tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/open-space-39816/articlesopen space – The Conversation2020-10-13T18:47:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1475592020-10-13T18:47:08Z2020-10-13T18:47:08ZOur cities are full of parks, so why are we looking to golf courses for more open space?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362899/original/file-20201012-17-1t64n1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C276%2C1493%2C1089&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wendy Walls</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/locals-want-covid-normal-to-include-turning-golf-course-into-parkland-20200925-p55zea.html">opening of a golf course to the public</a> in the inner north of Melbourne caused a flurry of excitement. Since then, thousands of visitors have explored the expanse of manicured rolling greens, fairways and rough. Under <a href="https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/second-step-coronavirus-road-to-recovery">COVID restrictions</a> that require Melbournians to stay within 5km of their homes, access to a very large and beautiful open space has provided welcome relief from the <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2020/sep/map-shows-melbourne-parks-will-struggle-in-next-stage-of-lockdown">well-worn tracks</a> up and down local creeks and around local ovals. </p>
<p>But beyond just exploring somewhere new, the meticulously crafted landscape of the Northcote public golf course offers a rare experience in Melbourne’s ever more densely developed inner suburbs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/340-000-melburnians-have-little-or-no-parkland-within-5km-of-their-home-144069">340,000 Melburnians have little or no parkland within 5km of their home</a>
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<p>The past six months of lockdowns have sparked many discussions about our cities and lifestyles. And the importance of local parks has come to the fore. There are issues of <a href="https://theconversation.com/340-000-melburnians-have-little-or-no-parkland-within-5km-of-their-home-144069">equity in access to parks</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-urban-density-is-good-for-health-even-during-a-pandemic-142108">walkability</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-might-covid-19-change-what-australians-want-from-their-homes-145626">housing</a>, and the measured health and well-being <a href="https://theconversation.com/twitter-posts-show-that-people-are-profoundly-sad-and-are-visiting-parks-to-cheer-up-139953">effects of being outdoors</a>. </p>
<p>These target-driven discussions fit with the dominant planning methods of Australian cities. From <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/428908/Creating-a-more-liveable-Melbourne.pdf">walking times</a> to <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/greening-the-city/urban-forest/Pages/urban-forest-strategy.aspx">tree cover targets</a>, function has long dominated quality when defining urban open space. But this planning approach to open space significantly limits how parks are conceived. </p>
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<h2>Why the pressure on golf courses?</h2>
<p>Now, as people swarm to urban parks and gardens in record numbers, we need to give open space the same status as other valued urban assets such as roads and rail. And we need to work out what government, the private sector, design professionals and the community can contribute to create better public open space over the next decade.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/twitter-posts-show-that-people-are-profoundly-sad-and-are-visiting-parks-to-cheer-up-139953">Twitter posts show that people are profoundly sad – and are visiting parks to cheer up</a>
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<p>Returning to the Northcote golf course, a community group is <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/locals-want-covid-normal-to-include-turning-golf-course-into-parkland-20200925-p55zea.html">lobbying for ongoing community access</a>. It’s part of a wider discussion about the future of urban golf courses across Australia. In <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-18/marrickville-golf-club-vote-to-go-before-inner-west-council/12672562">Sydney</a>, the Inner West Council recently <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/marrickville-golf-club-plan-to-turn-18-holes-into-9-rejected/news-story/07deba9839c2d88bf682a729f9808d53">voted down</a> a hotly debated plan to give over half the Marrickville golf course to public green space. In <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/things-to-see-and-do/council-venues-and-precincts/parks/victoria-park">Brisbane</a>, the Victoria Park Golf Course is being converted to public parkland.</p>
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<p>Urban golf courses are in the spotlight because of their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/11/undraining-the-swamp-how-rewilders-have-reclaimed-golf-courses-and-waterways">rarity as large green open spaces with mature plantings</a>. The golfing community is <a href="https://www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/a-battle-for-survival/">under pressure</a> to justify why so much precious city space is being reserved for their sport. </p>
<p>This discussion masks the underlying issue of inadequate urban planning. Successive governments have failed to set aside enough open space to cater for population growth.</p>
<p>For decades, the planning of our cities has occurred through growth models that give priority to economic development. Missing are significant large parks – the modern equivalents of the much-loved colonial layers of the Domains in <a href="https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/Visit/The-Domain">Sydney</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/melbourne-domain-parkland-memorial-precinct">Melbourne</a>, <a href="https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/parks/hyde-park">Hyde Park</a>, <a href="https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/things-to-do/royal-park">Royal Park</a> or <a href="https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park">Kings Park</a> – to offset this growth. </p>
<p>The issue of open space quality becomes even more pressing when we turn to the outer suburbs. Lacking access to bays and beaches, the outer suburbs <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/parks-places/garden-cities-no-australias-leafy-urban-centres-pressure/">no longer have</a> the “Australian dream” of the quarter-acre block as a counterbalance. Houses are constructed gutter to gutter, cars crowd the front yards, and the local park is often a footy oval with a playground. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vanishing-australian-backyards-leave-us-vulnerable-to-the-stresses-of-city-life-81479">Vanishing Australian backyards leave us vulnerable to the stresses of city life</a>
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<img alt="Playground in front of a football oval." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362883/original/file-20201012-20-hbg3rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">For many suburbs, their most substantial public open space is a football oval and playground.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BaroogaFootballGround%26Playground.JPG">Mattinbgn/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>Time to make open space a priority</h2>
<p>COVID and the slowing economy provide an important opportunity to rethink our models for open space. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reclaiming-the-streets-we-all-can-have-a-say-in-the-new-normal-after-coronavirus-137703">Reclaiming the streets? We all can have a say in the 'new normal' after coronavirus</a>
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<p>We need to challenge the binaries of competing values – public versus private, environment versus community – that structure our cities. Our parks should not emerge through a debate over the best use of limited green space: biodiversity, community gardens, bike paths, wetlands, sport facilities, playgrounds and dog walking. None of these agendas are wrong, but there is a limit to how much space can be shared. </p>
<p>There are, of course, many examples of councils wanting to add more open green space. But it is important to have larger-scale and longer-term perspectives that can operate independently of local and state politics. </p>
<p>Global examples of open-space governance reveal shifts towards alternative funding models and public-private relationships for delivering quality, not just quantity. For example, in New York, the NGO <a href="http://designtrust.org/">Design Trust for Public Space</a> works across government, community groups and the private sector to guide public space development. In Australia, the appointment of a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/public-spaces-minister-plans-to-buy-sydney-s-forgotten-land-for-open-space-20190504-p51k0z.html">minister for public spaces</a> in Sydney and the <a href="https://resilientmelbourne.com.au/living-melbourne/">Living Melbourne</a> strategy both acknowledge the importance of overarching spatial governance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-minister-for-public-spaces-is-welcome-now-here-are-ten-priorities-for-action-115152">New minister for public spaces is welcome – now here are ten priorities for action</a>
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<p>The private sector is responsible too. Enabling large and high-quality open space across our cities means reviewing our expectations of funding and exploring new models led by the private sector. This includes not just funding construction but finding cash for ongoing park maintenance. </p>
<p>COVID has highlighted why the scale of open space is important. It’s needed for maintaining distance between users but also for providing a sense of escape from increasing urban density, compounded by the many hours spent indoors. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-radical-nature-based-agenda-would-help-society-overcome-the-psychological-effects-of-coronavirus-147324">A radical nature-based agenda would help society overcome the psychological effects of coronavirus</a>
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<p>It is widely recognised that an experience of <a href="https://theconversation.com/biodiversity-and-our-brains-how-ecology-and-mental-health-go-together-in-our-cities-126760">nature is valuable for health and well-being</a>. It’s now time to link this directly to a diversity of high-quality park experiences. </p>
<p>All parks have not been created equally. Let’s use this moment to determine a more ambitious future for our urban open spaces.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>All parks are not equal. The response to the opening of golf courses to the public during the COVID pandemic shows the quality of green open space is a big issue for city residents.Wendy Walls, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, The University of MelbourneJillian Walliss, Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216922019-12-31T13:27:18Z2019-12-31T13:27:18ZExplainer: What is public space and why does it need protecting?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295340/original/file-20191003-49373-1q96xhl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=550%2C0%2C2748%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some publicly accessible spaces are actually privately owned public spaces such as Brisbane's popular South Bank city beach and streets scene.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thiru/30634274188/">Flickr/Thirumurugan P</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public space is all around us, from bustling town and city squares to the iconic beaches and wide-open national parks on our doorsteps. In its more mundane forms – such as roads, footpaths, or cycle ways – it’s critical in getting us from A to B.</p>
<p>But the line between what is considered true public space and what is publicly accessible private space is often blurred.</p>
<p>For example, we can enjoy the outdoor plazas of privately owned shopping centres – provided we follow the rules, dress appropriately and consume. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-forget-the-footpath-its-vital-public-space-115151">Don't forget the footpath – it's vital public space</a>
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<p>But no protests or large gatherings would be tolerated in such plazas whereas these activities are a common use of our public spaces.</p>
<p>These privately owned public spaces (POPS) are <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/public-domain/wrong-division-the-rise-of-privately-owned-public-space/">on the increase</a> (New York encourages these spaces and even has a <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/pops/pops.page">map of them</a>).</p>
<p>So we need to be clear what we mean by public spaces and protect them, where possible.</p>
<h2>The ‘public’ private spaces in our cities</h2>
<p>Our cities are complex mixes of public and private property. Consider the short walk from Brisbane’s CBD to South Bank to illustrate this patchwork. </p>
<p>We can walk on footpaths, cross roads, bisect the square at Queens Gardens and finally cross the river at the Goodwill Bridge, all on public property, and all the while skirting private boundaries.</p>
<p>We then arrive at South Bank, with its hybrid mix of open swimming pool, parklands, public institutions and private retail, food outlets and busy markets. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294734/original/file-20190930-185415-1yxa3j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">South Bank in Brisbane is always busy on market days.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/squage/504117814/">Flickr/Pat Scullion</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>This green, subtropical space is actually owned by the <a href="https://southbankcorporation.com.au/">South Bank Corporation</a>, a statutory entity given powers similar to those of a private owner.</p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1989-037">South Bank Corporation Act 1989</a>, public land was transferred to the corporation, which has the powers of a private owner to <a href="https://www.visitbrisbane.com.au/south-bank/visitor-information/conditions-of-entry">exclude or even remove people</a> from the area if they are deemed a nuisance.</p>
<p>Mostly, it’s an inclusive sort of owner – provided we don’t cause disturbance. But South Bank exemplifies this public-private overlap and the spatial ambiguity this engenders.</p>
<h2>Cross the boundaries</h2>
<p>This public-private meander is replicated in cities across the globe. They highlight the blurred and porous boundaries that demarcate public and private property. </p>
<p>We navigate these boundaries surprisingly well, alert to the subtle and not-so-subtle lines of property.</p>
<p>For example, high fences, no trespassing signs, or strategic CCTV cameras tell us “keep out”, versus the marked footpaths, well-trodden grassy shortcuts, or stiles that say it’s okay to enter. </p>
