Grey to Green - Sheffield

@Sheffield City Council (www.greytogreen.org)

'Grey to Green' is a ground-breaking environmental and economic development strategy devised by Sheffield City Council in the UK in 2013. The innovative inner-city renewal scheme transformed 1.6 kilometers of road space into a linear green route for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport. A sustainable urban drainage system lies at the heart of this scheme, which responded to three key issues: [1] the need to re-connect the Castlegate area, including the Law Courts and Victoria Quays, with the rest of the city centre; [2] the need to re-use a large amount of redundant highway; [3] the severe impact that the floods in June 2007 had on Castlegate and [4] development of the project in four phases of implementation, which allows learning by doing so that improvements can be made in the solutions by evaluating the first phases of the implementation. Even with the recent completion of phase 2 in 2021 and with 2 more phases yet to be completed, the schemehas already significantly impacted the area. From an economic perspective, the scheme has led to significant development. New office and residential developments have taken place in West Bar and Castlegate and there is an improved likelihood of new sites coming forward for development. Visitors, residents, and workers enjoy the new seating and the surrounding planting. Besides these economic benefits, the project has significantly increased biodiversity and improved surface water management in the area.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Urban planning mechanisms

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Air quality
Noise
Social cohesion
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The sustainable urban drainage system replaced hard surfaces with meadows, rain gardens, and other vegetation. This acts as a natural ‘sponge’ avoiding the risk of surface level flooding. The scheme is reconnecting the highway surface to its natural catchment, the River Don. Soils and plants are filtering out pollution before it reaches the river. It is an innovative planting bed that capture and hold on to plastics from car tires and road wear and other pollutants, preventing them from reaching the watercourses. Renewal cycling and walking routes improve health, clean the air, and keep citizens connected. The planting and soil used have been also designed to encourage all kinds of creatures, as well as plants, to flourish. Multi-layered planting here helps to protect people and wildlife from air pollution.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Green areas for water management

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Policy business case

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Sheffield City Council, Urban and Environmental Design team and City Regeneration

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

Since November 2019, when the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) declared a Climate and Environmental Emergency and committed to become net zero carbon by 2040, the Green to Grey mechanism was under the Sheffield City Region Net Zero Work Programme. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is a formal membership of councils. Formed in 2014, the constituent members of the Mayoral Combined Authority are Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster councils. The councils of Bassetlaw, Chesterfield, Northeast Derbyshire, Derbyshire Dales and Bolsover are ‘non-constituent’ members.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Private sector, corporate, business

Researchers, university

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Expert task force consultation

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Phase 1 of the scheme - around West Bar, Bridge Street, and Snig Hill - was approved in 2014 and completed in the summer of 2016. In 2018, an open consultation was made with the stakeholders and occupiers to seek their views on the proposals. Subsequently, Phase 2 was approved in 2019 and developed around Exchange Place, Castlegate (the street), and Snig Hill primarily in the summer of 2020. The last element of the scheme on Angel Street went to the site in August 2021 and is expected to be completed in spring 2022.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Citizen monitoring and review

Collaboration with the research group on Designed Ecology, from the Department of Landscape Architecture (The University of Sheffield) in evaluation works

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public regional budget

Public local authority’s budget

Private Foundation

European Regional Development Funds

Budget:

Above 10 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

Phase 1 had a budget of €4,06M (£3,4M) (€1,2M -£1M- ERDF, €2,8M -£2.4M- Sheffield City Region) was funded by Sheffield City Region, the European Regional Development Fund, and Sheffield City Council, with a small contribution from the Canal and Rivers Trust. The second phase was funded as part of the local government and the EU's call for proposals of large-scale nature-based solution interventions, which came out of the Sheffield City Region Sustainable Urban Development Strategy to drive a wider transformational programme for green growth. This phase has a budget of €7M (£5.8M) (European funding €957K -£800K, €4M-£3.3M, Sheffield City Region Local Growth Fund, Sheffield City Council €2M -£1.6M Canal & Rivers Trust €60K -£50K).

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

In the report published by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) in the `Susdrain community´, a community that provides a range of resources for those involved in delivering sustainable drainage systems, it is mentioned that heat island effects are currently being monitored by Ph.D. studies.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

The collaboration with the research group on Designed Ecology, from the Department of Landscape Architecture (The University of Sheffield) is helping in the evaluation of the Grey to Green scheme.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Even with its recent completion, the scheme has already had a significant impact on the urban regeneration area. Heat island effects are currently being monitored, but early signs are showing positive reductions to the ambient temperatures for the surrounding area compared to the almost one hundred percent coverage of bitmac surface prior to the scheme starting. A series of new habitats have been created from this low base, with both soil and plant-based communities able to establish. The species diversity and length of flowering times of the bulbs and perennials mean that insect pollinators have a good source of nectar throughout the year. The linear nature and degree of plant cover, including 40 semi-mature trees, provide a near-continuous corridor that will connect with the river Don in future phases. Grey to Green Phase 2 has shown a 561% increase in biodiversity value when assessed using the BREEAM calculator. New office and residential developments have also taken place in West Bar and Castlegate.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Collaboration has been key to achieving a more thriving sustainable city and the success of Grey to Green is down to the joined-up efforts of the city, the universities, businesses, and local communities. The success of Phases 1 and 2 of the scheme has now encouraged future phases and given confidence to the city that this approach should be developed further. It is important to highlight the coordination of the Grey to Green strategy with the urban regeneration planning of Castlegate. Since 2013, various communication and participation projects and actions have been carried out for different agents, favoring collective creation. Innovation and collaboration with community organizations, the two universities, and the city's companies have been favored. This comprehensive and coordinated vision of the actions, programming, and management of urban regeneration is highly relevant and can be of great use to other cities.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Dunnett, N. (2022). Grey to Green. Retrieved from: https://www.nigeldunnett.com/grey-to- green-2/

Susdrain. (2018). Grey to Green Phase 1, Sheffield. Retrieved from: https://www.susdrain.org/casestudies/pdfs/suds_awards/006_18_03_28_susdrain_su ds_awards_grey_to_green_phase_1_sheffield.pdf

Wild, T (2023). Nature-based solutions for improving well-being in urban areas in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Retrieved from: https://oppla.eu/casestudy/24310

Further documents

Documents:

G2G2+Vision+plan+for+January+2021+consultation+Final.jpg

Weblinks:

https://www.greytogreen.org.uk/

https://sheffield.citizenspace.com/place/grey-to-green-2/

https://www.ourcitycentre-shf.com/castlegate

Photos

@Sheffield City Council (www.greytogreen.org)