Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions. If you have discovered material in AURA which is unlawful e.g. breaches copyright, (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please read our Takedown Policy and contact the service immediately OBSTACLES AND SOLUTIONS TO MAXIMISING URBAN BIODIVERSITY THROUGHOUT THE LIFECYCLES OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN ENGLAND HELEN CHRISTINE BARBER Doctor of Philosophy (by Research) ASTON UNIVERSITY MARCH 2011 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement 1 ASTON UNIVERSITY OBSTACLES AND SOLUTIONS TO MAXIMISING URBAN BIODIVERSITY THROUGHOUT THE LIFECYCLES OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN ENGLAND HELEN CHRISTINE BARBER Doctor of Philosophy (by research) March 2011 ABSTRACT Thus far, achieving net biodiversity gains through major urban developments has been neither common nor straightforward - despite the presence of incentives, regulatory contexts, and ubiquitous practical guidance tools. A diverse set of obstructions, occurring within different spatial, temporal and actor hierarchies, are experienced by practitioners and render the realisation of maximised biodiversity, a rarity. This research aims to illuminate why this is so, and what needs to be changed to rectify the situation. To determine meaningful findings and conclusions, capable of assisting applied contexts and accommodating a diverse range of influences, a ‘systems approach’ was adopted. This approach led to the use of a multi-strategy research methodology, to identify the key obstructions and solutions to protecting and enhancing biodiversity - incorporating the following methods: action research, a questionnaire to local government ecologists, interviews and personal communications with leading players, and literature reviews. Nevertheless, ‘case studies’ are the predominant research method, the focus being a ‘nested’ case study looking at strategic issues of the largest regeneration area in Europe ‘the Thames Gateway’, and the largest individual mixed- use mega-development in the UK (at the time of planning consent) ‘Eastern Quarry 2’ - set within the Gateway. A further key case study, focussing on the Central Riverside development in Sheffield, identifies the merits of competition and partnership. The nested cases, theories and findings show that the strategic scale - generally relating to governance and prioritisation - impacts heavily upon individual development sites. It also enables the identification of various processes, mechanisms and issues at play on the individual development sites, which primarily relate to project management, planning processes, skills and transdisciplinary working, innovative urban biodiversity design capabilities, incentives, organisational cultures, and socio-ecological resilience. From these findings a way forward is mapped, spanning aspects from strategic governance to detailed project management. KEYWORDS : Urban nature, mega-development, socio-ecological resilience, governance, project management. 2 DEDICATED TO: My dear parents, for facilitating my early appreciation of nature, and always being at the end of a telephone; and Harshada Deshpande and Debabardhan Upadhyaya, for being the most supportive and kindest friends anyone could ever wish for. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was undertaken as part of a CASE (Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering) studentship. As such, the research would not have been possible without the funding from Advantage West Midlands and Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. Nor would it have been possible without the supervision of Dr Peter Hedges at Aston University – who not only supervised the writing of the thesis, but enabled research travel far and wide, to acquire research data, contacts and to test theories. Special thanks are given here to these organisations and this individual. Thanks are also due to the numerous academics and professionals who spared their valuable time in pursuit of furthering the knowledge and applicability of this research. These individuals are included within the references as personal communications. To all of them, I am indebted, although some specific individuals provided illuminating theoretical or data contributions, which significantly shaped the research. The interview notes of these ‘key’ research interviewees are included in Appendix three . I am also grateful to the following organisations: the Association of Local Government Ecologists (ALGE) who helpfully allowed me to access their contact records for a research questionnaire; the Man and Biosphere UK Urban Forum who were particularly helpful in feedback and research interviews, following a research presentation I delivered at their forum meeting; and Salford University’s International Urban Nature Research Network, for providing related contacts, information and guidance. 