In 1995 the Government launched the "Greening the City" initiative to: promote discussion and ideas about the creation, protection, management and maintenance of green areas in towns and cities; draw together examples of good practice; and encourage new ideas about, and approaches to, landscape design. GFA Consulting, together with Tibbalds Monro, was commissioned to undertake a programme of research to identify the lessons arising from current practice. The work included a series of consultation seminars to draw on the views and experience of experts and practitioners in the field, interviews with representatives of key agencies with an interest in urban greening; reviewing the substantial literature of relevance to urban greening; a series of case studies, chosen to illuminate a variety of types of environmental initiative. This publication is a guide to good practice.