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<span class="caption">In the UK a stile often points the way people can gain access to cross private land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fairlybuoyant/425023492/">Flickr/Gilda</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>In England, books are published that help ramblers (hikers and walkers) spot what they can access. Guides to the subtle signs of rural landscapes help citizens legitimately enjoy their rights to roam the countryside and coastal margin – public property rights that often exist over private land.</p>
<p>In the United States, the public trust doctrine" protects <a href="https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/1828/" title="The Comedy of the Commons: Commerce, Custom, and Inherently Public Property">inherently public property</a>“. </p>
<p>In New Zealand, what’s called the <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/law-of-the-foreshore-and-seabed/page-3">Queen’s Chain</a> is said to protect access to the beach and other waterways, although it’s <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/100641910/the-queens-chain-and-the-missing-links-in-unfettered-public-access">not always that clear</a>.</p>
<p>In Australia, access to the beach – in status both public space and public property – is a given, but little explored. For example, access to the beach can be <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/furious-matthew-guy-pledges-to-reverse-lindsay-fox-title-decision-20140216-32u0t.html">impaired where private owners of foreshore make it difficult</a>. </p>
<p>There is much law on beaches in the United States, but little in Australia. This issue has been a confused area of law for many since Roman times.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches-72265">Contested spaces: we shall fight on the beaches...</a>
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<p>Sometimes we resolutely defend our threatened public property. In San Francisco, a trial to allow people to pay a fee to reserve exclusive sections of grass at the city’s Dolores Park was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/24/san-francisco-dolores-park-reservation-policy-retracted">short-lived after a public outcry</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295359/original/file-20191003-49373-thxjoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">People enjoying the free public space at San Francisco’s Dolores Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/elleyo/5761853252/">Flickr/Lucy Orloski</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Along the California coast, citizens <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/01/vinod-khosla-supreme-court-case-rejects-private-beach">challenged billionaires</a> denying public access to beaches. </p>
<p>Yet, at other times, we are inconsistent in the lines we draw or, worse, the lines we don’t draw at all.</p>
<p>Such inconsistency means the public estate is mostly in retreat. It has been for centuries, marginalised since the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/enclosure">enclosure period</a> in Europe when large swathes of common lands were privatised. </p>
<h2>Private public spaces</h2>
<p>This enclosure is ongoing with the so-called privately owned public spaces that masquerade as something they’re not. A good example is the "public” plazas of office buildings, where we grab a quick lunch. They’re privately owned and not true public spaces at all.</p>
<p>In better appreciating the publicness of public property we can better grasp what’s at stake, the importance of public property to the social and democratic fabric.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-turn-aucklands-inner-city-streets-into-public-spaces-people-can-enjoy-122396">How to turn Auckland's inner city streets into public spaces people can enjoy</a>
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<p>Public lands are the forums where we sociably mix with strangers. They serve a public purpose and define public values. They are the conduits that connect us, that permit us to pass and re-pass. </p>
<p>Importantly, public property is where we go to protest and defend the public square, whether in the camps of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wallstreet-protests-history/insight-occupy-wall-st-the-start-of-a-new-protest-era-idUSTRE7964CY20111007">Occupy Wall Street</a> in New York, the streets of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hong-kong-protesters-have-been-winning-the-battle-for-public-space-121251">Hong Kong</a>, or the public forests of Tasmania, part of what the Australian High Court calls our “<a href="http://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/article/of-protest-the-commons-and-customary-public-rights-an-ancient-tale-of-the-lawful-forest/">public forest estate</a>”.</p>
<p>That’s why I believe we need to pay more attention to what are our public spaces, how they’re defined and the need to defend them where necessary. Public-private spaces may have their uses, but they’re not the same as true public space.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295343/original/file-20191003-49377-1m8t6if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">That’s no public space: the private owners of your local shopping centre only allow you access to the food court if you obey their rules.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shebalso/11439115634/">Flickr/John</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Page does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As you walk about a city are you in public or private space? The line is often blurred.John Page, Associate professor, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1247812019-10-15T18:59:44Z2019-10-15T18:59:44ZOur land abounds in nature strips – surely we can do more than mow a third of urban green space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296394/original/file-20191010-188797-1ds6sii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C38%2C3651%2C2417&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even the standard grassed nature strip has value for local wildlife.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michelle658/5879656553/in/photolist-hj8dyc-skaU1u-dREut-eJsU1F-ffLmZK-indYV3-cLiW2J-vB2sc-7NsaK4-4VkF3d-yGjbRF-beH7sn-6Y5uUZ-rxC4mN-6LgaCq-8uZkP8-fFMrYB-fFMzz6-959BCc-fFMqN6-9XyM3R-8uZkQZ-fG59Eh-fG55kj-MdakbU-zKkV6-9A3mjp-2hgzR2Y-2gLLfma-2gLM1dK-2gjDcaq-fG56q1-V4CxJS-2EepMw-AJYA3h-8PLEFM-2Nnv4q-3HCckP-8LfDb6-F9XHNG-fG5dib-9hzViT-d5L2G-fG57A5-7tQdTT-vh8B5S-2d9eEDd-2gtBYEp-fFMxhv-6tVDoj">Michelle/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You may mock the national anthem by singing “Our land abounds in nature strips” but what you might not know is how true that is. In Melbourne, for example, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719300718">more than a third of all public green space is nature strips</a>. (That figure includes roundabouts, medians and other green bits of the street.) </p>
<p>That’s a remarkable amount. The nature strip is everywhere. A million small patches combine into a giant park spanning the city, making it a significant player in our urban ecosystems. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reinventing-density-overcoming-the-suburban-setback-66411">Reinventing density: overcoming the suburban setback</a>
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<p>A second remarkable thing is that the nature strip is <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2007/11/apo-nid60258-1105966.pdf">public land that private citizens are required by law to maintain</a>. Councils manage the trees, but we residents mow the lawn. </p>
<h2>What are the rules on nature strips?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296146/original/file-20191009-3872-1i673y4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Succulents, Agapanthus and Gazanias are the most common plantings on nature strips.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adrian Marshall CC BY 4.0</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many residents go further and plant a street tree or some garden plants – succulents, Agapanthus and Gazanias are the most common. But the chances are that, whatever the garden on the nature strip, it’s against the rules. </p>
<p>The rules on nature strips vary from council to council. Some councils don’t allow any plantings. Others restrict plantings by height or allow only plants indigenous to the local area. In some areas, nature strips can only be planted to prevent erosion on steep slopes. </p>
<p>Some councils disallow food plants, for fear of historic lead contamination from leaded petrol. Others insist on no plants within a metre of the kerb and two metres of the footpath. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/farming-the-suburbs-why-cant-we-grow-food-wherever-we-want-80330">Farming the suburbs – why can’t we grow food wherever we want?</a>
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<p>These bylaws are inconsistent and illogical. For instance, councils that insist on indigenous species nevertheless plant exotic street trees. Councils that say plants must be less than 30cm high to ensure they don’t block drivers’ sight lines still allow vehicles to park on the street, blocking sight lines.</p>
<h2>Bylaws deny us many benefits</h2>
<p>To have council bylaws restrict or disallow gardening in the nature strip flies in the face of common sense. Street greenery, whether its trees, shrubs or lawn, provides many benefits. The science is in on this. </p>
<p>Urban wildlife uses street greenery for habitat and food and as green corridors for movement. </p>
<p>Even for those who mow, the lawns of nature strips are not just turf grass. They are home to over 150 species of plants, based on my yet-to-be-published survey data for nearly 50 neighbourhoods, confirming <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-009-0098-7">earlier studies</a>. Many of these, like the clovers, provide important resources for pollinators. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/55816">US study</a> showed that changing from a weekly mow to every three weeks increased the number of flowers in a lawn by 250%. Less mowing is good news for bees and butterflies.</p>
<p>An unpublished recent survey by the author and colleagues found gardening in the nature strip adds native plants to the streetscape, increases biodiversity and add structural complexity (more layers of plants, more types of stuff), which is important for many species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296397/original/file-20191010-188823-3m94cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The greater the diversity of plantings, the greater the benefits a nature strip can provide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxmelbourne/9642464172/in/photolist-hj8dyc-skaU1u-dREut-eJsU1F-ffLmZK-indYV3-cLiW2J-vB2sc-7NsaK4-4VkF3d-yGjbRF-beH7sn-6Y5uUZ-rxC4mN-6LgaCq-8uZkP8-fFMrYB-fFMzz6-959BCc-fFMqN6-9XyM3R-8uZkQZ-fG59Eh-fG55kj-MdakbU-zKkV6-9A3mjp-2hgzR2Y-2gLLfma-2gLM1dK-2gjDcaq-fG56q1-V4CxJS-2EepMw-AJYA3h-8PLEFM-2Nnv4q-3HCckP-8LfDb6-F9XHNG-fG5dib-9hzViT-d5L2G-fG57A5-7tQdTT-vh8B5S-2d9eEDd-2gtBYEp-fFMxhv-6tVDoj">TEDxMelbourne/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/1135097">Street greenery helps</a> water <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27094440">soak into the ground</a>, filtering out pollutants, recharging aquifers and making rivers healthier. It <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26828172">cools streets</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204614002503">helps counter the urban heat island effect</a>. It also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953613003742">promotes a sense of community</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140518303281">encourages walking</a> and lowers the incidence of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140518303281">heart disease</a>, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2524191">diabetes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-living-in-green-neighbourhoods-are-less-likely-to-develop-asthma-96190">asthma</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204614002941">depression</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/increasing-tree-cover-may-be-like-a-superfood-for-community-mental-health-119930">Increasing tree cover may be like a 'superfood' for community mental health</a>
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<p>But councils tend to be risk-averse. They worry they will be sued if someone trips on groundcover or stubs their toe on an out-of-place garden gnome.</p>
<p>Fortunately, this risk aversion isn’t universal. For instance, the <a href="https://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/residents/environment/environmental-sustainability/news-events/adopt-a-verge.aspx">City of Vincent</a> in Western Australia is so keen for residents to convert lawn to waterwise plantings that it will remove turf and provide native plants.</p>
<p>But, as climate change looms, stubbed toes are not the main risk we should be worrying about. Rather, we must urgently remake our cities and our culture for sustainability and resilience. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-planners-understand-its-cool-to-green-cities-whats-stopping-them-55753">If planners understand it's cool to green cities, what's stopping them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Gardening becomes a neighbourly act</h2>
<p>One of the great things about gardening in the nature strip is that people are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719302535">more likely to do it if their neighbours do it</a>. It’s contagious, a positive-feedback loop creating a greener street. </p>
<p>Our recent survey found residents who garden in the nature strip have a greater <a href="http://www.communityscience.com/news-detail.php?news=114">sense of community</a> than those who don’t. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296997/original/file-20191015-98653-wopjbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A well-designed street garden, fully covering the nature strip, allowing pedestrian access to cars and using indigenous plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adrian Marshall CC BY 4.0</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interestingly, the benefits nature strips provide are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719302535">not equally distributed across the city</a>. For instance, newer neighbourhoods have more nature strip than older neighbourhoods (though their trees are younger). People garden the nature strip more on minor roads than major roads, and in more socially advantaged neighbourhoods. </p>
<p>Almost a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719302535">quarter of residential properties</a> in Melbourne have some sort of nature strip gardening. If councils were to encourage this activity we might achieve more street greening with little cost to our cash-strapped councils. Such encouragement would also free many residents of their sense of frustration at being required to maintain the nature strip but forbidden to do anything more than mow. </p>
