Designing safe and biodiverse green spaces in prisons

迫切需要景观建筑学的设计研究，以便能够制定监狱中生物多样性绿地的设计指南，使囚犯能够安全地进入。作为第二大政府财产，英格兰和威尔士司法部(以下简称司法部)拥有总计3000公顷的土地，其中65%属于其监狱投资组合[2]。尽管这块土地面积很大，但出于安全和成本的原因，个别监狱的铁丝网内的大部分土地都是柏油路面和坚硬的景观。在绿地存在的地方，这些通常是修剪得很近的草坪，提供有限的野生动物栖息地。认识到这些不足，农业部将生物多样性列为战略重点，最近为该庄园建立了生物多样性基线、自然资本评估工具和自然恢复计划，寻求大幅改善生物多样性、福祉和其他生态系统服务，如碳封存和洪水缓解[3]。除了这些生物多样性和可持续发展的愿望外，越来越多的证据表明，监狱中的绿地显著提高了囚犯和监管他们的工作人员的福祉。[4]最近的研究表明，在有更多绿地的监狱中，自残、暴力和工作人员生病的情况较少。显然，这既是在相当大一部分政府产业内加强生物多样性和福祉的重要机会，也是高层对这一目标的承诺。然而，真正的行动担忧阻碍了进展--即绿色空间在被监禁的人进入时会带来安全风险，而这些人从中受益。具体地说，人们担心违禁品可能隐藏在植物中，武器由天然材料提供，植物可能会模糊对安全至关重要的清晰视线。无论是在新监狱的开发中，还是在现有监狱的任何再开发中，这些担忧往往会扼杀除草坪以外的任何形式的绿地的引入。在这里需要应用设计研究：监狱的建造成本非常高，由于景观美化几乎是建设的最后阶段，缺乏满足安全需求的清晰且成本高昂的景观设计意味着，为了生物多样性和福祉而进行的景观美化往往完全脱离了建设计划。我们将与项目合作伙伴司法部和监狱建设承包商基尔合作，制作一份适用于英国及其他地区的监狱绿地设计指南。它的使用将直接支持在相当大一部分公共财产中加强生物多样性，并随之而来的是那些在监狱生活和工作的人的福祉。最终，设计指南将成为监狱建设技术标准的一部分，既要求所有新的英国监狱拥有生物多样性的绿色空间，又为其设计提供了蓝图。

There is an urgent need for design research in landscape architecture to enable the development of a Design Guide for biodiverse green spaces in prisons, which will be safe for prisoners to access.As the second largest government estate, the Ministry of Justice of England and Wales (hereafter MoJ) has a total land holding of >3000 hectares[1], of which 65% is within its prisons portfolio[2]. Despite the significant extent of this estate, for reasons of security and cost, much of the land 'inside the wire' of individual prisons is characterised by tarmac and hard landscaping. Where green spaces exist, these are often closely-mown lawns offering limited wildlife habitats.Recognising these shortfalls, MoJ lists biodiversity as a strategic focus, and has recently established a biodiversity baseline, a natural capital assessment tool, and a nature recovery plan for the estate which seeks to substantially improve biodiversity, wellbeing, and other ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and flood alleviation[3]. In addition to these biodiversity and sustainability aspirations, a growing evidence base shows that green spaces in prisons significantly enhance the wellbeing both of prisoners and of the staff who supervise them.[4] Recent research has shown lower levels of self-harm, violence and staff sickness absence in prisons with more green space.There is clearly both an important opportunity here to enhance biodiversity and wellbeing within a significant proportion of government estate, and commitment to this goal at a senior level. However, genuine operational concerns - that green spaces present security risks when accessed by the incarcerated people who derive benefit from them - hamper progress. Specifically, it is feared that contraband may be concealed in vegetation, weapons furnished from natural materials, and that vegetation may obscure the clear sightlines that are important for security. Both in the development of new prisons, and in any redevelopment of existing prisons, these concerns tend to stifle the introduction of green spaces in any form other than lawns. Design research needs to be applied here: prisons are very expensive to build, and since landscaping is almost the final stage of construction, the lack of clear and costed landscape designs that meet the demands of security means that landscaping for biodiversity and wellbeing is often 'value-engineered' out of construction plans altogether. At best, a lawn is laid, but often tarmac prevails.Working with project partners the Ministry of Justice and prison-building contractor Kier, we will produce a Design Guide for green spaces in prisons applicable across the UK and beyond. Its utilisation will directly support enhanced biodiversity across a significant proportion of the public estate, and with it the wellbeing of those who live and work in prisons. Ultimately, the intention is that the Design Guide will become part of the Technical Standards for prison construction, both mandating biodiverse green spaces in all new UK prisons, and providing a blueprint for their design.