- Designed to offer insight into areas that do not meet requirements detailing proximity to trees and green space
- Developed applying the 3+30+300 rule to the unique National Tree Map™
- Snapshot analysis of UK cities shows a focus is needed on urban greening
Bluesky International has launched a new tool that is designed to work within an urban greening research-based rule which offers guidance on the most beneficial proximity to trees and green spaces for a positive impact on people’s health and well-being.
The 3+30+300 was introduced in 2021 by Cecil Konijnendijk, co-founder of the Nature Based Solutions Institute and has since gained considerable traction with urban planners, and environmentalists. It provides a guideline for urban greening recognising the need for proximity to trees and urban nature for everyone in order to see the full benefits trees can provide.
In simple terms the rule states that there should be three trees, 30 per cent canopy coverage, and green space within 300 metres of all residential and workplace buildings.
Bluesky has taken this rule to create a tool within its unique National Tree Map™ (NTM™) that is now accessible enabling urban planners and environmental consultants to accurately assess priority areas for greening initiatives.
Good looks like all buildings in a given neighbourhood meeting 100% for all three of the rules. However, a snapshot analysis of some of the UK’s cities using the new Bluesky tool shows our urban areas are falling considerably short of this recommendation.
As a city Glasgow in particular is only achieving a score of 1.5 per cent of buildings meeting all three rules, and there is considerable disparity among the London boroughs with Bromley achieving the highest at 10.2 per cent and Barking and Dagenham coming in at the bottom of the table with a 3+30+300 rule achievement of just 0.4 per cent.
Ralph Coleman, Chief Commercial Officer at Bluesky, commented: “We see our products as enablers and we are constantly innovating to ensure we can offer our customers tools to support them carry out their work more effectively and efficiently.
“There is a lot of interest right now around the 3+30+300 rule as it offers an excellent indication of the kind of conditions people need to thrive. Being able to accurately pinpoint areas for improvement via a desktop exercise that calculates all elements of the 3+30+300 rule is going to be very valuable for a wide range of customers, from local authorities and housing developers through to environmental consultants and health professionals.
“We believe we are now offering the only comprehensive, full national coverage analysis tool for this rule in the UK.”
Cecil Konijnendijk of the Nature Based Solutions Institute and founder of the rule, added: “The 3+30+300 rule is an evidence-based guideline for the greening of our cities and towns that has rapidly gained popularity across the globe. I am glad to see companies like Bluesky provide essential support to municipalities and organisations who want to use this guideline for developing more impactful greening programs, in this case especially in the UK.”
Using the new Bluesky NTM™ add-on tool, users will quickly be able to assess the percentage of buildings meeting one, two or three aspects of the rule. The Bluesky analysis tool has been piloted by Aberdeenshire Council with positive feedback. It is now being made available as an additional tool for NTM™ customers.