<p>Given that more than a third of our public green space is nature strip, the many small actions of residents can add up to substantial positive change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Marshall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When so much of the green space in our cities is in the form of nature strips, current restrictions on plantings are denying us the many social and environmental benefits of more diverse greenery.Adrian Marshall, Lecturer, Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1247722019-10-09T18:59:15Z2019-10-09T18:59:15ZWhy we need ‘crazy’ ideas for new city parks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296115/original/file-20191009-3894-6yue75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8004%2C4503&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sea Line Park, one of the shortlisted entries in the competition to design a new park for the Melbourne of 2050.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Future Park Design Ideas Competition</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two seemingly unrelated but important things happened in Melbourne last week. One was a memorial service for <a href="https://sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/news/vale-david-yencken-ao">David Yencken</a> AO; the other was the exhibition opening of the <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/be150/competitions/futurepark">Future Park Design Ideas Competition</a>. The connection between the two is that both gave us radical ideas for Melbourne’s open space.</p>
<p>David Yencken was a visionary man who had a profound impact on Victoria and Melbourne. He was responsible, among many things, for the transformation of <a href="https://www.travelvictoria.com.au/southbank/">Southbank</a> and co-founding <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/merchant-builders-celebrating-a-fifty-year-legacy">Merchant Builders</a>. But one of his wildest ideas was the 1985 <a href="https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/2016/09/imagine-a-city-swanston-st-party/">Greening of Swanston Street</a>, when vehicle traffic was closed and a weekend street party was held right in the middle of Melbourne.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-three-decade-remaking-of-the-city-revived-the-buzz-of-marvellous-melbourne-91481">How a three-decade remaking of the city revived the buzz of 'Marvellous Melbourne'</a>
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<hr>
<p>As the secretary (chief executive) of the Ministry for Planning and Environment, Yencken had been charged with changing perceptions of the city by rethinking its public spaces. At a time before <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-day-for-turning-parking-spaces-into-pop-up-parks-65164">pop-up parks</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/look-out-behind-the-bus-stop-here-come-guerrilla-gardeners-digging-up-an-urban-revolution-29225">guerrilla gardening</a>, his radical idea demonstrated what was possible for the inner city and sowed the seed of the <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/blog/melbourne-urban-transformation">idea of closing Swanston Street to traffic</a>. </p>
<p>The project was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-man-who-helped-re-imagine-melbourne-20190705-p524mc.html">not without controversy</a> – it was costly and came in for political criticism as a stunt. But looking back to a time when inner Melbourne was underutilised and dominated by traffic, we can see how that radical idea sparked the imagination about what was possible for the city centre.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207418/original/file-20180222-132674-1247hnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Greening of Swanston Street in 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victorian Ministry of Planning</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-day-for-turning-parking-spaces-into-pop-up-parks-65164">A day for turning parking spaces into pop-up parks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Future Park fires imaginations and debate</h2>
<p>This is just what the <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/be150/competitions/futurepark">Future Park competition</a> needs to achieve. The open competition held by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects has attracted global interest, with 123 entries from 20 countries. </p>
<p>The brief was simple but provocative. Designers were to find space within 10 kilometres of the city centre and design a future park that responds to the challenges of Melbourne today. The design responses from the 31 shortlisted entries ranged from manufactured lagoons to urban wildlife corridors and street transformation parks that Yencken would be proud of. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296120/original/file-20191009-3935-24915r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne from Past to Last, a vision of a city street park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Future Park Design Ideas Competition</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first wave of media coverage on the competition inspired a range of public comments about Melbourne’s open space. For example, from the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/visions-of-utopia-lagoons-floating-pods-among-future-park-entries-20190929-p52vzc.html">online comments in The Age</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Royal Park is a massive area of underutilised space. Driving down Elliott Av it’s just an open wasteland. Grassland and scattered gum trees does not make a welcoming “park”.</p>
<p>How about bulldozing the eyesore known as Federation Square and putting a park in its place?</p>
<p>These designs forget to include the things that make it a Melbourne park, graffiti, vandalism, weeds and the homeless.</p>
<p>Architects and landscapers rarely, if ever, have a grasp on what will work for people … they are too busy trying to be creative, and not busy enough trying to make people happy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What the public comments show us is that there is no single or obvious solution to our parks and public spaces. Some people like it busy, some people like the quiet. Some want European trees and others desire native plantings. It’s complicated, and each of these opinions make valid points. </p>
<p>Just like Yencken’s Greening of Swanston, there will always be debate about what makes good public space. And that is exactly why we need more radical ideas – some might call them “crazy” – for our cities.</p>
<p>We know the future of our cities will be complicated. Like it or not, there will be more people, a changing climate and increasing pressure on infrastructure and services. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-want-liveable-cities-in-2060-well-have-to-work-together-to-transform-urban-systems-119235">If we want liveable cities in 2060 we'll have to work together to transform urban systems</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wicked problems call for radical thinking</h2>
<p>These messy issues are often described as <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-many-wicked-problems-how-science-policy-and-politics-can-work-together-8990">wicked problems</a>. Popular in public policy and management, the term is used to explain problems with debatable cause and effect. Critically, the lack of agreement about wicked problems produces conflicting goals towards resolution.</p>
<p>Obviously, we need science, governance and planning, but finding solutions to wicked problems will also require creativity and collaboration. We need debate and we need ideas that can expand our imagination about what our cities can be. This is why it is so important that the competition entries for the Future Park explore new and outrageous possibilities.</p>
<p>Ideas throughout the shortlisted entries include plans for a new NBN: the National Biodiversity Network, which creates ecological corridors across the country. Others propose transforming schools into parkland; parks designed for bees; designs that return darkness to our urban landscapes; and sculpting new islands as rising sea levels engulf our coastline.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296122/original/file-20191009-3910-wjyu19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Multi-deck parks: as cities grow and space becomes ever more precious, urban parks replace car parks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Future Park Design Ideas Competition</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As design solutions, these ideas reflect the challenges of our world today. While many of these schemes are technically, socially or economically unfeasible, they remind us of the power of thinking outside of the box. Importantly, the competition format puts all of these ideas together in one place for us to think about and discuss. </p>
<p>In Australia, we have a <a href="https://theconversation.com/architecture-competitions-are-risky-but-we-can-build-on-that-29476">limited culture of “open design competitions”</a> for either built projects or speculative solutions. But design competitions provide opportunities for new voices and discovering unexpected solutions within these wild ideas. </p>
<p>Radical ideas are important and so is having the freedom to voice them. Especially as a way of expanding the discussions we need to have about the challenging future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reshaping-sydney-by-design-few-know-about-the-mandatory-competitions-but-we-all-see-the-results-111839">Reshaping Sydney by design – few know about the mandatory competitions, but we all see the results</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Future Park competition winners will be announced on Friday, October 11, at the <a href="https://www.aila.org.au/imis_prod/TSATP/Home/TSATP/Default.aspx?hkey=39717070-b978-492a-b2d6-c59aab8cd866">2019 International Festival of Landscape Architecture</a> in Melbourne. The <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/be150/events/the-future-park-design-ideas-competition-the-square-and-the-park-exhibition">Future Park exhibition</a> is at Dulux Gallery, Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, from October 4 to November 1.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Walls' PhD research was funded by the David Yencken Scholarship for Landscape Architecture and Ecological Sustainability.</span></em></p>Some might scoff at the free-ranging ideas sparked by a competition to design future parks for Melbourne. But the legacy of a radical idea to green a CBD street in 1985 shows why we need such thinking.Wendy Walls, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199302019-07-26T21:57:10Z2019-07-26T21:57:10ZIncreasing tree cover may be like a ‘superfood’ for community mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285081/original/file-20190722-45487-51poo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Imagine Hyde Park in Sydney without its tree cover ... the impact on this space and the many people who spend time in it would be profound.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-running-through-hyde-park-other-683426125?src=xCkq6KgagTZCSrLjnDFe4Q-1-62&studio=1">EA Given/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/premiers-priorities/greening-our-city/">Increasing tree canopy and green cover across Greater Sydney</a> and increasing the proportion of homes in urban areas within 10 minutes’ walk of <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/premiers-priorities/greener-public-spaces/">quality green, open and public space</a> are among the New South Wales premier’s new priorities. Cities around Australia have similar goals. In <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.8209?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=072619">our latest study</a>, we asked if more of any green space will do? Or does the type of green space matter for our mental health?</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.8209?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=072619">results</a> suggest the type of green space <em>does</em> matter. Adults with 30% or more of their neighbourhood covered in some form of tree canopy had 31% lower odds of developing psychological distress. The same amount of tree cover was linked to 33% lower odds of developing fair to poor general health.</p>
<p>We also found poorer mental and general health among adults in areas with higher percentages of bare grass nearby, but there’s likely more to that than meets the eye.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/green-for-wellbeing-science-tells-us-how-to-design-urban-spaces-that-heal-us-82437">Green for wellbeing – science tells us how to design urban spaces that heal us</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283935/original/file-20190713-173351-1tau6hn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Treed neighbourhoods have a natural appeal to people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/cMCqPMqeyNI">Tim Gouw/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How did we do the research?</h2>
<p>Our research involved tracking changes in health over an average of about six years, for around 46,000 adults aged 45 years or older, living in Sydney, Newcastle or Wollongong. We examined health in relation to different types of green space available within a 1.6 kilometre (1 mile) walk from home.</p>
<p>Our method helped to guard against competing explanations for our results, such as differences in income, education, relationship status, sex, and age. We also restricted the sample to adults who did not move home, because it is plausible that people who are already healthier (for instance because they are more physically active) move into areas with more green space.</p>
<p>So is the answer simply more trees and less grass? Not exactly. Let’s get into the weeds.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/green-space-how-much-is-enough-and-whats-the-best-way-to-deliver-it-77393">Green space – how much is enough, and what's the best way to deliver it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Trees make it cool to walk</h2>
<p>Imagine you’re walking down a typical street on a summer’s day in the middle of an Australian city. It’s full of right angles, grey or dark hard surfaces, glass structures, and innumerable advertisements competing for your attention. Then you turn a corner and your gaze is drawn upwards to a majestic tree canopy exploding with a vivid array of greens for as far as you can see.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285076/original/file-20190722-134123-jfhalm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tree-lined street like Swanston Street in Melbourne is a more walkable street.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-apr-12-people-walking-412050490?src=ERDih1J3lGqU315Pq-y04g-1-0&studio=1">kittis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Walking down this green street, you may instantly feel some relief from the summer heat.</p>
<p>Studies are linking high temperatures with heat exhaustion and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00038-009-0112-0">mental health impacts</a>. Research has suggested trees, rather than other forms of green space, may be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132311002228">best at reducing temperatures in cities</a>. It may also simply be more comfortable to walk outside in cooler temperatures – not to mention going for a run or bike ride, both of which are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911759/">good for mental health</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-need-more-trees-but-some-commonly-planted-ones-wont-survive-climate-change-120493">Our cities need more trees, but some commonly planted ones won't survive climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Feeling restored and alert</h2>
