Glasgow City Council has adopted the Open Space Strategy for the city - a document that will identify and guide how open space can be used to improve health, liveability and the resilience of Glasgow.

Open spaces in Glasgow are diverse and include the city's parks, gardens, allotments, civic spaces, rivers, lochs and ponds.

A draft version of the strategy was put out to public consultation, and the overwhelmingly positive response - along with the input of other stakeholders - helped to inform the future response.

Through the Open Space Strategy (OSS), there is now the ability to analyse open spaces on a local level, audit existing open spaces and their functions, and use this information to guide engagement on how best to use and manage these open spaces. The strategy will direct future decisions on open spaces. It will also identify where new open spaces should be created and where using existing open spaces for other purposes may be appropriate.

The strategy has responded to the Climate Emergency - open space has a key role to play in providing for both carbon savings and in helping the city adapt to climate change - as well as the council's recently-published Pollinator Plan, and will be published as an accessible, easy to read document.

Delivery of the strategy will also see the council supporting community groups to manage open spaces through asset transfer, participatory working and/or co-production; identifying options for maintaining open spaces less intensively, investigating where open spaces might be able to generate income, and identifying whether there may be open spaces that are not needed to meet current or future need and where income may be generated from their sale.

Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm at Glasgow City Council, said: "Our open spaces are enormously important to us, socially, economically and environmentally, and considering how we can best use them is crucial to our future quality of life and success. The Open Space Strategy for Glasgow will guide us in our efforts to make the city more healthy, liveable and resilient."

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