F E AT U R E By Zac Tudor and Nigel Dunnett
Turning Sheffield from Grey to Green 1
Sheffield plans to be a carbon neutral city by 2030, aided by one of the largest SuDS retrofit projects in the UK
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heffield has long laid claim to the title of the UK’s greenest city, due to the sheer amount of woodlands, parks and green spaces within the city limits. This legacy is largely the result of a city plan (the Abercrombie Plan, 1924) from the early 20th century that established a network of linked parks and protected spaces running from the city’s rural hinterland through the suburbs to the edge of the city centre: what in today’s terms would be called visionary large-scale urban green infrastructure planning. Now, nearly one hundred years later, the city is seeking to redefine contemporary concepts of green infrastructure by extending this vision into the very heart of the city and applying it on a truly transformational scale, in the context of climate change adaptation. Crucially, the Sheffield approach seeks to switch the dominant green infrastructure focus from achieving 58
ecological function to one where aesthetic considerations, beauty and public acceptance are given at least equal weighting. Furthermore, it is doing this through the use of innovative, sustainable and researchbased horticulture, within a strong landscape design framework. It’s an attempt to give new meaning to the Garden City, or City in a Garden idea: creating a ‘Sheffield City Garden’ that seeks to infiltrate multifunctional and beautiful greening at every opportunity to future proof the urban and human environment against climate and weather extremes. The current strategy has its roots in the 1990s, when a landscape-led approach was taken to regenerating Sheffield City Centre. The ‘Gold Route’ from Sheffield Station concourse through to the city centre and on to the University of Sheffield has won much acclaim for its high-quality definition as a civic route, with its high
profile horticulture and craftsmanship. The much-loved Peace Gardens sit at the core of this route and set a benchmark for a civic garden with year-round interest, as a setting for a wide range of activities and for a high standard of maintenance. However, what were then seen purely as attractive and enjoyable spaces, or used as high quality settings for regeneration, now need to be something much more whilst still achieving these important goals. As a result, Sheffield’s new approach to city centre public realm aims to contribute to a healthier city by concentrating on the climate change resilient benefits from its urban spaces and this in turn places renewed attention on the exciting potential of the public realm. A major impetus for this was the catastrophic flooding that parts of the city centre suffered in June 2007, following three days of continuous heavy rain, causing the
The Sheffield approach seeks to switch the dominant green infrastructure focus from achieving ecological function to one where aesthetic considerations, beauty and public acceptance are given at least equal weighting