<p>But as the minutes of walking beneath this natural umbrella of lush foliage accumulate, other things are happening too. The vibrant colours, natural shapes and textures, fresh aromas, and rustling of leaves in the breeze all provide you with effortless distraction and relief from whatever it was you might have been thinking about, or even stressing over. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283937/original/file-20190713-173325-1fq1ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trees can provide a soothing sensory distraction from our troubles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/alROYtC8fDw">Jake Ingle/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Studies back this up. Walks through green space have been shown to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494402001093">reduce blood pressure, improve mental acuity</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204615000286">boost memory recall, and reduce feelings of anxiety</a>. The Japanese have a name for this type of experience: <a href="https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/"><em>shinrin-yoku</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Friends, old and new</h2>
<p>You walk past groups of people on the footpath taking time to catch up over coffee in the shade. Some research has found that tree cover, rather than green space more generally, is a predictor of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013916513518064">social capital</a>. Social capital, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x">according to Robert Putnam</a>, refers to the “social networks and the associated norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness” that may have important influences on our life chances and <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-71311-3_1">health</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283962/original/file-20190714-173370-1ukp5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dogs and trees both contribute to building healthy social relations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/_3IKJA5i9rU">Liubov Ilchuk/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You walk further and a chorus of birdsong soars through the neighbourhood noise. Trees provide shelter and food for a variety of animals. Research suggests tree canopy tends to be <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.12943">more biodiverse than low-lying vegetation</a>. </p>
<p>Increased biodiversity may support better <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02320/full">mental health</a> by enhancing the restorative experience and also via the immunoregulatory benefits of microbial “<a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18360?etoc=">Old Friends</a>” – microorganisms that helped shape our immune systems but which have been largely <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18360?etoc=">eliminated from our urban environments</a>. </p>
<p>Green spaces with tree canopy are settings where communities can come together to watch birds and other animals, which can also be catalysts for new conversations and developing feelings of community belonging in the neighbourhoods where we live … just ask <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953605000535">dog owners</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reducing-stress-at-work-is-a-walk-in-the-park-57634">Reducing stress at work is a walk in the park</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So, what about the grass?</h2>
<p>Our research did not show a mental health benefit from more bare grassed areas. This does <em>not</em> mean grass is bad for mental health. </p>
<p>Previous research suggests adults are less likely to wander in green spaces that are relatively <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749379704002983">plain and lacking in a variety of features or amenities</a>.
This may also be partly attributable to preferences for green spaces with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01426397.2017.1302571?journalCode=clar20">more complex vegetation</a>, such as parks that mix grass with tree canopy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285083/original/file-20190722-45508-774nw5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parks with a variety of vegetation, including trees and grass, may be more attractive for a wider range of outdoor activities than those with few trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Furthermore, large areas of bare grass in cities can make built environments more spread-out and less dense. Without tree canopy to shield from the midday sun, this may increase the likelihood of people using cars for short trips instead of walking through a park or along a footpath. The result is missed opportunities for physical activity, mental restoration, and impromptu chats with neighbours. Previous work in the United States suggests this might be why <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/66/2/160">higher death rates were found in greener American cities</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283956/original/file-20190714-173334-1lbo5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grassed areas can occupy a large amount of space for surprisingly little mental health benefit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/CFhF8pt4N-w">chuttersnap/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Large open areas of grass can be awesome for physical activity and sport, but let’s make sure there is also plenty of tree canopy too, while also thinking about ways to get more people outdoors in green spaces. Here are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31185675">some suggestions</a>.</p>
<h2>Making Australia greener and healthier</h2>
<p>As the density of Australian cities continues to increase and more of us live in apartments and/or work in high-rise office blocks, it is great to see strategies to invest in tree cover and urban greening more generally across Australia. Cities with such plans include <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Policy-and-Legislation/Open-space-and-parklands/5-million-trees/Five-Million-Trees-grant">Sydney</a>, <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/sitecollectiondocuments/green-our-city-action-plan-2018.pdf">Melbourne</a>, <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/20180207-brisbane_clean_green_sustainable_2017-2031.pdf">Brisbane</a>, <a href="https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/Sports-Parks-Recreation/Greening-Greater-Bendigo">Bendigo</a>, <a href="https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Greening%20Freo%20Strategy.pdf">Fremantle</a>, and <a href="http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/services/sustainability/Documents/Urban%20Greening%20Strategy.pdf">Wollongong</a>. </p>
<p>You can get involved and have some fun at the same time too. Lots of evidence says <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301401">gardening is really great for your mental health</a>. So why not grab a mate and spend a couple of hours planting a tree on July 28 for <a href="https://treeday.planetark.org/">National Tree Day</a>!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283963/original/file-20190714-173342-se2zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Both the act of planting a tree and its presence over the decades are good for us.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/amyfry/629576705">Amy Fry/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Astell-Burt receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and Hort Innovation Ltd. He is also a member of the Western Sydney Diabetes Leadership Alliance.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xiaoqi Feng receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and Hort Innovation Ltd. She is also a member of the Western Sydney Diabetes Leadership Alliance.</span></em></p>Cities around Australia have plans to increase their green space, but new research shows not all green spaces are equal. Good tree cover is better than grassed areas for residents’ mental health.Thomas Astell-Burt, Professor of Population Health and Environmental Data Science, NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research Leadership Fellow, University of WollongongXiaoqi Feng, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and NHMRC Career Development Fellow, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151552019-05-08T20:12:57Z2019-05-08T20:12:57ZWhy suburban parks offer an antidote to helicopter parenting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273234/original/file-20190508-183100-1q28epz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parks are places where children make their own decisions, explore their imaginations and expand their abilities. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-young-children-sitting-top-playground-65845672?src=wzf_cgRFbjTQcdkVCE069A-1-55">Daxiao Productions/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Well-designed suburban parks could be an antidote to helicopter parenting. As well as giving kids much-needed time outdoors being active, suburban parks offer kids opportunities to decide what activities they do, <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/designlab/projects/intergenerational-park-design-for-active-and-engaged-communities/">new research</a> shows. It’s an ideal opportunity for parents to let go of their task-focused daily agendas, even if just for a little while. </p>
<p>Helicopter parenting, or intensive parenting, includes anticipating and solving children’s problems, limiting their risks and enrolling them in many structured activities. Yet this approach often <a href="https://link-springer-com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10826-014-0035-0.pdf">does not lead to positive outcomes for children </a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-much-love-helicopter-parents-could-be-raising-anxious-narcissistic-children-116182">Too much love: helicopter parents could be raising anxious, narcissistic children</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For some families, letting kids take control of their activities is likely a shift from parents’ daily routines of continuously reminding children about chores, homework and bedtime. The constant list of tasks and rules can get tiring, leaving both frustrated and potentially resorting to unhealthy behaviours. Although some children can excel with a “highly driven schedule”, for many it can be a <a href="https://pediatrics-aappublications-org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pediatrics/119/1/182.full.pdf">source of stress and anxiety</a>.</p>
<p>Play in general allows children to be imaginative and <a href="https://pediatrics-aappublications-org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pediatrics/119/1/182.full.pdf">develop physical, cognitive, and emotional strength</a>. It’s especially true for unstructured free play. This may also offer parents a glimpse into their children’s world and enable them to provide nurturing guidance, instead of strict rules.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/designlab/projects/intergenerational-park-design-for-active-and-engaged-communities/">our research</a>, we interviewed adults visiting 12 parks within the Moreton Bay Regional Council area in Southeast Queensland, Australia. A total of 417 brief interviews were completed over four months during the 2017-18 summer.</p>
<h2>What has the research found?</h2>
<p>According to the parents, grandparents and caregivers interviewed, kids decide what to do when they go to a park. Many indicated they watch over or play with the children, but they let them make the decisions about their activities.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I take their lead. I just let them do what they want to do. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some parents and caregivers said time at the park was “their time”, meaning the kids had free time to do what they pleased. “She’s the boss at the park,” one said. Playing in the park was a good opportunity for children to make decisions and simply enjoy themselves:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’re here for them, so they can pretty much do what they want. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>As a mostly unstructured activity, visiting a park is an opportunity for parents and caregivers to allow children to make independent decisions in a relatively controlled and contained environment, which allows for some risk-taking and experimentation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273232/original/file-20190508-183077-12cri6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Equipment that enables children to take small risks may help extend their skills and self-confidence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-little-twin-sisters-jumping-off-1177939816?src=wzf_cgRFbjTQcdkVCE069A-1-5">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, safety is still a concern. It was clear from the adults interviewed that children could do what they would like “as long as it’s safe”. As one parent stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The kids [decide], unless, of course, they go and try and climb up on that stupid thing. I’ll say, get down, let’s not break an arm today.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What makes for an appealing park?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273235/original/file-20190508-183106-1vspdp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wide variety of equipment helps ensure children don’t get bored.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-girl-playing-playground-outdoors-summer-666202231?src=Cm1-AFYH_Xfm2jn2yvnrdw-1-39">ilkercelik/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not all parks are created equal, nor do they all attract local residents. Playgrounds were the primary areas of the parks where children actively played (82%), followed by sports fields (17%) and pathways (14%). </p>
<p>Offering many different playing opportunities was an important characteristic of a park, participants suggested. A wide variety of equipment helps maintain children’s attention and interest, which prevents them from getting bored. </p>
<p>Some parents also suggested a variety of options allowed children to attempt a range of physical skills and provided enough space to run around, move and expend energy. As one parent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I know that we’ve taken them to playgrounds and parks before when there’s only been two or three different things to play on. He gets bored in half an hour. Whereas here he’s quite content just roaming around. Different activities, different swings, climbing apparatus and different colours are always good things as well. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Equipment that requires children to take small risks, which parents can oversee, may help extend children’s skills and self-confidence. For example, climbing was one of the skills that adults “taught” the children while at the park. This enabled children to develop gross motor skills and weigh up risks. </p>
