Why we need a touch of country in the city

Planting greenery in the heart of Leeds city centre isn’t easy but there plans and ideas afoot. Sharon Dale reports

The rapid transformation of Leeds into a high-rise, high-powered centre of commerce and city living is remarkable. But while it has brought economic benefits, the rush to build homes, shops and offices in the centre has left precious little space for plant life.

Asking “where have all the flowers gone?” is going too far as there weren’t many before the regeneration began 20 years ago. Yet city dwellers, workers and visitors would welcome more green spaces, trees and plants to soften what has become a concrete jungle.

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Leeds Council is looking at the issue, although like other local authorities it is strapped for cash and doesn’t own much land in the city’s core. Its biggest initiative is the creation of a new park on half a hectare of land at Sovereign Street.

“It was a temporary car park and work has just started to change it into a green space with seating, gardens and 60 trees,” says Jane Cash, the council’s Principal Regeneration Officer, who has been charged with looking at how to green up the city centre.

“We are also looking at public realm and the connection between places, so there are ideas about putting trees and seating in some areas, which will make the city centre feel less rushed.”

Planting trees along the pavements and in pedestrianised areas would seem an obvious solution to the lack of greenery but it is, in fact, a logistical nightmare and very costly.

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“If it was easy we would’ve done it,” says Jane. “You can’t just dig a hole and put in a tree. There are lots of services running underneath the city streets, so we are limited and you have to support the tree with soil and create irrigation. You also have to buy a substantial tree so that it can’t be easily damaged. It can cost between one and £5,000 just for the tree.”

Investment from business and building owners is another solution, although the council emphasises the need for long-term commitment to horticulture upkeep.

Rob Moore, a planner at Savills property agency in Leeds, admits there are hurdles but says there are compelling reasons to put planting high on the agenda.

He says: “Unlike York, Harrogate and Sheffield, the uplifting sight of greenery is a rare feature in Leeds city centre. There has been a recent trend for soft landscaping giving way to hard. Millennium Square is a largely blank, concrete plain with only a handful of infant trees, while Briggate is bare of the lush flora we all know makes us feel good.

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“I won’t argue that a city park at Sovereign Street is valuable, but what about the key city centre streets? Their lack of planting is at odds with the character of the wider city and, indeed, our county at large, which is renowned for its natural beauty and agricultural heritage. Why not draw this rural environment into the urban landscape?”

Rob points to research that shows that green infrastructure can deliver cleaner air, better flood protection, improved public health, an economic boost and sanctuaries for biodiversity. He would like to see Leeds embrace living walls, which involve covering the facades of buildings with frames and planters.

“It means you can create a dramatic vertical garden. The benefits include reducing the amount of particulate matter and CO2 emissions and improved insulation,” he says.

Prototype schemes include an installation at Edgware Road tube station, which has a 180m2 wall with 14,000 plants chosen for their ability to filter out harmful molecules from traffic fumes. The concept is emerging slowly in Yorkshire, most notably in Sheffield, where there are living walls on Peaks College and M&S Food’s store on Eccleshall Road.

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“Clearly there is no single solution to the Leeds city centre predicament but it may be that a pathfinder project, say along the entirety of Albion Street or Briggate, would open the door for more green investment,” says Rob. “Who knows, maybe it could lead the way to city allotments, layered gardens, rooftop beehives, urban farming and, perhaps, ultimately a celebration of the city’s true Yorkshire identity and heritage.”