Sustainable Urban Drainage Boulevard

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Sunderland

Region

Europe

Native title of the NBS intervention

Sustainable Urban Drainage Boulevard

Short description of the intervention

This intervention involved the realignment and merging of St. Mary's Way and Livingstone road into "St. Mary's Way Boulevard" of which a sustainable urban drainage (SUD) system is a key component. It consists of 31 large specimen trees that are planted in soil cells. The purpose of this project was to improve pedestrian accessibility, attract net investors, and to enhance the water drainage system (Ref 1).

Address

St. Mary's Boulevard
Sunderland
United Kingdom

Location

The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).

Area boundary

POINT (-1.383126 54.908521)

POINT (-1.382836 54.908368)

POINT (-1.390783 54.907179)

POINT (-1.390483 54.90702)

NBS area image

Source of NBS area image

Google maps. Available at https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+Mary's+Way,+Sunderland,+UK/@54.9078622,-1.3888685,423m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x487e6687e0f3312d:0x38fa988c74aa32ba!8m2!3d54.9080838!4d-1.3844388. accessed on 11th November, 2020.

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Central Business District / City Centre

Website of the intervention

http://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-mary…

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2008

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2011

End date of the intervention

2014

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

1. To revitalise the city centre by improving pedestrian accessibility,
2. Attract investors,
3. Improve the quality of life for residents, workers and visitors,
3. To enhance the water drainage system,
4. Improve the appearance of the area,
5. Improve air quality,
6. Reduce noise pollution (Ref 1).

Quantitative targets

Create a boulevard in Sunderland city centre that entails a Sustainable Urban Drainage system with 31 trees (Ref 1).

Monitoring indicators defined

Number of trees in the SUDs (Ref 1)

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Water management (SDG 6)

Flood protection

Stormwater and rainfall management and storage

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Environmental quality

Air quality improvement

Noise reduction

Implementation activities

Create a boulevard in Sunderland city centre that entails a Sustainable Urban Drainage system with 31 trees. 1,772 frames and 866 decks were installed in a two-layer system along the boulevard, bringing 16.18 m3 of soil volume to each of the 31 newly planted trees. The pedestrian pathway was created by Silva Cell design, which provides void space for uncompacted soil underneath while supporting the pavement above. This provides a facility for stormwater management. (Ref 1)

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Grey infrastructure featuring greens

Alley or street trees and other street vegetation

Green areas for water management

Sustainable urban drainage systems

What is the level of innovation / development of the NBS related to water management?

Low: Simple rain water collection intervention (rain garden, local seepage pit) or simple permeable areas

Vegetation Type

Trees

Please specify how many trees were planted

Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS

Pedestrian area (Ref 1)

Amenities offered by the NBS

Other

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Regulating services

Air quality regulation

Noise reduction

Flood regulation

Cultural services

Aesthetic appreciation

Recreation

Scale

Spatial scale

Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)

Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries

Local government/Municipality

Private sector/Corporate/Company

Citizens or community groups

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Non-government actors

Private sector/Corporate/Business

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

The Sunderland City Council was the project designer, but the execution was by DeepRoot Urban Solutions (Ref 1).

Key actors - initiating organization

Local government/municipality

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

Local government/municipality

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used

Unknown

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"

The Sunderland Central Area Urban Design Strategy 2008 (Ref 4).

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Voluntary (spontaneous)

Enablers

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

1. The Sunderland Green Infrasture Strategy Framework (Ref 2) refers to SUDs and was published before this intervention was executed.

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section

1. The "flood risk management in Sunderland" report of 2013-214 by the city services scrutiny panels refers to SUDs and review a period in which this intervention was executed (Ref 3). 2. The Sunderland Central Area Urban Design Strategy of 2008 (Ref 4).

If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.

City specific green space strategy or plan

Water regulation strategy

Urban redevelopment plan

Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

The intervention was funded by the European Regional Development fund and the national governmental "Growing Places Fund". (ref 1)

Co-finance for NBS

Yes

Co-financing governance arrangements

Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?

