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Swansea Central Area: Regenerating our City for Wellbeing and Wildlife

This green infrastructure strategy, published jointly by Swansea Council and Natural Resources Wales, is designed to bring more nature into the Swansea Central Area.

Green Infrastructure - commonly referred to as GI - is the term used to describe all the green space, soil, vegetation and water that provide the ecosystem services that make places more liveable.  This includes, for example, streets trees, green roofs and walls, natural play spaces, wildlife / nature gardens, pollinator corridors, landscaping, drainage and air quality management solutions. 

Strategy Vision:

A city with high quality multifunctional green infrastructure, which delivers resilience, prosperity, nature, health, wellbeing and happiness to the citizens and visitors of Swansea.

The 5 Principles of Green Infrastructure to be applied to achieve this vision:

1.    Multifunctional - making sure that all GI in the city centre provides as many benefits as possible.  For example, it may reduce pollution and/or flooding, offer shelter and/or food for native animals (birds, insects and/or small mammals), provide shade during hot summer days, and create attractive pleasant and/or calming spaces for people to meet, relax and play.

2.    Adapted for climate change - absorbing water to reduce flooding, providing summer cooling and accommodating wildlife.  GI also helps mitigate climate change by capturing and locking up carbon.

3.    Healthy - helping our physical and mental health by absorbing pollution, providing clean air, clean water, food and space to exercise, socialise and play and space to have contact with nature. 

4.    Biodiverse - supporting a wide variety of native species providing shelter and food and creating green corridors across the city centre linking to existing strategic wildlife corridors.

5.    Smart and Sustainable - providing solutions, techniques and technologies that are low maintenance and reduce pollution and waste and maximise the use of recycled or sustainably sourced materials.  

Success will be measured via a number of performance indicators which will work towards targets to double (from 13% to 26%) GI by 2030 and to increase tree canopy cover to 20-25% by 2044.

The strategy is designed to support the Local Development Plan and the application of the Statutory SuDS Standard 2019. It also delivers the council's duties under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and Environment (Wales) Act 2016 through the Council's Well-being Objective: Maintaining and enhancing Swansea's natural resources and biodiversity and, the Swansea Public Service Board's Working with Nature Objective.

For further information please contact Penny Gruffydd penny.gruffydd@swansea.gov.uk or on 01792 636583 or 07976 898318.

Green roof information

A green roof or living roof is a roof which is totally or partially covered with vegetation.

Green / living walls information

A living wall, also sometimes described as a green and living wall or green wall, is a wall totally or partially covered in vegetation.
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