): Can you tell a green field fro m a cold steel rail? Examining the “green” of Green Infrastructure development. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability .18, 2, 152-166.

Natural England & Landuse Consultants. (2009) Green Infrastructure Guidance. Natural England, NE176. Peterborough, Natural England.

New York City: Office of the Mayor (2010) NYC Green Infrastructure Plan: A Sustainable Strategy for Clean Waterways. New York City: Office of the Mayor, New York.  

Tzoulas, K., Korpela, K., Venn, S., Yli-Pelkonen, V., Kazmierczak, A., Niemele, J. & James, P. (2007) Promoting Ecosystem and Human Health in Urban Areas using Green Infrastructure: A Literature Review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81, 167-178.