Financing

Total cost

€2,000,000 - €4,000,000

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

Unknown

What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?

Unknown

What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?

Unknown

Please specify cost savings

Unknown

Please specify total cost (EUR)

2.34 million British Pounds from the European Regional Development Fund and a further 2.5 million British Pounds from the Growing Places Fund (Ref 1).

Source(s) of funding

EU funds

Public national budget

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Business models

Risk reduction model

Green densification model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

Private for-profit actor (e.g. firm, insurer)

5. Innovation

Type of innovation

Technological

Infrastructural innovation

Please specify technological innovation

The creation of SUD green infrastructure. (Ref 1)

Novelty level of the innovation

The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation

Please specify novelty level of the innovation

Silva Cells, an existing product provided by DeepRoot was used without mention of substantial deviation from their regular use (Ref 1).

Replicability/Transferability

The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)

Please specify Replicability/Transferability

Unknown.

6. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Environmental quality

Improved air quality

Reduced noise exposure

Water management and blue areas

Increased protection against flooding

Improved stormwater management

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Description of environmental benefits

1. The silva cells provided a powerful onsite stormwater storage and management facility.
2. All total of 31 trees not only increased the greeneries in the city but also improved the local air quality and helped in reducing the negative effects of noise on the busy street. (Ref 1)

Economic impacts

Attraction of business and investment

Description of economic benefits

The ‘green’ boulevard is seen as a crucial element in meeting the aspirations of potential investors and encouraging development.

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Achieved impacts

Indicators

31 trees planted, on average 16,18 m3 soil volume per tree, a total of 1,772 Silva Cell frames and 866 decks (Ref 1).

Environmental, social and economic impacts

Water management (SDG 6)

Analysis of specific impact categories

Job creation: The NBS created ...

No information available

Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?

No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project

COVID-19 pandemic

Unknown as of November, 2020.

Methods of impact monitoring

Process of recording NBS impacts

Collection of monitoring data continuously throughout the project to aid evaluation

Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS

Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

Yes

Link to monitoring/evaluation reports

http://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-mary…

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Impact assessment mechanism

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Citizen involvement

Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation

Unknown

Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation

Unknown

Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment

Unknown

7. Sources

References

Web links relevant to the intervention

Ref 1: Deeproot. (2014). Transforming the Character of St. Mary’s Way Silva Ce…

Documents relevant to the intervention

Attachment	Size
Ref 2: Sunderland Partnership. (2011). Green infrastructure strategy framework. (3.45 MB)	3.45 MB
Ref 4: Sunderland City Council. (2008). Sunderland central area urban design strategy supplementary planning document. (251.64 KB)	251.64 KB
Ref 3: City Services Scrunity Panel. (2014). Flood risk management in Sunderland. (104.35 KB)	104.35 KB

List of references

Ref 1: Deeproot. (2014). Transforming the Character of St. Mary’s Way
Silva Cell Case Study. Retrieved from http://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-marys-way-silva-cell-case-study on 11th November, 2020.
Ref 2: Sunderland Partnership. (2011). Green infrastructure strategy framework. [attached]
Ref 3: City Services Scrunity Panel. (2014). Flood risk management in Sunderland. [attached]
Ref 4: Sunderland City Council. (2008). Sunderland central area urban design strategy supplementary planning document. [attached]

Comments and notes

Additional insights

6/impact & evidence: Only the quantity of trees and soil volume are given as indicators. Therefore, when referring to impacts, I have only selected water management because the envisioned economic developments are more troublesome to assume based on a quantity of trees and green surface area.

4/policy drivers/q2: The Access to Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt) published by Natural England (national governmental advice body) in 2010 outlines specific requirements for which it, among others, proposes Sustainable Urban Drainage systems as a solution (Ref 2). However, ANGSt is not directly mentioned by the project.

Public Images

Deeproot

https://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-marys-way-silva-cell-case-study

Silva Cell Frames for stormwater management and pavement creation

Deeproot

https://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-marys-way-silva-cell-case-study

Deeproot

https://www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/transforming-the-character-of-st-marys-way-silva-cell-case-study