LUC was commissioned by the London Borough of Camden to identify priority sites for investment in sustainability functions such as food growing, biodiversity, climate adaptation and sustainable drainage systems.
There is real potential to enhance green space within Camden’s housing estates, the aim of which is to deliver numerous benefits to the local community and environment, as well as contributing to the global effort to reduce carbon emissions and helping to adapt to predicted climate change. Creating areas to grow food could deliver a range of social benefits, such as encouraging community cohesion, providing education and skills opportunities and improving mental and physical health. New habitats would also be created to support and enhance wildlife, helping to improve communities’ access to nature.
Changes in green space management could help Camden’s residents adapt to climate change through tree planting to shade people and buildings, open water and vegetation to cool the air, and green walls and roofs to both insulate and cool buildings and absorb rainwater.
The London Borough of Camden was keen to focus available funding on a small selection of housing estates in the Borough, prioritising those with potential to deliver real benefits to the community and environment. LUC developed an audit form whereby each estate’s open spaces could be scored in terms of current quality and value, and the range of opportunities at each site could be recorded.
We conducted site visits at more than 30 estates, entering the scores for each site into a database. Sites which scored poorly in terms of existing quality and value but possessed a range of opportunities for improvement were prioritised. We then reviewed the short-listed sites spatially to ensure a good spread of sites across the Borough. LUC also provided the Borough with guidance on next steps to ensure successful delivery of our proposals, and appropriate partner organisations to approach.
This was an inspiring study, as many of the estates had a lot of potential for attractive community areas to be created through limited changes to the current land management. It was also great to see that some communities had created community gardens or wildlife havens themselves, and were managing them independently. As LUC’s London office is based in Camden, it’s exciting to think that in a few months time we will be able to observe the changes we recommended for the housing estates across the Borough.