<p>Creating parks for a range of ages is important, as is providing variety for each age group. These findings represent a small portion of a larger study on designing suburban parks for groups of all ages. One of the goals is design recommendations for parks that better meet the needs of all ages for healthy, active living.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debra Flanders Cushing received funding from the Australian Research Council for this project. Partners on this project include QUT, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Conrad Gargett, Playscape Creations, 7 Senses Foundation, the National Wellness Institute of Australia and the National Heart Foundation of Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janelle MacKenzie received funding from the Australian Research Council for this project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurie Buys receives funding from the Australian Research Council for this project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Trost receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Queensland Children's Hospital Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracy Lynn Washington receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Transport Main Roads. She is affiliated with the National Wellness Institute, Australia. </span></em></p>Parents are more willing to let children do their own thing in parks. It’s a chance for children to make their own decisions, explore their abilities and imaginations, and weigh up risks.Debra Flanders Cushing, Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture, Queensland University of TechnologyJanelle MacKenzie, Research Project Officer, School of Design, Queensland University of TechnologyLaurie Buys, Professor, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of TechnologyStewart Trost, Professor of Physical Activity and Health, Queensland University of TechnologyTracy Sherwood Washington, Lecturer and Researcher in Urban and Regional Planning, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1151522019-04-15T02:19:15Z2019-04-15T02:19:15ZNew minister for public spaces is welcome – now here are ten priorities for action<p>With the re-election of the Berejiklian government, New South Wales now has a minister for public spaces, Rob Stokes. This portfolio was <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/your-government/the-premier/media-releases-from-the-premier/new-minister-for-public-spaces-protections-for-public-land-150-million-for-new-parks/">first mooted in February</a>, when the premier announced one of the new minister’s tasks would be to identify and protect publicly owned land for use as parks or public spaces.</p>
<p>As important as this task is, we need even more ambition in this portfolio. Public space is crucial to the social, economic, political and environmental life of our towns and cities. As well as increasing the quantity of public spaces, we need to improve their quality.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/surprise-digital-space-isnt-replacing-public-space-and-might-even-help-make-it-better-87173">Surprise! Digital space isn't replacing public space, and might even help make it better</a>
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<p>Here are ten priorities for government action to make our public spaces more plentiful and more accessible to all.</p>
<p><strong>1. Rein in privately owned public spaces</strong></p>
<p>From Barangaroo to Bonnyrigg, public spaces in new urban developments are often owned and controlled by private developers. The public has little say over the rules that govern these spaces and how those rules are enforced. Restrictions are often excessive, and private security guards are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/security-company-apologises-after-reporter-accosted-at-malcolm-turnbull-event-20181118-p50gqi.html">known to overstep their powers</a>.</p>
<p>The minister for public space should <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/revealed-pseudo-public-space-pops-london-investigation-map">map the extent of privately owned public spaces</a> and ensure these are governed by the same, democratically determined laws that cover publicly owned public spaces.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-developments-green-doesnt-help-with-inequality-104941">Making developments green doesn’t help with inequality</a>
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<p><strong>2. Strategic purchases of private land</strong></p>
<p>As well as identifying publicly owned land that could be used for parks or public spaces, the minister should identify privately owned land that could be acquired for the same purpose. The <a href="https://www.glebesociety.org.au/?socialhistory=glebes-waterfront-history-the-last-40-years">gradual purchase of harbour foreshore property in Glebe</a> has resulted in a wonderful and well-used foreshore walk. Similar opportunities to create public space networks should be identified and planned.</p>
<p><strong>3. Unlock the gates</strong></p>
<p>Too much publicly owned public space is under-utilised because it is locked up. Across the city, ovals and public school playgrounds are fenced off from the public for much of the year when they are not in use. We own these spaces – when they’re not in use for sport or school, we should have access to them. </p>
<p>As minister for education, Stokes recently trialled a program of <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/news/announcements/schools-to-throw-open-gates-for-community-use">opening some school playgrounds during school holidays</a>. This should be done across the city. And councils should be required to show cause if they want to restrict access to any public spaces they own.</p>
<p><strong>4. Stop the temporary enclosures</strong></p>
<p>A growing number of park authorities and local governments are doing deals with private companies to <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-events-help-fund-public-parks-but-theres-a-cost-too-21343">temporarily fence off public spaces for commercial activities</a>. Sometimes they do this for days, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/paul-keating-to-peter-garrett-dont-dance-on-sydneys-sacred-land-20171110-gzizzy.html">sometimes for weeks</a> and even months. They do it because they’re short of funds and need the revenue. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/private-events-help-fund-public-parks-but-theres-a-cost-too-21343">Private events help fund public parks, but there's a cost too</a>
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<p>While programming events in public spaces can help attract crowds, we must halt the creeping logic of commercialisation, which results in us being charged money for access to our own spaces. The minister for public space should ensure park authorities do not need to depend on commercial funding for survival.</p>
<p><strong>5. Maintain footpaths</strong></p>
<p>The quality of footpaths makes a world of difference for many people. Think of parents with prams, little kids, people with mobility issues, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-simple-changes-to-our-neighbourhoods-can-help-us-age-well-83962">older people</a> for whom falls are a big health risk. Our footpaths need to be wide and their surfaces even. They also need to incorporate places to rest.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-simple-changes-to-our-neighbourhoods-can-help-us-age-well-83962">Eight simple changes to our neighbourhoods can help us age well</a>
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<p>The capacity of local governments to maintain footpaths is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/australias-richest-suburb-theyre-swimming-in-it-20140103-309o8.html">highly uneven</a>. Public spaces in wealthy areas are gold-plated, while in other parts of the city footpaths are too often in poor condition or non-existent. The minister must think about the role that state government can play in evening things out, assisting local governments where required.</p>
<p><strong>6. Provide public toilets</strong></p>
<p>As with footpaths, the provision of public toilets can make the difference between going out or staying at home for many people. The minister should <a href="https://toiletmap.gov.au/find/New%20South%20Wales/Sydney">use existing data</a> to audit the provision and accessibility of public toilets in public spaces across the city, identify gaps and fund improvements where required.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/caught-short-we-need-to-talk-about-public-toilets-60450">Caught short: we need to talk about public toilets</a>
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<p><strong>7. Less private advertising, more public expression</strong></p>
<p>While <a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-the-uncivil-mr-jones-104549">advertising on the Opera House generated controversy</a>, the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/why-the-creeping-sell-off-of-public-space-for-private-ads-is-so-wrong-20181008-p508el.html">creeping spread of commercial advertising in public space</a> is also of concern. All this advertising is commercialising our public spaces and crowding out other forms of public expression – from neighbourhood notices about community events and lost cats to murals and street art. </p>
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<p>The minister should work with local governments to limit the amount of advertising in public space, and extract more public good from any advertising revenues raised in public space.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-there-any-way-to-stop-ad-creep-75445">Is there any way to stop ad creep?</a>
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<p><strong>8. No more sniffer dogs and strip searches</strong></p>
<p>The policing of public spaces makes a huge difference to its accessibility. Exclusionary policing strategies – especially the use of drug sniffer dogs and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/rise-in-strip-searches-in-nsw-damaging-the-credibility-of-police-20190213-p50xew.html">rising use of strip searches</a> – should be stopped. </p>
<p>These tactics are not only put to work at festivals, but also around train stations and entertainment precincts. They are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-03/fact-check-are-drug-dogs-incorrect-75-pc-of-the-time/10568410">ineffective in leading to prosecutions</a> and are too often used to shame, intimidate and harass people without basis. </p>
<p>The minister for public space needs to challenge the minister for police about this form of policing.</p>
<p><strong>9. Care not control</strong></p>
<p>This is not say that safety is unimportant. We know that <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-safer-cities-for-everyone-we-need-to-avoid-security-that-threatens-93421">fear of harassment and assault stops some people using public space</a>, not least women who often experience this.</p>
<p>However, we must not equate “feeling safe” with “more police” and “more surveillance cameras”. Indeed, sometimes these can have the perverse effect of making people feel less safe, by producing atmospheres of threat. </p>
<p>We feel safer when there are others around caring for the space. So, the minister should investigate ways to encourage these forms of care. Simple measures like later opening hours for neighbourhood shops, or staff on railway platforms and train carriages, can make a big difference.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-safer-cities-for-everyone-we-need-to-avoid-security-that-threatens-93421">To create safer cities for everyone, we need to avoid security that threatens</a>
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<p><strong>10. Plant more trees</strong></p>
<p>We need <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/one-million-urban-trees-808352/">more trees in our public spaces</a> – not just in parks, but on residential and commercial streets too. This is especially important in parts of the city where summer temperatures are already extreme for weeks at a time. Not only do trees help to cool these spaces, they also encourage more biodiversity and combat carbon emissions. </p>
<p>The minister should establish, and fund, a meaningful target for tree planting in public spaces.</p>
<p>This list of suggestions is far from exhaustive. But these reforms and others ought to be on the drawing board as the minister for public space sets about his new work. </p>
<p>It must be hoped this new portfolio is more than a tokenistic attempt to create the appearance of action on public space, in the face of criticism of this <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/Privatisation%20in%20NSW%20-%20a%20timeline%20and%20key%20sources.pdf">government’s record on privatisation of public assets</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kurt Iveson has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the City of Sydney, and the Henry Halloran Trust at the University of Sydney. </span></em></p>New South Wales now has a minister for public spaces, a nod to their importance to the life of a city. But not all is well with public spaces and some issues demand the minister’s attention.Kurt Iveson, Associate Professor of Urban Geography, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/952902018-05-07T20:10:17Z2018-05-07T20:10:17ZTweet all about it – people in parks feel more positive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216802/original/file-20180430-135817-100jub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C70%2C3581%2C1785&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being in a park tends to make people feel more positive, although the time of day and the season also affect their moods.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-use-mobile-phone-countryside-1073482613?src=csbOCN4JjkFr3qRhpSDxHA-2-3">leungchopan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People in parks are more positive, and around areas like major transport hubs more negative, according to our analysis of 2.2 million tweets in Melbourne.</p>
<p><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/limkwanhui/publications/2018-WWW-greenspaceStudy.pdf">Our research</a> combines social media, such as Twitter, and big data analytics, tied to real time and place, to develop understanding of the well-being benefits of city parks. <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/limkwanhui/publications/2018-WWW-greenspaceStudy.pdf">The analysis</a> shows that tweets in parks contain more positive content (and less negativity) than in built-up areas. For built-up areas in general, negativity is often associated with major transport hubs, perhaps unsurprisingly, and residential areas.</p>
<p>Around the world we are seeking to improve the <a href="https://www.healthybydesignsa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Green-Spaces-Evidence-Review-FINAL_website.pdf">well-being of people living in cities</a>. One way we do this is by providing public access to natural green spaces such as parks. But how do we assess the benefits and identify which parks, and which elements of a park, best promote well-being?</p>
<p>To date, researchers have examined the well-being benefits of parks using intrusive questionnaires, interviews and physiological <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204611003665">tests</a> (e.g. skin conductance, heart rate). We now have <a href="https://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects/2016/urban-green-spaces/social-networks-urban-green-spaces">technology</a>, including smartphones, apps and social media posts, that we can use to observe these benefits in detail, across very large scales. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216984/original/file-20180501-135848-e8w70c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A lot of people send a lot of messages and analysis of these can tell us about the impact of their surroundings on how they feel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanh1/9546522671">Dun.can/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Our findings add to the evidence that parks are important for creating smarter, healthier and more liveable cities. </p>
