Putting a Price on the Landscape: The Economics of Green Infrastructure

Sustaining the level of investment in green infrastructure in the current economic downturn is proving increasingly difficult, particularly in public parks and green spaces. However, with a recent renewed interest in calculating the economic value of nature – or ‘natural capital’, and an understanding that green spaces are part of essential ecosystem services, there is a growing body of research evidence for the benefits of high quality green infrastructure in our towns and cities, across a broad spectrum of economic, social and environmental values. This article sets out the evidence, drawing on examples of projects and programmes, from the UK and elsewhere, which have demonstrated economic value. It then considers how practitioners can assess and quantify the value of green infrastructure using three different valuation tools which have recently been developed. The need to convince clients and funders of the value of investing in parks and green space is even more important in an economic downturn and it is critical that the many benefits that green space delivers are communicated clearly and effectively to ensure they are taken into account in decision making about land use and management.