State of Green Infrastructure in the Gauteng City-Region

Transcription

1 State of Green Infrastructure in the Gauteng City-Region Valuing Natural Capital Dialogue City of Johannesburg 26 th February 2014 Kerry Bobbins Researcher GCRO

2 Overview Structure of the presentation 1. Situating the GCR 2. Defining Green Infrastructure and a green infrastructure approach 3. Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR - Spatial data challenges 4. Government plans and initiatives 5. Valuing ecosystem services 6. Research pathways ahead

3 Situating the GCR Background Cluster of cities, towns and urban nodes including cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria make up the economic heartland of South Africa (SA). At the core is Gauteng, which is the most densely populated province of SA, supporting an estimated individuals (Census 2011).

4 Green infrastructure What is green infrastructure? What is Green infrastructure? Set of natural and man-made ecological systems, green spaces and other landscapes that form an infrastructure network providing services and strategic functions in the same way as traditional hard infrastructure Green infrastructure can include: trees, protected areas, open spaces, public and private gardens, parks, food gardens, ridges, wetlands, green corridors, amongst others. 4

5 Green infrastructure Understanding different concepts Grey Infrastructure: man-made or engineered systems and other land features - concrete, bricks and impermeable surfaces Green assets: all natural and planted features of the landscape - trees, wetlands, parks, green open spaces and original grassland and woodlands Ecosystem Services: benefits to society provided by ecological systems or ecological assets Ecological Infrastructure: nature s equivalent of built infrastructure, functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people - mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, spawning grounds 5

6 Green infrastructure The State of Green Infrastructure Report This report is an assessment of both natural and constructed landscapes in the GCR, and an of how the services provided by green assets are perceived, understood and valued. Extend our understanding of infrastructure - Shifting beyond environmental protection & conservation - Viewing green landscape features as a network of infrastructure, something essential to city development 6

7 Green infrastructure Conceptual underpinnings Multi-functionality Natural systems perform a range of functions Urban ecosystems generating direct services (Bolund et al. 1999) Street tree Lawns /parks Urban forest Air filtering X X X X Cultivated land Wetland Lakes/sea Micro climate regulation Noise reduction Rainwater drainage Sewerage treatment Recreational /cultural values X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Infrastructure that appreciates over time Time-based depreciation rates are traditionally applied to fixed infrastructure assets Biophysical systems provide value that appreciates over time as productivity of green assets grows.

8 Green infrastructure Global green infrastructure plans and initiatives The All London Green Grid vision is to create a well-designed green infrastructure network of interlinked, multi-purpose open and green spaces with good connections to the places where people live and work, public transport Life: building Europe s green infrastructure combating habitat fragmentation caused by grey infrastructure and the externalities of delivering energy and transport infrastructure The New York Green Infrastructure Plan an alternative approach to improving water quality that integrates green infrastructure, such as swales and green roofs, with investments to optimize the existing system Objectives: Reduce combined sewer outflows volumes Capture rainfall from 10% of impervious surfaces in combined sewer outflow areas Plan saves taxpayers $1.5 billion over a 20 year period compared to an all grey approach

9 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR examines the extent, coverage, access and connectivity to determine green networks that exist in the GCR investigates the state of publically digital spatial data available to analyse them provides base line data on the various components of green infrastructure in the GCR

10 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR Assessing the state of data and components of green infrastructure Considerations: Types of green assets? Coverage and spread? Equity? Access? Privatization? Investigation of the above is reliant upon adequate spatial data

11 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR CONNECTIVITY: the intersections between different landscapes Representing the value of green networks

12 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR ACCESS: the proximity and ease of access to green assets Which parts of the city-region are better served by quality green spaces? A. 2ha/ 1000 people b. Parks within a 750m walking distance

13 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR ACCESS: the proximity and ease of access to green assets What types of green space do people have immediate access to? 13

14 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR DATA: The state of available digital spatial data for green assets in Gauteng Spatial data is readily available but is located in various government departments and independent consultants. There is no one repository that houses GIS data and data is often collected and created to align with particular mandates. Figures A: parks identified but corresponding land use appears to be residential A Figure B: incorrect digitization of green assets area, skewing area and measurement calculations B