<h2>How do we measure well-being in parks?</h2>
<p>Hundreds of millions of people around the world use Twitter for updating their family, friends and followers about their daily activities, thoughts and feelings. People sometimes post public tweets that are linked to the location they are sending from. The words in each tweet can be analysed for their emotional content (referred to as sentiment).</p>
<p>Sentiment analysis categorises each word as positive, negative or neutral, to give an overall score for each tweet. We averaged tweets across the parks that they were posted from, to give an overall positivity/negativity score for each park. </p>
<p>On average, tweets by people in parks express more joy, anticipation and trust, and lower levels of anger and fear, compared to tweets by people in built-up areas. Being near parks also reduced negativity, but did not affect positivity. </p>
<h2>Do time of day and seasons have an effect?</h2>
<p>Each tweet is tagged with the time it’s posted. Tweet sentiment scores can also be averaged across specific periods, such as hour, day or month. Beyond the general positive effects of parks compared to built-up areas, we found some general patterns that show people tend to be influenced by the time they are tweeting.</p>
<p>Across the day, from lunch to the end of the work day, people tended to express less and less positivity, before bouncing back in the evening. This change seems to mirror general schooling and working life – that is, <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/%7Ecdanfort/press/Science-2011-Miller-1814-5.pdf">how people experience and recover from their work</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216987/original/file-20180501-135844-181844i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Spending a warm day off in the park certainly seems to lift people’s mood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnloo/14928176288">John Loo/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Similarly, there is a general pattern of people being more positive on weekends than weekdays. While this pattern is similar for both parks and built-up areas, parks seem more positive than built-up areas regardless of the day of week.</p>
<p>Across seasons, from warmer months to cooler months, people tended to express more positivity in parks. Positivity seems to improve steadily from May to December, as we move from winter to summer in Australia. In contrast, built-up areas do not seem to show any clear patterns. </p>
<h2>Why are people happier in parks?</h2>
<p>People <a href="http://parkrxamerica.org/pdf/Hartig-2016-Living-in-cities-naturally.pdf">might be happier in parks</a> for several reasons. Parks can help them to recover from the stress and mental strain of living in cities, and provide a place to exercise, meet other people, or host special events such as music festivals.</p>
<p>We need to do more research to help us understand the effect of park features. For example, being green with lots of vegetation is likely related to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophilia_hypothesis">biophilia</a>. And how do the effects differ when parks are used as settings for particular activities? </p>
<p>We know parks are great places, but we are still working out exactly why they’re great. Knowing more about this will help us make even better parks. Making the best use of public open space and green space is <a href="http://indicators.report/indicators/i-70/">really important</a> as more and more people live in cities around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kwan Hui Lim receives funding from Melbourne Networked Society Institute and Defence Science and Technology Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave Kendal receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the federal Department of the Environment, the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, the City of Melbourne, the Melbourne Networked Society Institute and the Glenelg Hopkins and Corangamite Catchment Management Authorities. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Lee receives funding from the the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program through the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, the Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Horticulture Innovation Australia, the Upper Stony Creek Transformation Consortium, and Parks Victoria. </span></em></p>The positive mood of tweets varies with time of day and season, but it’s consistently higher in parks than in built-up areas, where people are more likely to express anger and fears.Kwan Hui Lim, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneDave Kendal, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management, University of TasmaniaKate Lee, Research fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/934732018-04-09T20:02:54Z2018-04-09T20:02:54ZSensors in public spaces can help create cities that are both smart and sociable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212589/original/file-20180329-189810-43yvty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Overflowing bins are one way to spoil the amenity of public space, but sensors can now alert councils when bins need emptying.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waste_bins_overflowing_on_the_National_Mall;_Washington,_DC;_2013-10-06.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How are smart cities meant to meet citizen needs? Big data from a network of sensors can give managers and planners a real-time, big-picture overview of traffic flows, public transport patronage, and water and power use. However, the needs of people in the city must be met at both the meta and micro levels. </p>
<p>To do this we need site-specific and real-time information on how people use and value public spaces. Smart technology can collect this information from public spaces. This involves asking questions such as who is using it, how, why and for how long?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-friendly-furniture-in-public-places-matters-more-than-ever-in-todays-city-83568">People-friendly furniture in public places matters more than ever in today's city</a>
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<p>We are investigating these questions in collaboration with <a href="http://streetfurniture.com/au/about/what-we-do/">Street Furniture Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/Council/About-Your-Council/Publications/Media/Council-and-UNSW-to-create-%E2%80%98Smart-Social-Spaces%E2%80%99-i">Georges River Council</a> in New South Wales, with funding from the Commonwealth <a href="https://cities.infrastructure.gov.au/smart-cities-program">Smart Cities and Suburbs Program</a>. </p>
<p>As cities densify and apartment living becomes the norm, public outdoor spaces will be increasingly important for everyday socialisation, as well as special gatherings and celebrations. Planners and urban designers need to develop their understanding of exactly how these valuable public spaces work to maximise their social and functional amenity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Georges River Council is looking at ‘healthy living hardware’ that, for example, improves outdoor cooking facilities by including preparation areas and wash stations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is the project about?</h2>
<p>The team will record the detailed use of two public spaces. At first, behaviour mapping will provide detailed observational information about what’s happening in both spaces. The team will then embed invisible digital sensors in and on street furniture.</p>
<p>We will target picnic tables, rubbish bins, barbecues, seats, cigarette ash receptacles, bubblers, power points and lights. The sensors will measure usage, including water and power consumption. They will also provide real-time messages to the council on whether, for example, an ash receptacle is overheating, or a street bollard is damaged.</p>
<p>Information like this can be used to improve the amenity and user experience of public open spaces, as well as help to manage these spaces more efficiently. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The idea of smart public space is to maximise the public uses and benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our public spaces can be great social spaces, or merely places for through traffic. An <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/garema-place-social-experiment-sees-visitor-numbers-grow-report-finds-20170302-guoxe7.html">experiment in Canberra’s Garema Place</a> by Street Furniture Australia shows how such a thoroughfare can be turned around. </p>
<p>In response to simple design changes, such as seating, the number of people visiting and staying in the space grew. So too did the diversity of visitors, with families and children coming into the space. This extra activity benefited nearby shops.</p>
<h2>So what can smart technology achieve?</h2>
<p>One example of smart furniture is smart bins. Street Furniture Australia already has a product with sensors that tell council maintenance crews how full the bin is and whether it needs to be emptied. This information could yield insights about how these bins are being used and when. </p>
<p>In another example, a seat or bench that is hardly being used could be broken or too exposed to weather, and so should be moved. Any lack of use by children or older people could indicate that the location is not child-friendly or not easily accessible, for example. Again, relocation might be considered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When sensors show seating isn’t being used, that points to a problem – in this case, bird droppings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ShoreditchParkLondonApril2017.jpg">Lamiot/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>But what about the users of these spaces?</h2>
<p>Smart technology can help to transform the traditional user experience and enhance the capacity of public open space to support 21st-century city living. Think, for instance, of additions such as Wi-Fi or plugin points for laptops and phones.</p>
<p>Cities around the world are exploring how technology can improve the management of public spaces and facilities and better connect residents with local facilities and events. In Tel Aviv, for example, residents are issued with the <a href="http://citiscope.org/story/2015/tel-avivs-digitel-e-government-app-and-smart-card-all-one">Digi Tel Card</a>. The card gives live updates about:</p>
<ul>
<li>rates and discounts available at sport and recreation facilities</li>
<li>what is happening in the city</li>
<li>personalised information based, for example, on cultural or music preferences</li>
<li>information about issues, such as roadworks or community events, that may disrupt streets.</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w9_mnbcLKto?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tel Aviv’s DigiTel card connects residents to a personalised, interest-and-location-based digital communication network.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Isn’t this technology rather intrusive?</h2>
<p>While the benefits are many, greater use of technology in parks and the public domain raises questions. </p>
<p>Traditionally, urban parks and open spaces have been places where people go to “unwind”, so installing technological devices there may be seen as invasive. Some people may also feel uncomfortable about governments (albeit local ones) gaining data about them in a place where they want to relax. Additional questions relate to privacy, data ownership and how we can protect the technology from vandalism.</p>
<p>As for concerns about surveillance, the world has changed and the public space realm has changed with it. Walk through any major Australian city CBD and you will be filmed on CCTV. Various smart card ticketing systems (<a href="https://www.opal.com.au/en/about-opal/">Opal</a> in NSW, <a href="https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki">myki</a> in Victoria and <a href="https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/go-card">go card</a> in Queensland) provide a detailed record of everyone’s movements on public transport. Automatic numberplate scanners on tollways and in police cars are recording where we drive. </p>
<p>Even in parks, devices such as mobile phones track our location. By comparison, the sensors on street furniture will be relatively non-invasive and will not identify individual people.</p>
<p>The impetus for this research and data-gathering is to assist local government decision-making. By identifying and collecting relevant data, councils will have much-needed evidence to improve people’s lives as they use different public spaces. New scenarios can be identified, offering alternatives to provide support for different urban activities. </p>
