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Urban gardens strategy needed to ensure liveability of Government’s 1.5million new homes, says RHS

The RHS is calling for the provision of gardens to be central to UK housebuilding targets as it hosts more than 70 green infrastructure experts from around the world and housing crisis solutions are discussed at the Labour Party Conference this week.

With more than four fifths of the UK population living in urban areas, ensuring the creation and maintenance of domestic and shared gardens are fundamental in building resilient communities says the charity.

Gardens and the cultivated plants within them offer nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation such as slowing the flow of rainwater, cooling and pollution capture, provide an all important home for wildlife and promote good health and wellbeing via food growing, promotion of physical activity and social engagement.

However, while developers are currently required to increase a site’s biodiversity provision by 10%, the measure of success – the Biodiversity Net Gain 4.0 metric - does not account for gardens nor the estimated 400,000 cultivated plant varieties thought to be found within them, overlooking them as an important tool in tackling environmental and social problems.

The RHS is calling for a review of the Biodiversity Net Gain 4.0 metric, updated planning guidelines to require cultivated landscapes, and garden masterplans for urban areas. Crucially these gardens or planted spaces might take on new and creative forms.

RHS Garden Wisley will host the III International Symposium on Greener Cities: Improving Ecosystem Services in a Climate-Changing World (GreenCities2024) from 25th-28th September under the aegis of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), where the latest research on urban greening will be discussed and global examples of success shared. These include:
  • The shoehorning in of gardens where space is lacking to strengthen urban resilience such as in Athens where disused railway lines, bridges and stations are being used to help mitigate the urban heat island effect and provide important corridors for the movement of pollinators.
  • The development of rooftop greenhouses on commercial high rises in Seoul for urban farming and which also reduce greenhouse gas emissions via the exchange of energy between office and growing space.
  • The installation of new green walls as part of the re-development of Turin which helped in providing all important eco-system services in a dense urban environment, including pollution capture, and showed that minimal urban greening interventions have a substantial impact on citizens’ well-being.
RHS own research too has been - and is - demonstrating what plants can help future proof towns and cities, including identifying the role of hedges in improving air quality, what garden trees will withstand and service needs in a changing climate, how water can be managed and retained in gardens and the science of green behaviours.

Alistair Griffiths, Director of Science and Collections at the RHS, said: “With plans for a once in a generation housebuilding spree, it is time for a collaborative and coordinated strategy that puts gardens and cultivated green spaces at the heart of our communities, leveraging their numerous benefits for many more people and providing space for active and not simply passive engagement with nature.”

For more information about the ISHS III International Symposium on Greener Cities: Improving Ecosystem Services in a Climate-Changing World at RHS Garden Wisley, 25th-28th September visit: Greener Cities 2024 - International Symposium / RHS

ENDS

Notes to editors

For further information contact the RHS Press Office: [email protected]

About the RHS

Since our formation in 1804, the RHS has grown into the UK’s leading gardening charity, touching the lives of millions of people. Perhaps the secret to our longevity is that we’ve never stood still. In the last decade alone we’ve taken on the largest hands-on project the RHS has ever tackled by opening the new RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, Greater Manchester, and invested in the science that underpins all our work by building RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science.

We have committed to being net positive for nature and people by 2030. We are also committed to being truly inclusive and to reflect all the communities of the UK.

Across our five RHS gardens we welcome more than three million visitors each year to enjoy over 34,000 different cultivated plants. Events such as the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, other national shows, our schools and community work, and partnerships such as Britain in Bloom, all spread the shared joy of gardening to wide-reaching audiences. 

Throughout it all we’ve held true to our charitable core – to encourage and improve the science, art and practice of horticulture – to share the love of gardening and the positive benefits it brings.

For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk.

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262

About the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS)
The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) is the world's leading independent organization of horticulturists acting as a globally recognized and sought-after platform for research, science-based information exchange and collaboration in support of sustainable innovation in horticulture.

Membership is open to all interested researchers, educators, students and horticultural industry professionals.
The ISHS is a truly global network comprising over 70,000 individuals, universities, governments, institutions, libraries and commercial companies, thousands of whom joined as Individual Members, in addition to a substantial number of Institutional Members and some 50 Member Countries/Regions.

ISHS is a major source of up-to-date information on global horticultural research. ISHS aims to promote research in all branches of horticulture. It encourages the development of international co-operation, bringing together scientific and technical professionals to stimulate, facilitate and co-ordinate research and scientific activities on a global scale.

The success of the ISHS, in relation to its effective communication and leadership of international co-operation, is largely through the 30+ specialized symposia held annually. These are organised locally in a country, each with a convener, an organising committee, a scientific committee and an editorial board. Designed to be self-financing, these symposia normally concentrate on a technical subject – a crop or research area. Invited speakers present papers, research findings are debated, discussions held, visits arranged and the editor compiles a monograph published as a volume of Acta Horticulturae. These publications are available, at cost, to all ISHS members attending symposia and are archived in many academic/research libraries. The entire Acta Horticulturae library is available online and services the needs of thousands of researchers worldwide who use the www.actahort.org site.

A major benefit of ISHS membership is the privilege of attending the International Horticultural Congress every four years at discounted rates. Congresses are attended by 3,000 or more delegates. They are carefully planned over many years to address all areas of horticultural science of interest to members. The Congress provides opportunities for individuals to present posters or make oral presentations of their current research work. Thus, information is shared with a wide audience. There are numerous social gatherings, sight-seeing opportunities, and the chance to see local horticultural industries during specialized field trips.

For more information visit https://www.ishs.org/

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.