The green information gap

Mapping the nation's green spaces

There is a major gap in the national information about England’s urban green spaces: nobody knows how many there are, where they are, who owns them or what they are like.

This makes it difficult to co-ordinate provision, respond to changing social needs or plan for a changing climate.

A single, shared, information resource – a kind of atlas – would help piece together the different elements of the nation’s green infrastructure – parks, gardens, allotments, trees, green roofs, cemeteries, woodlands, commons, grasslands, moors and wetlands.

The green information gap: mapping the nation's green spaces is a position paper written for policymakers.  It says the new resource could be part of a wider information revolution that makes the most of our nation’s green assets.

Published on 10 November 2009

Related publications

Community green: using local spaces to tackle inequality and improve health

Urban green nation: building the evidence base

Grey to Green: how we shift funding and skills to green our cities