<p>It is hard to predict just how much will need to alter as our cities densify and we increasingly rely on public spaces to meet many of our social needs. By ensuring all the elements of the public realm are efficiently and appropriately serving residents’ needs, planning and design policies and practices will be able to shape 21st-century cities that are both smart and sociable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Tietz is the Co-Chief Investigator for the Smart Social Spaces research project funded by The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Steinmetz receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Homa Rahmat receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Bishop receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Corkery receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miles Park receives funding from the The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nancy Marshall is the Co-Chief Investigator for the Smart Social Spaces research project funded by The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Thompson receives funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. Susan is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union. </span></em></p>Researchers are installing sensors to collect data about the use of public spaces. This can improve the management and public amenity of these places, but will users see the technology as intrusive?Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design, UNSW SydneyChristine Steinmetz-Weiss, Senior Lecturer in Built Environment, UNSW SydneyHoma Rahmat, Associate Lecturer, UNSW SydneyKate Bishop, Senior Lecturer, BEIL Director, Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW SydneyLinda Corkery, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, UNSW SydneyMiles Park, Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design, UNSW SydneyNancy Marshall, Senior Lecturer in City Planning, UNSW SydneySusan Thompson, Professor of Planning and Head, City Wellbeing Program, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/937292018-04-03T19:44:16Z2018-04-03T19:44:16ZOur legacy of liveable cities won’t last without a visionary response to growth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212125/original/file-20180327-188613-1komx6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Historic investments in green open space along the Yarra created a legacy of liveability in Melbourne.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/australia-melbourne-city-2017-travel-photo-713746663?src=pu5hf2CPmdnvY3QWVJg8rQ-1-1">Ispas Vlad/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s major cities are growing more rapidly than ever before, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/MediaRealesesByCatalogue/28F51C010D29BFC9CA2575A0002126CC">gaining three million residents in a decade</a>. Concerns about the risks to their long-term liveability and health are growing too. Is the consistent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-16/melbourne-named-worlds-most-liveable-city-for-seventh-year/8812196">placing of Australian cities</a> at the top of most <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-more-hunger-games-if-only-we-cared-about-the-real-world-liveability-olympics-63819">liveable city rankings</a> a reason for complacency?</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/MediaRealesesByCatalogue/28F51C010D29BFC9CA2575A0002126CC">fastest-growing city</a>, Melbourne, is experiencing <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/boom-town-melbournes-inner-city-population-surges-as-developers-let-in-20170408-gvgmm1.html">unprecedented growth</a> and yet has topped <a href="http://www.eiu.com/topic/liveability">The Economist Intelligence Unit global liveability ranking</a> for seven years running. However, much like Australia’s remarkable <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/09/economist-explains-3">record of 26 years of continuous economic growth</a>, many of the policy and institutional reforms that delivered this liveability legacy occurred decades ago. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-australias-population-shift-and-the-big-city-squeeze-75544">Three charts on Australia's population shift and the big city squeeze</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia is now undergoing its third great wave of population growth, putting pressure on infrastructure, services and the environment. During the past two waves of growth, in the late-19th and mid-20th centuries, cities implemented visionary responses. It’s largely because of these past phases of planning and investment that our cities have until now been able to sustain their liveability and a reasonably healthy natural environment.</p>
<p>A third wave of planning and investment in open space and green infrastructure is now needed to underpin liveability as our cities grow. The past offers important lessons about what made Melbourne, in particular, so liveable. </p>
<h2>Can we repeat the leadership of yesterday?</h2>
<p>In the early 19th century, European settlers ignored and displaced the Indigenous knowledge and connections with country. What grew in their place were initially little more than shambolic frontier towns.</p>
<p>In the Port Phillip colony, the gold rush, the subsequent population and property booms and the lack of city services led to Melbourne gaining an international reputation as “<a href="https://www.melbournewater.com.au/community-and-education/about-our-water/history-and-heritage/history-sewerage">Smellbourne</a>”.</p>
<p>But then, over several decades, visionary plans set aside a great, green arc of parklands and tree-lined boulevards around the city grid.</p>
<p>Melbourne constructed one of the world’s earliest sewerage systems. The forested headwaters of the Yarra River were <a href="https://www.melbournewater.com.au/community-and-education/about-our-water/history-and-heritage/history-our-rivers-and-creeks/history">reserved for water supply</a>. Melbourne is today one of a handful of major cities in the world drawing its natural water supplies from closed catchments.</p>
<p>And so, together with profound social and cultural changes, the shambolic frontier town transformed into “<a href="https://museumsvictoria.com.au/marvellous/1880s/index.asp">Marvellous Melbourne</a>”. Sydney and Australia’s other capital cities followed similar trajectories.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-signs-point-to-our-big-cities-need-for-democratic-metro-scale-governance-92417">All the signs point to our big cities' need for democratic, metro-scale governance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Then came the world wars and intervening Great Depression. These were times of austerity and sacrifice. Remarkably little investment in open space and green infrastructure occurred over these decades. </p>
<p>The 1956 Melbourne Olympics was perhaps the event that signalled the awakening from that somewhat bleak period. It was again time for optimism and vision, with the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.Nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/e2f62e625b7855bfca2570ec0073cdf6!OpenDocument">post-war population boom</a> well under way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=236&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212133/original/file-20180327-188601-1jvfkrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s population was booming at the time of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, with growth averaging 2.7% a year from 1945-1960 (the 2007-17 average is 1.7%).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Women_100m_final_1956_Olympics.jpg">Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne/melbourne-metropolitan-planning-scheme-1954-report">1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme</a> reflected this growing optimism and highlighted the potential for a network of open spaces across the rapidly expanding city. But it took time to build momentum for its implementation.</p>
<p>By the 1970s sprawling development had virtually doubled the metropolitan area of Melbourne. Services such as the sewerage system had not kept up. The Yarra and other waterways and Port Phillip Bay were <a href="https://www.melbournewater.com.au/community-and-education/about-our-water/history-and-heritage/history-our-rivers-and-creeks">becoming grossly polluted</a>. There was <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01159b.htm">community pressure to tackle pollution</a> caused by industry and unsewered suburbs. </p>
<p>In 1971, the Victorian <a href="http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-us">Environment Protection Authority</a>, the <a href="https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/guardian-origins-epa.html">second EPA in the world</a>, was created to regulate industry. State and federal governments made a huge investment in <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01360b.htm">sewering the suburbs</a>.</p>
<p>The city’s planners revived the earlier vision for Melbourne’s open space network, along with the idea of <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne">green wedges and development corridors</a>. Greater prosperity and community expectation secured the investment needed to deliver it.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212140/original/file-20180327-188607-1ojlxjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Historic decisions to protect the Yarra River have had lasting benefits for Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/yarra-river-warburton-victoria-australia-trees-570481633?src=cPKbNVFQYJbUC-RppOomUw-1-23">Dorothy Chiron/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne/planning-policies-for-metropolitan-melbourne-1971">1971 metropolitan plan</a> identified open-space corridors for waterways including the Yarra. Land began to be acquired to build this green network and the trail systems that connect it. Victoria became known as the “<a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/component/content/article/4-articles/2215-dick-hamer-portrait">Garden State</a>” in the 1970s.</p>
<p>This period stands out as the city’s second great wave of visionary planning and investment. It created the wonderful legacy of a world-class network of open space, much of it around waterways and Port Phillip Bay.</p>
<h2>Where to today?</h2>
<p>Sustaining or improving urban liveability is a massive challenge. It calls for a new vision and a commitment by governments to deliver it over many decades. Do we have policies and institutions capable of doing this?</p>
<p>Rather than “shaping” our cities, many state institutions are dominated by cost and efficiency goals that drive a “city servicing” mindset.</p>
<p>Melbourne, for instance, is in danger of exhausting the legacy of the last “city shaping” phase of visionary planning and investment. This all but ended in the 1980s. </p>
<p>By 1992, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works had been abolished. It once had responsibility for town planning, parks, waterways and floodplain management as well as water and sewerage services. It used the Metropolitan Improvement Fund (raised from city-wide property levies) to plan and deliver the city’s green infrastructure, including land acquisitions. </p>
<p>Where is the equivalent capability today? Our practitioners have the knowledge, skills and understanding to better plan for complex city needs, but this is not enough to shape a better future for coming generations. Without a vision and effective policies and institutions to deliver it, we risk ad hoc and wasteful decision-making and investment. The result will be poorer community well-being and less economic prosperity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/city-planning-suffers-growth-pains-of-australias-population-boom-75930">City planning suffers growth pains of Australia's population boom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The entrenched cost-efficiency or “city servicing” mindset is an all-too-narrow and short-term policy setting in an era of unprecedented urban population growth.</p>
<p>Expanding suburban fringes will lack amenity and a healthy environment, which may entrench disadvantage. Existing suburbs also need to improve quality, access and connectivity of public open space.</p>
<p>Green streetscapes, open space and tree cover are important for amenity. This includes countering urban heat in a warming climate. Co-ordinated investment in green infrastructure can also unlock new economic opportunities for our cities.</p>
<p>But, as the past has shown, little will happen without an effective city-shaping capability. Significant policy and institutional reforms, guided by a new vision, are essential to ensure a healthy environment, community well-being and the liveability and prosperity of our cities for decades to come.</p>
<p>Alternatively, we may find ourselves tumbling down the ranks of world’s most liveable cities. Our best and brightest will be drawn to greener pastures while the world asks in astonishment, “How did they let that happen?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Chesterfield is affiliated with Loci Environment and Place.</span></em></p>Australian cities are experiencing the third big wave of growth in their history. The response in the past was planning and investment in green infrastructure, and it’s time to do the same again.Chris Chesterfield, Director Strategic Engagement, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910652018-02-14T19:05:43Z2018-02-14T19:05:43ZNeighbourhood living rooms – we can learn a lot from European town squares<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204968/original/file-20180206-14107-1wng3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Campo Santa Maria Nova, in Venice, is a fine example of a compact, human-scale European plaza.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian urban design has historically focused on providing and improving access to public green spaces. As cities increase in density, this is a crucial part of creating healthy, engaged communities. But Australian urban designers often fail to consider the “other half” of public space – the town square.</p>
<p>Public squares or plazas were, and are, the centres of daily public life in many European towns and cities. Today they still influence the perception of place and help shape local identity. In Australia, <a href="http://fedsquare.com/">Federation Square</a> is an outstanding example of a space where Melbourne comes together. </p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-it-or-loathe-it-heres-why-apple-doesnt-need-a-planning-permit-for-its-fed-square-store-89527">Like it or loathe it, here's why Apple doesn't need a planning permit for its Fed Square store</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, public plazas need not be limited to the city centre. Social isolation is a major health concern in both suburbs and cities. Public spaces that offer opportunities for incidental interactions help build healthier and less isolated communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Public spaces that encourage people to sit and linger, as seen here in San Gimignano, Italy, promote social activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>There’s more to public space than green space</h2>
<p>In Australia, priority is given to green space – sporting grounds and parks. These are often segregated from the “flow” of a community. Of course, green spaces provide a necessary escape and respite, but they should not be considered the only way to provide community space in our suburbs.</p>
<p>When done right, plazas are nodes of vibrancy. Places like this are needed alongside green open spaces to accommodate unexpected and planned events and enrich the everyday life of communities.</p>
<p>Plazas accommodate a broad variety of activities, bringing people together without separating them from the street. Successful plazas encourage people to travel across them. This is achieved by embedding them within the street network. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many European plazas, like this one in Como, Italy, are approached through narrow streets, offering a welcoming open space to mingle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Especially evident in historic European towns, the approach to a plaza may be through windy, tight streets with limited direct sunlight. This makes the open, sunlit space of the square a welcome change. At entry, a momentary slowdown and a catching of breath occurs as the diluted intensity offers relief from the busy streets just passed and often teeming with tourists.</p>
<p>Plazas are a visual and psychological marker within the street network. They help us navigate the city and contribute to the identity of an area. </p>
<p>And by acting as neighbourhood living rooms, these shared spaces offer a place for residents to sit and meet, sometimes incidentally. A sense of community and belonging is fostered slowly in these spaces as formal and informal connections grow.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A good plaza serves as a neighbourhood living room where people feel comfortable spending time together. This one is in San Gimignano, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What makes a good plaza?</h2>
<p>Characteristics of successful plazas vary, but a set of basic conditions exists.</p>
<p>Influential architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander suggests that <a href="http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Ecological_Building/A_Pattern_Language.pdf">squares should be made much smaller than first imagined</a>.
