Key Concepts
What is biodiversity?
The word 'biodiversity' simply refers to all living things. All plants and animals contribute to our planet's biodiversity and each individual species plays its own unique part in this.
What challenge do development and regeneration pose to London's biodiversity?
London is a 'world city'. Its population and economy is expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Continued growth will require new urban development and intensification of existing development. Although London's Green Belt and the core greenspace network are protected, all this development means the potential loss of the wildlife habitats found in London's incidental greenspaces, gardens, brownfield sites and built environment.
All development has some impact on biodiversity. There are numerous pieces of legislation and many site designations in place to help conserve and enhance it. Developers, architects and planners in London should take these into consideration when planning and designing new development.
But development and regeneration should not only react to the existing legislative and planning framework, but take a 'beyond compliance' approach that can provide opportunities to contribute to and promote biodiversity in general , and in turn, to wider sustainable design and construction objectives.
It is not only new developments that can be enhanced for biodiversity. Through incorporation of planting and management regimes, green roofs, green walls and other ecological features, any space can be improved for wildlife.
How can developments be improved for biodiversity?
Design for Biodiversity is applicable not only to individual sites or buildings. It is an important component of urban design and masterplanning. The ecological function of a development site and built structures should be evaluated in its local context. This requires taking into account not only how the design of a development site or built structure can minimise any adverse impact upon the local ecology, but also a consideration of whether the masterplanning can deliver any wider ecological benefits or enhancements.
Climate Change Adaptation
Climate change and the resulting effects are an increasingly important and significant issue, particularly in the dense urban environment in London. Even with measures implemented to mitigate the suspected causes of climate change, it is widely recognised that we will and indeed are, experiencing the impacts of climate change.
These impacts include the likely occurrence of hotter and drier summers, and warmer and wetter winters. It is predicted that we will experience more intense and storm-force rainfall events, putting pressure on drainage systems already subject to severe demand. The ability of a city such as London to cope with these changes is critical to ensure minimal adverse effects on Londoners and London's economy. Consequently, the design of development is increasingly required to include climate change adaptation features. The Design for Biodiversity approach has a major role to play in providing adaptability within development design. For example, by providing green roofs within a development, wider benefits such as drainage attenuation and reduced surface water runoff can be realised, with resulting reductions in the pressure on the drainage systems and associated flood risks.
For details about the impacts of climate change and climate change adaptation please visit London Climate Change Partnership: www.london.gov.uk/climatechangepartnership/
There are a range of methods that can be applied to new and existing developments to provide improvements for wildlife. Some of these are explained and demonstrated below:
What is biodiversity?
The word 'biodiversity' simply refers to all living things. All plants and animals contribute to our planet's biodiversity and each individual species plays its own unique part in this.
What challenge do development and regeneration pose to London's biodiversity?
London is a 'world city'. Its population and economy is expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Continued growth will require new urban development and intensification of existing development. Although London's Green Belt and the core greenspace network are protected, all this development means the potential loss of the wildlife habitats found in London's incidental greenspaces, gardens, brownfield sites and built environment.
All development has some impact on biodiversity. There are numerous pieces of legislation and many site designations in place to help conserve and enhance it. Developers, architects and planners in London should take these into consideration when planning and designing new development.
But development and regeneration should not only react to the existing legislative and planning framework, but take a 'beyond compliance' approach that can provide opportunities to contribute to and promote biodiversity in general , and in turn, to wider sustainable design and construction objectives.
It is not only new developments that can be enhanced for biodiversity. Through incorporation of planting and management regimes, green roofs, green walls and other ecological features, any space can be improved for wildlife.
How can developments be improved for biodiversity?
Design for Biodiversity is applicable not only to individual sites or buildings. It is an important component of urban design and masterplanning. The ecological function of a development site and built structures should be evaluated in its local context. This requires taking into account not only how the design of a development site or built structure can minimise any adverse impact upon the local ecology, but also a consideration of whether the masterplanning can deliver any wider ecological benefits or enhancements.
Climate Change Adaptation
Climate change and the resulting effects are an increasingly important and significant issue, particularly in the dense urban environment in London. Even with measures implemented to mitigate the suspected causes of climate change, it is widely recognised that we will and indeed are, experiencing the impacts of climate change.
These impacts include the likely occurrence of hotter and drier summers, and warmer and wetter winters. It is predicted that we will experience more intense and storm-force rainfall events, putting pressure on drainage systems already subject to severe demand. The ability of a city such as London to cope with these changes is critical to ensure minimal adverse effects on Londoners and London's economy. Consequently, the design of development is increasingly required to include climate change adaptation features. The Design for Biodiversity approach has a major role to play in providing adaptability within development design. For example, by providing green roofs within a development, wider benefits such as drainage attenuation and reduced surface water runoff can be realised, with resulting reductions in the pressure on the drainage systems and associated flood risks.
For details about the impacts of climate change and climate change adaptation please visit London Climate Change Partnership: www.london.gov.uk/climatechangepartnership/
There are a range of methods that can be applied to new and existing developments to provide improvements for wildlife. Some of these are explained and demonstrated below:
- Masterplanning
- Planting and landscaping
- Green roofs and green walls
- Bird bricks, bat bricks and bug houses
- Sustainable Drainage Systems