Urban Green Spaces: Natural and Accessible? The Case of Greater Manchester, UK

In the recognition of the benefits that green spaces have on the quality of life of urban residents, the Accessible Natural Green Space Standard (ANGSt) has been developed in the United Kingdom. ANGSt is a set of recommendations on the provision of green spaces throughout urban areas. In particular, ANGSt recommends that no person should live further than the 'walkable' 300m from their nearest green space. However, ANGSt is not precise in defining what the concepts of 'naturalness' and 'accessibility' mean. The aim of this chapter is to rationalize these concepts and assess the adherence to ANGSt, using Greater Manchester, UK as case study area. Firstly, green spaces in Greater Manchester were classified into three categories of decreasing naturalness and a 300-m zone identified around each green space. The proportion of the Greater Manchester population falling into these zones was then calculated. Secondly, the naturalness of a sample of the green spaces was assessed using field surveys. Finally, different methods of delineating the 300 m-distance areas around the green spaces were investigated. The results indicate that while at the GreaterManchester scale, the provision of natural green space is very good, the actual area of 'accessible' green space is less than satisfactory and the proportion of population living within 300m distance from green spaces is very small. The authors advise caution in interpretation of green space audits, recommend planning for more equal distribution of green spaces and advocate the management of green spaces for better accessibility. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.