Urbanisation costs Edinburgh over 11 hectares of green land each year

Edinburgh is losing the equivalent of 15 football pitches of green land each year as a result of urbanisation

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology News article
October 14, 2019

Edinburgh is losing an average of 11.3 hectares of green land each year. Some of this (4.81 hectares) is caused by urban expansion, for example building new housing estates on farmland. However much of it (6.44 hectares) is due to private garden areas being paved over or built on. At the same time, around a hectare of green land is being created each year by regeneration of old industrial areas.

Urban streets can struggle to cope with surface water when gardens and other vegetated areas, which help soak up rain, are built on or paved over. The loss of green land increases the risk of localised surface water flooding as it creates more runoff. Mapping and quantifying urban creep will help improve surface water management.

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