The resilience of urban green infrastructure: a case study of Runcorn, UK

Vegetation incorporated into urban environments has an ecological and a social value which helps sustain public health and well being. What is not known is how resilient urban vegetation is. If urban vegetation is likely to change over time then this raises questions about the effects on the ecosystem services it provides. Local authorities must now consider implementing adaptation strategies to minimize the effects threatened by climate change. In Runcorn, a town in northwest England large scale landscaping and tree planting that built on the existing topography and vegetation was an integral part of the town’s spatial planning strategy. This planting took place during the 1960s to 1980s. As a result, there is, within Runcorn, a comprehensive vegetative framework comprising playing fields, parks, woodlands and greenways. The trees within these vegetated areas have reached maturity and questions are being asked about their future. In this paper the authors discuss the current flora composition of Runcorn’s green infrastructure and consider the influence of predicted climate change. Species lists and abundance reading have been combined with the UK climate projections 2009 to produce climate change scenarios to circa 2080. The paper concludes with a description of future work that will assess current management practices and measure the ecosystem services attributed to Runcorn’s green infrastructure