4 CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 15 1.1 CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND 15 1.1.1 Global Biodiversity Loss and Human Density 15 1.1.2 Urbanisation and Human Valuation of Biodiversity 15 1.1.3 Biodiversity and the Development Process 17 1.1.4 Biodiversity Paradigm Shift 17 1.1.4.1 Biodiversity paradigm shift defined and explained 17 1.1.4.2 What has fuelled this paradigm shift towards ‘enhance, increase 18 and repair’? 1.1.4.3 Implications of the paradigm shift and policy 18 1.1.5 Further Background Context 19 1.2 RESEARCH IMPETUS, FRAMEWORK AND ASPIRATIONS 21 1.2.1 Origin and Application 21 1.2.2 Impetus and Distinctiveness 21 1.2.3 Maximising Urban Biodiversity Needs an Integrated Social and Natural 22 Research Approach 1.2.4 A Systems Approach and Meta-Consideration 23 1.2.5 Research Aims and Objectives 24 1.2.6 The Scope of the Research 25 1.2.7 Limitations 26 1.3 THESIS ORGANISATION 26 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28 2.1 INTRODUCTION TO METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 28 2.2 LITERATURE REVIEWS 29 2.3 CASE STUDIES 30 2.3.1 Context 30 2.3.2 Selection 31 2.3.3 Case Study Approach 31 2.4 INTERVIEWS AND OTHER PERSONAL COMMUNICATION 33 2.4.1 Context 33 2.4.2 Style 34 2.4.3 Method of data capture 34 2.5 ACTION RESEARCH 34 2.5.1 Types 34 2.5.2 Previous Professional Experience 34 2.5.3 Consultancy Work on Case Studies during Research Phase 35 2.5.4 Advantages and Disadvantages 36 2.6 QUESTIONNAIRE 37 2.6.1 Context 37 5 2.6.2 Sampling Selection 37 2.6.3 Questionnaire Type 38 2.6.4 Questionnaire Design 38 2.7 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 40 2.8 DEVELOPING THEORY 42 2.8.1 Iterative Triangulation 42 2.8.2 Theory Generation, Testing and Building 42 2.8.2.1 Validity and theoretical sampling 42 2.8.2.2 Grounded theory versus non grounded theory and coding 43 2.8.2.3 Abductive reasoning 44 2.8.2.4 Systems approach 45 3 QUESTIONNAIRE FINDINGS: PREVALENT OBSTACLES, THEIR 48 LIFECYCLE STAGE AND CONSEQUENCES 3.1 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 48 3.2 RESEARCH RESULTS 49 3.2.1 Professional Role – Question One 49 3.2.2 Experience – Question Two 49 3.2.3 Planning Application Forms – Question Three 50 3.2.4 Recording Biodiversity Agreements and Proposals – Question Four 51 3.2.5 Obstacles to Maximising Biodiversity and the Key Developmental Phases 52 in which Obstacles Occurred – Questions Five and Six 3.2.6 Enforcement – Question Seven 53 3.2.7 Are the Developers and Their Agents who you Deal with Generally able 54 to Provide 'URBAN' Habitat/Feature Specifications to the Standard you Require? - Question Eight 3.2.8 How do you think the Following Groups Understand ‘URBAN’ Biodiversity 55 and the Potential for Improvement and Enhancement through New Developments? – Question Nine 3.3 DISCUSSION 55 3.3.1 Knowledge and Experience 55 3.3.2 Prioritisation 57 3.3.3 Specialists 57 3.3.4 Policy 57 3.3.5 Misdirection of Funds 58 3.3.6 Recording and Communication 58 3.3.7 Enforcement 59 3.3.8 Procedure 59 3.3.9 Incentives and Promotion 60 3.4 CONCLUSION 60 4 URBAN BIODIVERSITY 62 4.1 DEFINING AND INTRODUCING BIODIVERSITY 62 4.1.1 Basic Definition 62 4.1.2 Introduction 62 4.1.2.1 Biodiversity and developments 62 4.1.2.2 Scale of consideration 63 4.1.2.3 Recent initiatives for addressing biodiversity loss at the local level 65 4.2 URBAN BIODIVERSITY 65 6 4.2.1 Introduction 65 4.2.2 Historical Summary 66 4.2.3 Urban Biodiversity Approaches and Knowledge Constructs 68 4.2.4 Urbanisation Consequences to Biodiversity 69 4.2.5 What do we Want to Achieve with Urban Biodiversity Enhancements? 70 4.3 MEASURING 71 4.3.1 Introduction to Measuring 71 4.3.2 Local and City Level Measurement 72 4.3.2.1 NI 197 72 4.3.2.2 Greenest cities competition 72 4.3.2.3 Cities biodiversity index 73 4.3.3 Individual Development Measures 74 4.4 RECORDS 75 4.5 HUMAN ASSOCIATION AND CONFLICT WITH URBAN BIODIVERSITY 75 4.6 VALUATION 77 4.6.1 Valuation Context 77 4.6.2 Prioritisation 78 4.6.3 Intrinsic Worth 78 4.6.4 Financial Valuation 79 4.6.5 Ecosystem Services 81 4.6.6 Evaluating the Four Valuation Approaches 82 4.7 INCENTIVES AND TOOLS FOR PROTECTING AND ENHANCING BIODIVERSITY 82 4.7.1 Regulatory Hierarchy: an Overview 82 4.7.2 Urban Regulations 84 4.7.3 Other Incentives for Developers to Deliver Biodiversity Conservation 85 and Enhancement 4.7.3.1 FTSE index rating 85 4.7.3.2 CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) 85 4.7.3.3 Gaining planning consent 86 4.7.3.4 Hedonic effects and a setting for