London Green Infrastructure Framework (LGIF) FAQs

The London Green Infrastructure Framework (LGIF) is a strategic evidence tool to help plan and prioritise investment in green infrastructure (GI) in London. It brings together key data relevant to GI in one place, to help identify where and how to invest in GI to maximise its benefits for Londoners. GI refers to all blue (water) and green spaces and assets, including both natural and engineered. 

The LGIF aims to support decision making for the Greater London Authority (GLA), London boroughs and others involved in the planning, funding, delivery and management of GI. It provides up-to-date London-wide spatial data across a range of ‘objectives’ that relate to the benefits of GI that are most relevant to London. It also incorporates additional data that illustrate health and social equity. The LGIF provides an analysis of spatial data to identify where GI investment might best provide multi-functional benefits. It identifies priority areas for creating new, or adapting existing GI and can help identify specific GI functions that it would be most beneficial to deliver in an area.

The LGIF was a recommendation of the 2024 London Climate Resilience Review and it replaces the 2018 GI Focus Map. It also provides a strategic replacement for the 2012 All-London Green Grid (ALGG) and complements the London Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).

It's a key recommendation in the London Climate Resilience Review for the Mayor to develop a strategic framework for the delivery of GI across London to inform funding programmes and convene partners to drive a strategic approach. 

The 2018 London Environment Strategy committed the GLA to update the 2012 ALGG to provide a stronger evidence base for GI programmes and interventions, and to identify priority areas for GI investment (Proposal 5.3.1). The 2021 London Plan includes a commitment to review and update the ALGG (paragraph 8.1.3). The data used within the GLA’s existing database for GI-related spatial data, the 2018 GI Focus Map (2018), had also become out of date. 

Since the publication of the ALGG, changes in the policy and legislative context, combined with technological advancements presented an opportunity to make use of more advanced high-resolution spatial data to identify priorities for London’s GI network. The LGIF also responds to a need for an up-to-date evidence base to inform future updates to the London Plan and London Environment Strategy.

The GLA is responsible for preparing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for London. LNRSs are a new system of 48 spatial biodiversity strategies in England, required by law under the Environment Act 2021. The London LNRS is made up of a map of existing, designated wildlife areas and opportunities for nature recovery, and a statement of London’s strategic biodiversity priorities. All 33 of the London boroughs (including the City of London), London’s neighbouring counties and Natural England had formal roles in its development.  

The LNRS is specifically about nature recovery, whereas the LGIF is an umbrella framework that brings in the wider benefits of GI. 

The LGIF is the overarching framework for all things related to green infrastructure in London. This includes the wider benefits of GI and a wider range of both human-led and nature-led issues than the LNRS. The LNRS is a plan for prioritising action for nature, identifying specific measures to achieve these priorities and areas where implementing measures will achieve the most for nature. The LGIF is a pan-London framework that can be applied across multiple aims and that considers how to prioritise across a range of issues.  

The LNRS provides the nature-recovery data and ‘Objective’ map of the LGIF. Stakeholder engagement and data management in the development of the LGIF and LNRS were closely coordinated. 

Read more about the Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The GLA Green Infrastructure team developed the LGIF, with support from consultants LUC (Land Use Consultants) to prepare the spatial data analysis.  

As a new strategic approach to GI decision making, stakeholder engagement played a key role in the development of the LGIF. A wide range of key stakeholders helped shape the scope, content and format of the LGIF. This included: 

• Three in-person workshops at City Hall in October 2024 with over 100 stakeholders, including representatives from the London boroughs, major landowners and developers, environmental NGOs and community organisations.
• Additional scoping calls with key stakeholders.
• Advice and feedback from the London Green Infrastructure Partnership.
• A working group of internal officers across GLA policy teams. This group included teams responsible for the London Plan, Regeneration, Climate Change Adaptation, Housing and Land, Infrastructure and Public Health.  
• Web-map testing by internal and external stakeholders.

The LGIF is an important green infrastructure spatial evidence base. How the LGIF is used to support the London Plan is being considered as part of the current London Plan review. More information can be found in Towards a New London Plan. 

The LGIF can also be used by London boroughs and other planning authorities as evidence to inform the development of Local Plans.

The LGIF replaces the GLA’s 2018 GI Focus Map and provides a strategic replacement for the 2012 All London Green Grid. The LGIF builds upon both the GI Focus Map and the ALGG. It provides more up-to-date GI spatial data and a more complex spatial analysis than the GI Focus Map to identify strategic priority areas for creating new or adapting existing GI. It can also help identify specific GI functions that it would be most beneficial to deliver in an area.  

The GLA’s Climate Risk Map identifies the areas of London that are most exposed to climate impacts with high concentrations of vulnerable populations, taking into account social, economic and health data. The Climate Risk Map shows where resilience interventions, not just limited to GI, could be best targeted. The LGIF considers all multi-functional benefits of GI, not just limited to climate resilience (for example, mitigating heat and flooding risk) to enable GI investment to maximise all benefits for Londoners.

Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework provides England-wide GI guidance and mapping. 

In recognition of the scale and character of the urban context in London, the LGIF provides more detailed and London-specific mapping and strategic spatial priorities, which add to and refine the England-wide guidance for the London context. 

The LGIF ‘Objectives’ were cross-referenced with the Natural England GI Benefit Principles to ensure alignment.  

Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework Planning and Design Guide and Process Journeys provide useful GI guidance for London.

The LGIF was published in early 2026. A review to check for new or updated data that should be incorporated into the LGIF will be conducted every two years.

If you are aware of data that would be relevant, please contact [email protected] (note that data has to show spatial variation across London and relate to the identified benefits of GI to be relevant).

The 'How to use the LGIF' webpage provides information about how different types of users may use the LGIF.

The LGIF web-map site provides detailed information about how to use the web-map effectively and how to understand what mapping shows.

Case studies to illustrate how the LGIF is being used will be added to the LGIF webpage later in 2026.