24 (22 in 2008) of the 29 mainland authorities have references to greenspace and/or open space within their SOAs as does one (none in 2008) of the island authorities (Orkney).

• across all the SOAs, there are ‘greenspace’ references to ten of the fifteen national outcomes
• most of the references are in relation to national outcomes 10 [well-designed, sustainable places], 12 [built and natural environment] and 14 [sustainability and resource use]

Green/open space is incorporated in the SOAs in a range of different ways:

• 12 SOAs have strong references to greenspace and/or open space in the Area Profile which sets the context for the whole SOA
• 23 SOAs (5 in 2008) have local outcomes which relate to greenspace and/or open space (5 SOAs - Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Midlothian and West Dunbartonshire - have specific references to greenspace or open space in the outcome itself and 20 have clear references to greenspace or open space in the local context statements linked to the outcomes
• 10 SOAs (7 in 2008) have indicators which relate to green/open space (or Green Flag)
• 4 SOAs (13 in 2008) have actions which relate to greenspace (this reflects the fact that fewer of the SOAs this year contain any specified actions)
• 10 of the SOAs directly reference the greenspace or open space strategy for the area

More analysis of the 2009 SOAs in relation to greenspace

Read greenspace text extracts from the SOAs 2009

All of the SOAs can be accessed from the Improvement Service website