Communities and Local Government
A selection of images representing communities.
Direct contact 020 7944 4400- contactus@communities.gov.uk
- Communities and neighbourhoods
- Sustainable communities
- Cleaner safer greener communities
- Parks and urban green spaces
- The development of urban parks
The development of urban parks and green spaces policy
Government set up the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce in 2001 following the publication of the Urban White Paper . The Taskforce published its final report Green Spaces, Better Places report in May 2002. The report contains 52 recommendations to improve provision, design, management and maintenance of urban parks and green spaces.
Living Places - Cleaner, Safer, Greener , published in 2002, set out proposals to improve the quality of the urban environment over the next five years. It responded to the work of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce and the cross-cutting review of public space.
Living Places brought together a range of Government Departments including ODPM (now Communities and Local Government), Defra, Home Office, Department for Transport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury , to take forward joint action on liveability. In it we also committed to set up a new dedicated champion for parks and public spaces - CABE Space - and develop 'enabling schemes' to help local authorities and the community to deliver better green spaces.
In July 2004, we announced a new public service agreement target (PSA8) to lead the delivery of cleaner, safer, greener public spaces and improve the quality of the built environment, in deprived areas and across the country, with measurable improvement by 2008. Two indicators measure the improvements to green spaces, through the extent of Green Flag quality spaces, and people's satisfaction with their local parks.
In March 2006 the National Audit Office (NAO) published its value for money study on 'enhancing urban green space' and concluded that Government's programmes, since 2002, had halted the decline of parks and open spaces and the challenge now is to embed progress and spread the benefits more widely.
Updated: 14 September 2006
