Page - 427 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

427 By the term ‘landscape planning’ we refer to all formal and informal planning instruments and procedures aimed at protecting, managing, designing, redesigning and maintaining green spaces and green elements, especially in an urban environ- ment, including elements such as street trees and façade greening. Thus, the term covers a broad range of instruments in the realm of nature conservation, landscape architecture and urban or land use planning. Referring to the planning systems and instruments of Germany and the UK, respectively, we focus on the official instru- ments of landscape planning in Germany and on Local Plans or Core Strategies of Local Development Frameworks (official) as well as Green Infrastructure strategies (informal) in England as a part of the UK.  This concentration on two countries is due, first, to the authors’ main areas of expertise, and second, to the heterogeneity of planning systems in different countries across Europe, to which we cannot do justice in one book chapter. Nonetheless, we think that many recommendations might also be applicable to or adaptable by other countries. This chapter does not concentrate on the health effects of urban green space and biodiversity, as these have been covered comprehensively in previous chapters (see Part I; Marselle et  al. Chap. 9; Cook et  al. Chap. 11, all  this volume). Instead, our aim is to show whether and how health issues are already being tackled in formal and informal landscape planning instruments in Germany and the UK, and how this could be enhanced in the future. As research and practical gaps can be found in the incorporation of health aspects into landscape and spatial planning, our chapter focuses on planning issues, practice and methods. Furthermore, we present health- promoting features of green spaces, including single green spaces as well as entire green space systems, and present a method for planning a greenway system for daily physical mobility. 19.2 Benefits of  Considering Health Issues in  Landscape Planning Aims and measures in landscape planning often align with positive health effects, even if those are not explicitly mentioned. To give some examples: the conservation of biodiversity and species-rich habitats often also safeguards aesthetically pleasing recreational areas; clean lakes and rivers can serve as important habitats as well as bathing waters or for the supply of drinking water; soil conservation contributes to food security and to groundwater recharge and rainwater retention during heavy rains, and thus reduces the risk of flooding, including associated health risks. Furthermore, climate change, demographic changes, changes in lifestyle, and  – not least  – increased urbanization demanding new residential areas can have effects on urban, but also rural, green spaces. Consequently, these factors have implications for landscape planning and for human health and health protection and promotion. Recreation is strongly related to health and is a topic that has been thoroughly con- sidered for some time in landscape planning. Even here, however, it must be 19 Linking Landscape Planning and  Health