Use this page to learn what green infrastructure is and to find out about our green infrastructure programmes.
Green infrastructure (GI) is a network of multifunctional green and blue spaces and other natural features, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering a wide range of environmental, economic, health and wellbeing benefits for nature, climate, local and wider communities and prosperity. (National Planning Policy Framework 2024).
Types of green infrastructure
GI features include:
- parks and gardens such as urban parks, country and regional parks, formal gardens
- amenity greenspace such as informal recreation spaces, housing greenspaces, domestic gardens, village greens, urban commons, and other incidental space
- natural and semi-natural urban greenspaces like woodland and scrub, grassland, heath or moor, wetlands, open and running water, wastelands and disturbed ground
- green corridors such as rivers and canals - including their banks - road and rail corridors, green bridges, field margins, cycling routes, pedestrian paths, and rights of way
- vegetated sustainable drainage systems, Sustainable Urban Drainage schemes (SUDs) that include green roofs, blue roofs, rainwater harvesting and smart controls, downpipe disconnection planters, rain gardens and biofiltration strips, swales, ponds, detention basins
- features for species such as bird and bat boxes, swift bricks and hedgehog holes
- other green infrastructure includes street trees, allotments, community gardens and orchards, private gardens, city farms, green walls, cemeteries and churchyards
Benefits of green infrastructure
Some of the benefits provided by green infrastructure include:
- promoting economic growth, employment and skills improvement
- supporting resilient ecosystems and biodiversity
- mitigating and adapting the natural and built environment to climate change
- conserving and enhancing a legible network of greenspaces
- reducing and managing flood risk and drought
- improving mental and physical health, and the cohesion of local communities
- increasing the sustainability of food production
- maintaining and enhancing cultural heritage, landscapes and natural resources
Green infrastructure networks
The GI network is an integral part of sustainable places. It enables people and wildlife to move easily through attractive and diverse urban and rural landscapes, in turn, creating sustainable and healthy communities.
The hierarchy of GI networks is based on scale, from individual sites to district wide scale and beyond.
Primary networks
The strategic green and blue corridors across Bath and North East Somerset, that connect with networks beyond the authoritative boundary are primary networks. These include connected large open spaces, waterways and open countryside.
Secondary networks
The secondary networks are the green and blue corridors at residential area scale, that connect with the primary network. This includes parks and local and neighbourhood centres, connected by green streets and/or streams or rivers.
Tertiary networks
The tertiary network is within developments and estates, individual properties and private gardens. These connect to the primary and secondary networks.
Landscape and catchment scale green infrastructure programmes
We are delivering and developing strategic GI programmes. These programmes are delivering a diverse range of projects, activities and events to benefit people, nature and place.
GI projects are being co-designed and delivered across Bath and North East Somerset as part of wider landscape and catchment scale partnership delivery programmes.
They are part of our place shaping programmes, which are engaging with local communities and key stakeholders to recognise the specific needs of each place; address current and future needs; and help meet targets for net zero and nature recovery.
In addition to working with partnerships, we are committed to working with a wide range of other stakeholders including town and parish councils, national and local organisations, developers, land managers, residents, and local interest groups.
Our existing GI programmes have their foundations in the Valuing People, Place and Nature – A Green Infrastructure Strategy for B&NES, which proposed strategic landscape scale projects and provided a framework to collaborate with partners and the community.