The bill for a green living environment should not only fall on governments, but on everyone who benefits from it. So said Minouche Besters, partner at city maker STIPO. She was keynote speaker at the Urban Interior Congress in the Dutch citxy Arnhem and sees opportunities for green spaces to be co-financed and maintained by residents, entrepreneurs and developers.

Without co-financing from residents, entrepreneurs or other parties, municipalities will not succeed in completely greening their cities and villages. So says Minouche Besters of STIPO, an agency specialising in urban development and placemaking. On average, about 60 per cent of the city is private land. With public space alone, municipalities cannot achieve climate-adaptive goals. According to Besters, municipalities have insufficient resources at all to fully and timely design cities and villages to be climate-adaptive.  'The current planning capacity is insufficient. If hundreds of streets have to be greened every year and municipalities only manage to get to 30 every year ... do the math yourself.' In return, municipalities that want to share the bill for climate-adaptive projects do have to sit down with investing parties to shape them together. This makes it more natural that maintenance can also be placed with those parties.

Everyone benefits

Besters gives some examples where co-financing would be obvious. For instance, business associations could be asked to contribute to greening shopping streets. After all, this will bring them more visitors. An underground car park under a residential tower no longer needs to be flooded if the immediate surroundings are softened: part of the bill could go to the property entrepreneur. Besters: 'If soon entire cities are greened, at street level, on roofs and on facades, everyone will benefit. From hotels to entire residential areas: a green living environment has positive effects.' In many cases, this is not yet true. In Utrecht, for instance, Croesselaan, next to Rabobank's headquarters, has been transformed into a green meeting place. Because the place is attractive to employees, parties like Rabobank could have co-invested.  'Rabobank is keen to profile itself as a sustainable institution. However, the municipality did not take advantage of this. While employees do benefit from that greenery on their doorstep.'

Greening fund

At the Urban Interior Congress, Besters suggests several forms for financing constructions. eMunicipalities that like to split the bill for the green, healthy living environment can think of city-wide sustainability or greening funds. The money can then be spent on projects throughout the city, even if certain funders do not benefit them directly. Municipalities can also opt, as was chosen for the Beurskwartier in Utrecht, for an area organisation, a Bedrijven Investeringszone (BIZ). This includes property owners, buyers and tenants, entrepreneurs in the plinths and developers who make compulsory annual contributions. In Utrecht, however, Besters says, the choice was not made to include green management. 'A missed opportunity, if you ask me.' Which construction best suits a green project remains tailor-made. 'For that, you really have to go into the neighbourhood. See who you can involve in the project and what the wishes are. Then the financing construction will follow naturally.'

Green always a cost item

Besters says there are plenty of examples of green projects that are not solely financed by the municipality. From the Spoorpark in Tilburg and a butterfly garden in Tiel to the example of Bryant Park in New York. The American city park, which Besters says was plagued by drug users, has been given on loan to private investors and is now operated with proceeds from catering establishments in and around the park. 'There is now 15 million a year going into that park. In the Netherlands, much of our greenery is still written off as a cost. You don't read anything about green benefits in a budget.' According to Besters, the same happens in the Amsterdamse Bos, where concerts and festivals co-pay to keep the green area in good condition. Congress participants are not positive about marketing public space, as in Bryant Park. They fear that this will stop public space from being free and accessible to everyone. It should not be seen as short-sighted either, Besters warns. 'You don't have to give away public space or put it up for sale. Good agreements and clear tenders help a municipality steer who you attract as a developer. You can draw up preconditions or performance agreements on the use of public space.' According to the partner at STIPO, if greening proves profitable, it is even possible to have money flow back into a city-wide fund. From this, additional greening in poorer neighbourhoods could be paid for. The problem lies mainly in the fact that we now only see greenery as a cost item and that the municipality bears the entire bill for it.'

Urban greenery in the Netherlands is often deliberately 'pubic greenery' to cut costs, Besters said. According to the political scientist, if municipalities also want to add additional greenery in the coming years, they will not get the cost picture right. She encourages municipalities not to be afraid to co-create and co-finance public space with residents and wealthy parties. 'You can improve public spaces and green spaces especially with it.'

'Share costs fairly'

Anne Luijten, administrative advisor Green Living Environment at the municipality of Arnhem, also urges municipalities not to underestimate their greening task.  Her municipality hopes to be fully climate-adaptive by 2030. Luijten opened the Urban Interior Congress as 'the first generation to be affected by climate change early on'. Luijten: 'I think that is a wash. We will still have at least three generations to become climate-adaptive, because climate change will continue beyond 2030.' Arnhem has green action plans for each neighbourhood. More money is available for more socially vulnerable neighbourhoods, and the municipality also goes into the neighbourhoods there more actively. 'When it comes to greening Arnhem, we must ensure that the costs are shared fairly. Many residents have sufficient resources of their own to green up.'

Source: Stedelijk groen en interieur, - Jesse Kiel