The Scottish city of Glasgow (United Kingdom, population around 590.000) is a vibrant, exciting city with a unique character. Its grand historic areas and buildings and growing collection of striking contemporary architecture make a substantial contribution to the city’s sense of place. The city’s current identity is significantly shaped by the way physical regeneration has sought to respond to periods of industrial and urban growth and decline. The challenge is still to ensure everybody in
Glasgow has access to and connects with high quality open space as a way to ensure that Glasgow is well-equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century and to enhance the city’s attractiveness as a place in which to live and invest.
NBS Exemplar:
Glasgow’s approach to developing scaled-up nature-based solutions is underpinned by its Open Space Strategy. Based on a wealth of data and spatial analysis, the Open Space Strategy sets out an approach to coordinate the various open space responsibilities to ensure well-managed, well-located and well-connected open spaces that operate as part of a wider green network, helping to deliver:
• Greater awareness of the value of open space and of individual open spaces throughout Glasgow, informing their protection and management;
• A strategic rationale for the future use and management of the city’s open spaces, providing guidance on priorities for investment in open space, opportunities for using other open spaces less intensively; and an informed basis on which to make decisions about open space disposal, where an open space may be of little value;
• A basis for closer partnerships with other organisations that have an interest – e.g. With the NHS in how open spaces improve health;
• A framework for cross-departmental engagement and the co-ordination of spending plans to help secure best value; and
• A stronger basis for securing additional funding to help maximise open space benefits by promoting the value of open space and its benefits.
Connecting Nature Partner:
Resources
Meeting these multifaceted demands on Glasgow’s open spaces is going to be important in ensuring that Glasgow is well-equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century...
Products
