Green Infrastructure

Improving the quality and quantity of greening across Chelsea is a core target of Chelsea 2030, due to the range of environmental and social benefits provided by access to nature – including improved air quality, carbon absorption, flood regulation, pollination support as well as significant mental health benefits3.

Target 5 25% increase in Estate Urban Greening Factor by 2030

From a baseline of an estate-wide Urban Greening Factor4 of 0.18, in 2021 we saw a 12% increase to 0.2 and an additional 300m2 of green space. This was achieved through a combination of groundcover planting in

Gardens, biodiverse tree-pit replanting in

Duke of York Square and Pavilion Road, and Pont Street’s ‘pocket forest’.

Our garden management is inherently biodiversity-friendly; from the absence of chemicals to the focus on native species, wildflowers and fruit and nut trees, bird boxes and bug hotels. To find out more about the biodiversity of our grass lawns and soils, we are proud to be taking part in a project led by the Natural History Museum, using the innovative approach of eDNA testing5 to build greater understanding of the biodiversity value of urban lawns.

Future projects will include retrofitting green roofs to our Estate, increasing biodiverse planting and integrating greening into our developments: from 1,600m2 green roof in the new development at 196-222 King’s Road, to planting over 90 trees on Sloane Street as part of the public realm improvement works.

3 Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework.

Urban Greening Factor: a measure of how ‘green’ a space is, scored from 0 (impermeable paving) to 1 (lush green forest).

Environmental DNA – organic matter left by an organism which can be DNA tested to confirm the organism’s identity, without ever having seen or made contact with the organism.

4

5

CASE STUDY

CHELSEA’S HERITAGE FOREST

A recent rewilding project in collaboration with Louis Vuitton and SUGi created 240m2 of biodiverse shrubs and trees on Pont Street, Chelsea. The project aims to restore biodiversity, reintroduce native species, reconnect people with nature and demonstrate an innovative way for businesses and landowners to work together and make an impact with environmentally responsible planting in small urban spaces. The “pocket forest” has over 630 native trees and 77 species planted in total, and is intended to become self-sustaining within three years, alleviating the need for irrigation, pesticides and artificial plant foods. This example of urban rewilding and ecological sustainability is providing inspiration for further similar projects.

Opposite

Duke of York Square in Autumn

Below

‘Heritage Forest’ on Pont Street