Value of Green Urban Spaces II Continuation and transfer at federal and neighbourhood level
The project "Value of Green Urban Spaces" has developed a tool to map and evaluate the benefits of green spaces in four participating cities to illustrate the ecosystem services of urban green spaces. Compared to the status quo, scenarios on an increase or reduction of e.g. the number of trees and the share of green spaces in the total urban area can be evaluated. This tool will be developed further in the second project phase "Value of Green Urban Spaces II" and will be transferred and expanded in two directions. On the one hand, it will be made available for application at district or neighbourhood level which is to be tested on the basis of ongoing projects in Leipzig, Karlsruhe and Berlin. On the other hand, the project aims at transferring the tool and its data structure from the four partner cities from the first phase to all German cities with more than 300,000 inhabitants. Prospectively, this database should be accessible nationwide as an online platform for administrations, politicians and interested citizens. Therefore, it will be available for various actors in the development, improvement or protection of urban green spaces as an instrument for information, sensitisation and environmental education.
The IÖW coordinates the project and is responsible for the further development and transfer of the tool at neighbourhood and federal level as well as for the economic evaluation of ecosystem services. Additionally, several neighbourhood-related and one nationwide survey will be conducted for this purpose. In a joint effort together with the German association of municipal garden and park departments (Deutsche Gartenamtsleiterkonferenz, GALK e.V.) an educational module will be developed for information and training of students and employees in horticulture and landscape planning on ecosystem services and the value of urban green for the society.
