Under plans set out by the city’s Mayor, London could become the world’s first “national park city” by 2019.
Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled a £9 million greener city fund to help improve green spaces for communities, as he launched his draft environment strategy for the capital.
The funding will help make more than 50 per cent of the capital’s area green by 2050, he said.
Overall, 47 per cent of London is currently green space.
Proposals include:
- Protecting and increasing the amount of parks and green spaces
- Ensuring developments have more green roofs and walls (covered in grass and plants to help boost air quality) and rain gardens (small green spaces which help prevent flooding)
- Protecting and increasing wildlife habitats
There are also plans to tackle air pollution and make London a “zero-carbon” city (producing a zero net of carbon emissions) by 2050.
Unveiling the draft strategy at Woodberry Wetlands, north London, Mr Khan said: “London is home to outstanding green spaces that I want to protect, invest in and improve as we aim to become the world’s first National Park City.
“We can also increase the amount of greenery in the city by installing many more green roofs and making our streets greener.”
Under the plans, a “challenge map” will highlight areas that should be priorities for green infrastructure investment.