15 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR Layers collected Data source No. of shapefiles Data Themes collected Department of Environmental Affairs 6 Botanical gardens, national parks, reserves, RAMSAR, world heritage sites West Rand District Municipality 62+ Rivers, vegetation, farms, parks, reserves, water bodies, waste, alien plants, agriculture, geology, heritage, protected areas, ridges, soil, wetlands, storm water City of Johannesburg 40 Open spaces, stadiums, ridges, sport facilities, protected areas, trees, wetlands, storm water, City of Tshwane 62+ Cadastre, cemeteries, storm water, zoning Ekurhuleni 26 Bird sanctuaries, geology, hydrology, open space, pan, wetlands, rivers, stadiums, water courses Emfuleni 2 Farms, parks Lesedi 0 - Merafong City 29 Servitudes, agriculture, caves, heritage, geology, hydrology, land cover, ridges, rivers, wetlands Midvaal 12 Agriculture, ridges, cemeteries, nature reserves, ridges, rivers Mogale City 62+ Cplan, SDF. MCLM Randfontein 46 Farms, storm water Westonaria 0 - Other (ARC, BirdLife, SANDF, SANBI, GIDSv10, WfW) 27 CPlan, community gardens, landcover, vegetation cover

16 Assessing the state of green infrastructure in the GCR Data inconsistencies: Classification Representation Date of data collection and digitization Metadata

17 Role and usefulness of complete and accurate data Valuation and other studies Allows for valuation studies and for the effective management of networks. Can inform more detailed studies on access to green spaces and connectivity

18 Current government plans, visions and capabilities Reviews how green infrastructure has been thought about, planned for and implemented in the GCR Case studies on how government structures are interacting with green assets Identifies opportunities and blockages to prioritising green assets

19 Current government plans, visions and capabilities Key findings and insights from municipal case studies Ekurhuleni (2009) The Greening of Ekurhuleni Project 2009 aimed to deliver trees to low cost housing units in Ekurhuleni. These trees will result in 2954 tons of carbon dioxide being sequestrated over the next 15 years (FTFA, 2009) City of Tshwane: Progressive policies and City-run research endeavours, e.g. The Growth and Carbon sequestration by street trees in the City of Tshwane (Stoffberg, 2006). Sedibeng District: Three projects in the Sedibeng Region to be used as best practice examples for the A Clean and Green Sedibeng focus area West Rand District Municipality Through Green IQ Strategy, West Rand aims to become the greenest district in South Africa (WRDM 2013). City of Johannesburg: Johannesburg City Parks aims to be Africa s leading green environment and cemetery management company

20 Ecosystem Service valuation Explores valuation techniques that could be applied in the GCR Demonstrates one method for valuing public green spaces in City of Johannesburg

21 Techniques for valuing green infrastructure Valuing ecosystem services: hypothetical value of open spaces in Gauteng City of Johannesburg ecosystem valuation case study by Martin de Wit 1. Source maps of green open spaces within CoJ 2. Estimate total size of these areas per open space land use type and for each of the CoJ s regions 3. Source data on the value of green open spaces estimated elsewhere on a per hectare basis 4. Apply appropriate adjustment factors to per area values for local applicability 5. Multiply green open space area sizes in the CoJ by estimated per area values appropriately adjusted. Region Estimated value in Rands / ha / yr all open space types Low Medium High % of total value % of total open space area in CoJ Region A R R R % 11.1% Region B R R R % 11.7% Region C R R R % 16.3% Region D R R R % 13.4% Region E R R R % 10.2% Region F R R R % 16.0% Region G R R R % 21.3% Total R R R % 100.0%

22 Framework for the GCRO Occasional Paper Structuring of the GCRO s final output GCRO s 2 nd Report on Green Assets and Infrastructure Importance of applying a green infrastructure approach Green Infrastructure (GI) concept GCRO s GI work to date Applying a concept and design process what this entails Importance of correct data and use for integrating grey and green and for ecosystem valuation Reflections on applying a green infrastructure concept and design in the GCR Summarise key aspects of CityLab Comment on existing municipal structures Present on the common vision for a Green Infrastructure plan in the GCR Summarise actions towards creating a GI plan and necessary changes at the provincial and local level Ecosystem service valuation and scoping insights Scoping papers by expert s in the fields of valuing and municipal finance systems Presentations for 23 March of core content covered by key experts To circulate draft for review by Citylab group comments to be discussed in May CityLab session.

23 Thank You Kerry Bobbins Researcher GCRO