• Birmingham’s true value of city’s parks and open spaces calculated at £11billion

     

    The value of parks and green estate in Birmingham, in terms of what they offer to all aspects of life in the city, has been calculated as £11billion over a 25-year period. An academic study, led by Birmingham City Council and the Consultancy for Environmental Economics & Policy, reached these conclusions.

    The key findings of the report, entitled Birmingham Health Economic Assessment and Natural Capital Accounts: Revealing the True Value of Council-Managed Parks and Green Estate, are as follows:

    • Parks, greenspaces and allotments (covering an area of 4,700 ha) managed by Birmingham City Council have a total net Natural Capital asset value in the order of £11  billion (over a 25-year period);
    • Each £1 the Council invests in its parks and greenspaces returns over £24 to society
    • Physical and mental health benefits provided by Birmingham’s Parks and Greenspaces are expected to add more than 3,300 Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) each year (83,000 over 25 years);
    • Council-managed woodlands capture more than 350 tonnes of pollutants each year, avoiding approximately 28 deaths, adding 489 life years for citizens and avoiding 133 hospital admissions;
    • The total health benefits provided by Council-managed parks and greenspaces are valued at nearly £4.1 billion (part of the overall £11billion);
    • Parks and greenspaces managed by Birmingham City Council store more than 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 over a 25-year period;
    • Nearly 7,300 Council-managed allotments are estimated to produce 2.9 tonnes of food each year with a value of approximately £4.3million.

    The city council now looking at ways to unlock this potential to maximise the benefits for citizens and visitors.

     

    Posted on 8th December 2019