Londoners should face charges if they concrete over their gardens and will be offered incentives to remove paving, according to a report commissioned by Sadiq Khan.
The London Climate Resilience Review, produced by scientists for the mayor, suggests that this measure would reduce ill feelings among neighbours who believe that paving over green areas increases the risk of flooding.
Three years ago, flash floods caused the closure of hospitals, Tube stations, and roads, worsened by impermeable surfaces. Additionally, about 43 percent of homes in London are likely to be affected by subsidence by the end of the decade. "London is especially vulnerable due to its clay-rich soil, density of infrastructure and buildings, and high exposure to heat and drought," the report stated.
Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the review, shared the reasoning behind this recommendation stating, “Most Londoners have already experienced some form of disruption from floods, heatwaves, water shortages, storms, wildfires and subsidence. We wanted to make sure our recommendations were informed by people’s experiences today. So, we spoke to individuals, communities and organisations including the NHS, Transport for London, London Fire Brigade, the Metropolitan Police, Borough Councils, the GLA, UK government, NGOs, the financial services sector, sports and cultural institutions as well as representatives of vulnerable groups.
“The long-term impact of our recommendations will be that London is better prepared for more extreme weather and cities around the world can learn from each other about how to better prevent harm to people, nature and economies.”
The review makes 50 recommendations, and all of them are necessary to improve resilience and sustainability for Londoners according to Ms Howard Boyd. She gave the instance of raising the walls along the Thames in the next 16 years, otherwise the tidal flood risk from the river will be intolerable for many people in some parts of London.
She further said, “I would particularly like to highlight heat. The UK is culturally more familiar with preparing for cold winters than hot weather, so this is a gap and there are threats to homes, transport infrastructure, water supply, healthcare services and fire risk. The time for action is now, but the good news is that there are many countries around the world that are already hotter than the UK and we highlight good examples of the types of things that the city can do. But we need to act fast.”
According to Nilufer Danis, the designer of RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden, “Green is very important for cities as we need more trees and plants. If people have garden including more than a turf is beneficial for environment. Trees provides oxygen, cooling affects and filter the air and plants are good for biodiversity, making gardens important for reducing the UHI affect and enhance biodiversity in cities.”
The report also highlighted that an aging population is at the highest risk of heat-related mortality, with over 3,000 unexpected deaths recorded during heatwaves in 2022. Sadiq Khan said he would take the proposals forward in the coming months.
