Green Estate — 30 years of projects across South Yorkshire

Sheffield's Investment Zone: an opportunity to showcase the city’s “green” future?

The UK’s first Investment Zone has been declared spanning Sheffield city centre, the Lower Don Valley, Rotherham and beyond. The economic objectives are clear, but there is little mention of sustainability.

This feels like a major omission and a lost opportunity. The Investment Zone is home to many businesses that support a sustainable future. Sheffield has committed to net zero carbon by 2030 and is known for its pioneering work to create sustainable urban places. Why not build on this experience and know-how to create the UK’s “greenest” Investment Zone?

Imagine extending Grey to Green across Sheffield city centre and using the river, canal, railway, roads and development sites of the Lower Don Valley to showcase what an adaptive and resilient urban environment should be.

Pictorial meadows: the perfect urban landscape for our time?

The pandemic has helped us all notice the joy in small everyday details, the flowers, the birdsong. Staying close to home, walking daily through local streets and green spaces, has helped us appreciate the natural world around us.

And at the same time, the massive overnight reduction in road and air traffic, the resulting improvement in air quality, the reduced noise and the fragility of our food chains, has focused our minds on the bigger picture of climate change and our relationship with the natural world.