Maximising value from built development:
How a landscape-led approach delivers more for people, place and nature
Putting landscape at the heart of development creates vibrant, resilient places where people, nature and communities thrive. With the right expertise, these new developments can deliver lasting value, improving health and wellbeing, restoring nature, strengthening communities and building climate resilience.
It means engaging landscape architects early and throughout the process, designing with nature and communities in mind to deliver long-term value and leave a positive legacy for generations to come.
We ask that all those involved in the development process take a landscape-led approach to maximise the benefits of development, for people, place and nature.
Why is a landscape-led approach needed?
The UK faces growing and competing demands on its land, from housing and infrastructure to nature restoration and climate adaptation. A landscape-led approach offers a smarter, more integrated way forward. By putting landscape thinking at the centre of development, we can maximise value, efficiency, and long-term impact from the same piece of land.
This approach doesn’t just shape beautiful places, it drives real-world outcomes. It supports economic growth, adds long-term value, delivers vital environmental benefits, and improves people’s lives. With the right expertise and vision, landscape-led development creates places that work harder, last longer and support both people and the planet.
A proven approach to better places
Bringing experienced landscape professionals in from the very start ensures developments are smarter, more adaptable, and deliver maximum benefit.
There are now countless examples of how placing landscape at the heart of planning benefits communities and the wider society. Just have a look at some of the examples below. We also have a separate page that provides greater evidence of the strengths of the landscape-led approach.
Landscape Institute President’s Award winner, 2019
A landscape-led regeneration project delivered by landscape architects, The Paul Hogarth Company and AECOM, the Greenway is a 9km linear park in one of the 10% most disadvantaged parts of Northern Ireland. New research shows the scheme has generated between £1.34 and £1.59 in local economic benefit for every £1 invested, demonstrating the strong return landscape-driven projects can offer in terms of health, connectivity, and economic uplift.
Long-term value: Well-designed landscapes add significant value to housing. The early consideration of landscape also streamlines development processes – by engaging communities early and effectively, a landscape-led approach will help secure planning permission more quickly. When a landscape-led approach is planned and delivered, it will minimise maintenance costs and avoid the need for future ‘regeneration’ spending.
Landscape Institute Excellence in Biodiversity Conservation and Enhancement Award winner, 2021
A landscape-led masterplan for 1,200 homes by landscape architects, Tor&Co, Trumpington Meadows is a residential development located within a new 148 acre waterside country park. Such extensive green infrastructure, providing environmental and social benefits, helped to mitigate opposition and objection and align stakeholder aims. A collaborative approach to landscape management with The Wildlife Trust has enabled the delivery of Biodiversity Net Gain in excess of 46%, and built a legacy for generations to come. These measures have enhanced community life and pride, resulting in a 10% increase in house value.
Environmental: Investment in designing and creating green landscape areas and natural habitats is essential to create places that are hospitable now and in a changing climate. Incorporating existing and new environmental features delivers environmental benefits efficiently. For example, a landscape-led approach enables effective water management – through sustainable drainage systems – and enhances climate resilience – including the mitigation of extreme heat; while also restoring nature, meeting Biodiversity Net Gain requirements, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
The Mallard Pass Solar Farm is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project that will generate enough clean energy to power 92,000 homes annually. LDA Design worked collaboratively with the project team and local community to include more than eight kilometres of permissive paths, 21km of new tree and hedgerow, 150 hectares of new grass and woodland, 72% Biodiversity Net Gain and continued agricultural use: a perfect example of a landscape-led approach making best use of the land as a multifunctional resource, while helping the UK reach net zero.
Wellbeing and health: There is overwhelming evidence of the links between health, both physical and mental, and the greenness of residential areas. Views of greenery or even short amounts of time spent in nature lead to significant health benefits. For children, exposure to green space improves not only health but cognitive outcomes . The integration of safe and inviting green spaces into developments attracts and maximises their use, delivering healthier lives, exercise, socialising and play. Together, these outcomes increase health, significantly reducing the need for mental and physical health services and providing considerable, measurable societal benefits.
Landscape Institute President’s Award winner, 2023
The role of landscape professionals within the public sector is vital. In Bradford, the Metropolitan Landscape Design and Conservation team is driving a landscape-led Local Plan to connect nature-positive growth with better access to green space for local communities. The city’s LI Award-winning green infrastructure network has already addressed significant health inequalities in neighbourhoods within the 10% most deprived in England, providing access to green space through over 30 strategically linked projects. Through innovative, cross-sector partnerships and a strategic approach, the city continues to set the benchmark for aligning environmental, housing and health outcomes through landscape-led planning.
Community cohesion and crime reduction: Well-designed public and open spaces encourage social interaction and use, creating safe places and driving anti-social behaviour down. Evidence shows that the presence of trees and green spaces within landscapes also deters crime and anti-social behaviour while also fostering community cohesion.
Peabody’s regeneration of Thamesmead in South East London is providing quality homes and amenities, supporting communities, and enhancing natural assets including 240ha of green space, five public parks, five lakes, 7km of river frontage and 53,000 trees. Their work to maintain and improve the landscape includes a large-scale programme co-produced by paid local residents, an award-winning project to ‘green the grey’ around two large 1960s estates, and opportunities for participation in activities such as habitat creation, woodland coppicing and tree planting, which respond to the needs of the local community and environment.
The role of landscape professionals
The Landscape Institute’s membership community aims to shape sustainable places that deliver long-term value for people, nature and society — creating resilient communities that thrive economically, socially and environmentally.
Landscape architects are experts in navigating complex challenges at every scale. They design with the future in mind — creating places that protect people, restore ecosystems and foster strong, connected communities. The result is not just development that works today, but places people are proud to call home in the future.
What our partners say about landscape-led development
“Taking a landscape-led approach to development provides an opportunity to better connect communities with the natural environment, whilst being mindful of the need for increased house building in this country. Safe, equitable and enhanced access to green and blue spaces is inherent to our health and wellbeing. By working together collaboratively and using a considered landscape-led approach to planning, both people and planet can benefit.”
– Dr William Bird, CEO at Intelligent Health
“Well-designed, landscape-integrated regeneration projects can lead to 15-20% increases in property values and higher levels of community satisfaction.”
– Measuring the placemaking impacts of housing-led regeneration, Homes England
“Landscape architects, working alongside ecologists and planners, in both public and private sector are ideally placed to help meet the government’s agenda, bringing vital expertise on the planning, design and management of land as a multi-functional resource.”
– Marian Spain, CEO at Natural England
“We have long recognised the role of high-quality landscape design in shaping successful, healthy places, and this has been central to our approach to regenerating large-scale brownfield sites.”
– Louise Clarke, Group Head of Sustainability at Berkeley Group
Support the landscape-led approach to development
Promotion of the landscape-led approach requires effective messaging and hard evidence. If you have case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of the landscape-led approach, or if you have constructive comments about the briefing document, then we’d love to hear them. Please get in touch at policy@landscapeinstitute.org.
