Addressing unequal access to nature, beauty and history in urban places

People looking round a brick courtyard with washing hanging out — A guided tour at the Birmingham Back to Backs | © National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart

Looking after urban places is a core part of our strategy. Our Urban Places Programme aims to benefit people who live in UK towns and cities by helping to provide more access to nature, beauty and history.

Our work in urban places is guided by where the need is greatest, be that poor provision of quality greenspace, heritage at risk or communities facing socio-economic challenges.

Collaboration and innovation are central themes in how we work. We're constantly testing and trialling new ways to deliver our charitable purpose, thinking beyond the current places in our care and reaching out to local communities.

Priority urban places

While we work all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we have focused our urban work on five priority areas – Manchester, Plymouth, Newcastle and Gateshead, London and Birmingham. For each location, we've developed urban plans that respond to the uniqueness of each place. These plans have been developed with local partners and communities to improve access to nature, history and beauty in each place.

You can find out more about the urban work we've been carrying out across Birmingham, London and at Castlefield Viaduct.

Exploring the temporary urban park at Castlefield Viaduct, Manchester | © National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor

Green corridors

We're aiming to create 20 green corridors by 2030. From our linear corridors at Bathampton Meadows in Bath and Divis in Belfast, to regional park ambitions in the Stour Valley Park in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, and the Changing Chalk partnership in the South Downs, every corridor is unique.

We're working directly with local communities to ensure that the corridors offer the freedom to access nature-rich outdoor space in a way that works best for them.

A quote by Hilary McGradyNational Trust Director-General

By working with local authorities and their partners, the programme was designed to protect and develop natural resources in urban areas, making quality green space accessible for everyone. This has given us new ways to deliver on our charitable mission to bring nature to everyone, following in Octavia Hill’s legacy. We’re looking forward to taking what we learned with our partners to more towns and cities in the UK, and most importantly to the people who live in them.

To find out more about our urban work please contact Duncan Laird, Head of Urban Places.

Volunteer and staff member in the garden at Rainham Hall, London | © National Trust Images/Rob Stothard

Nature Towns and Cities

Everyone feels the benefit when nature is part of our daily lives. Evidence shows it makes us healthier, happier, more connected and more resilient. But millions of people living in urban areas don’t have green space near home.

To help tackle this, we're working with The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Natural England, as well as other partners across the UK. A new programme, Nature Towns and Cities, will support local authorities and community organisations in more than 100 UK places to bring nature home to every neighbourhood, for everyone to enjoy.

We’ll support these places to develop significant new green spaces where people most need them, create new pocket parks and improve existing green spaces from canal walks to recreation grounds.

Through this work with partners, we’re committed to ensuring five million more people can spend time relaxing and socialising in nature near home, supporting their health and wellbeing, and we’ll help a million more children to grow and play every day in greener spaces in their neighbourhoods.

About Nature Towns and Cities