This maxim holds true in many modern cities where overly large squares become empty, windswept voids, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pra%C3%A7a_dos_Tr%C3%AAs_Poderes">Praça dos Três Poderes</a> in Brasilia. </p>
<p>Designers need to consider a balance between accommodating large gatherings and the likely number of occupants at most other times. Providing for relative intimacy will ensure that spaces are inviting and feel lively. </p>
<hr>
<p>
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Read more:
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</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/jgehl">Jan Gehl</a> notes, for a neighbourhood square to function, faces need to be recognisable. Face recognition occurs from a distance of about 70 to 50 metres. At 25m, facial expression and details are
understood.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The contained, human-scale plazas of places like Como, Italy, are more inviting than large empty expanses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Locating a square at a confluence of streets will ensure that it is connected to the surrounding area and is a desirable thoroughfare. </p>
<p>The edges of the space are critical in supporting a lively atmosphere. Ground floors of surrounding buildings should house various attractions to provide pockets of activity. A mixing of functions will ensure activity from morning through to late in the evening.</p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-living-off-the-edge-in-a-city-mall-where-design-fuels-conflict-72351">Contested spaces: living off the edge in a city mall where design fuels conflict</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Protection from negative sensory influences, such as sun, traffic or rain, is important for creating a pleasant and comfortable environment in which people
wish to remain. Formal and informal seating, such as steps or building ledges, should also be provided. </p>
<p>Alongside elements, such as fountains and play areas, that provide a focal point, varied shop windows, building materials and design can provide visual complexity. All these elements help create a rich, inviting and memorable place. </p>
<p>The recently completed <a href="http://www.connectstonnington.vic.gov.au/grevilleandking">Greville Street upgrade</a> in Prahran, Melbourne, shows a change in attitude within Australia’s approach to suburban development. Greville Street has become a <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/shared-space">shared zone</a> with a new small square connected to Grattan Gardens. </p>
<p>The square offers a variety of convenient places to sit and people-watch, as well as respite without disconnection. When the fountain is running, children and pets playing with water jets provide entertainment for all. </p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
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</strong>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The creation of Greville Street square shows a shift in the planning of suburban public space in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gehl observes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whether people are enticed to walk around and stay in city space is very much a question of working carefully with the human dimensions and issuing a tempting invitation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This invitation holds the key to improving physical and mental health, and increasing civic pride. Within these inviting shared spaces, incidental interactions – the momentary glances and shared moments between strangers – can decrease feelings of loneliness and increase a sense of belonging to a community. This is important for general societal wellbeing, especially considering the <a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-social-researcher-and-author-hugh-mackay-on-2017-a-really-disturbing-year-89445">prevalence of loneliness</a> today. </p>
<p>Successful neighbourhood squares allow for incidental encounters. They encourage lingering and interaction. Most importantly, they bring an area to life and give the community a space in which everyone is invited to participate and belong.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A successful plaza, like this one in Venice, is a place where people naturally linger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dina Bacvic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Done right, a plaza can bring life and a sense of identity to an area. So why has urban design in Australia neglected the town square in favour of green space, and what makes for a successful one?Dina Bacvic, Architect and Urban Designer, Plus Architecture, and Tutor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/899612018-02-07T19:05:50Z2018-02-07T19:05:50ZPutting the pieces together to create safe public spaces for all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204774/original/file-20180205-19929-1xlz6e5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children's right to play outdoors depends on them having access to safe and inclusive public spaces.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Green and public spaces must be safe, inclusive and accessible for all. In Australia, however, most young women <a href="http://www.oecd.org/social/how-s-life-23089679.htm">do not feel safe</a> in public spaces, especially after dark or when walking alone. Welcoming public spaces are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-in-the-midst-of-a-public-space-crisis-56124">in decline in the US</a>.</p>
<p>Calls to enhance the built environment for the benefit and well-being of half of humanity, the <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Factsheet_Summit.pdf">3.5 billion people living in cities today</a>, have never been so strong, especially since <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/habitat-iii-26850">Habitat III</a>. </p>
<p>Universal access to safe and inclusive public spaces is a key target of <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/">Sustainable Development Goal 11</a>. A follow-up <a href="http://wuf9.org/programme/training-events/placemaking-sandbox-studio-co-creating-sustainable-and-inclusive-places-for-all/">placemaking</a> training event at the <a href="http://wuf9.org/theme/">ninth World Urban Forum (WUF9)</a>, starting this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will continue this global discussion on co-creating inclusive public spaces.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/habitat-iii-the-biggest-conference-youve-probably-never-heard-of-63499">Habitat III: the biggest conference you’ve probably never heard of</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet improving public space requires significant investment. To ensure that city governments, private developers and citizen experts continue to make meaningful investments in creating better public parks, playgrounds, streets and sidewalks, we need to be able to assess the public value of such spaces. </p>
<h2>So what are the ingredients of success?</h2>
<p>For a public space to be seen as safe, comfortable and successful, a diverse range of people need to actively use it. In a workshop at the 2017 <a href="https://www.ecocity2017.com/">EcoCity World Summit</a> in Melbourne, experts discussed challenges in everyday practices of developing and maintaining inclusive public spaces. The discussions led to a common understanding of what these spaces look like.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202683/original/file-20180121-110121-1i0ofzy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A workshop at the EcoCity World Summit in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several key elements of successful public space were identified:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Public space should not favour specific groups or promote gentrification. Sometimes, architectural design of public spaces can <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-dont-loiter-in-public-space-the-legacy-of-colonial-control-by-design-76979">restrict the free use of space</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Inclusive spaces work by encouraging a diverse mix of people who feel safe and comfortable in them. This mix should be intergenerational as well as intercultural. </p></li>
<li><p>Inclusive spaces can thrive only when they are open, free and accessible. The space should allow some flexibility in its use to suit changing needs. When streets and plazas accommodate multiple activities, they are activated at all times, even if used differently at different times. </p></li>
<li><p>Inclusive spaces must respect and acknowledge the needs of all genders and recognise children as active users of space. World Vision International, for instance, <a href="https://www.wvi.org/urban-programmes/cities-children-framework">engages children as change agents</a> who inform planning decisions for better and safer spaces. </p></li>
<li><p>Public space is accessible when it is well integrated and connected with surrounding land uses and transport options. If we <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/integrating-land-use-and-transportation-planning-through-placemaking">design for people rather than cars</a>, we can create places that more people are able to access and use.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Inclusion depends on real participation</h2>
<p>Participatory processes are incomplete without integrating community voice, building place-based relationships, fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging open communication in communities. </p>
<p>To achieve long-term success, it is important to understand how citizens can contribute to creating more inclusive spaces. Any space-changing project needs to nurture community and foster a sense of belonging among neighbouring residents.</p>
<p>Co-designing with the local community is crucial for a space to have a long-term sustainable impact and maintain continuous engagement. In Hobart’s <a href="http://www.villagewell.org/projects/masterplanning/">Macquarie Point</a>, for example, in addition to successfully building partnerships between multiple stakeholders, the project applied a phased activation plan, to allow the community to slowly engage with the spaces. </p>
<p>People have different ways of voicing their opinions. These different means of expression and participation need to be recognised when designing an inclusive space. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10304312.2017.1281884">Storytelling</a> is one powerful tool to share and listen to local histories of place. It helps create meaningful city spaces that are valuable to the whole community.</p>
<p>Technology promises new and innovative ways of engaging communities. Crowdsourcing is one approach to tap into the community and encourage them to share their experience in their use of public space.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.plan.org.au/">Plan International’s</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/safe-in-the-city-girls-tell-it-like-it-is-72975">map-based community engagement tool</a> allowed women to chart safe and unsafe spaces in the city and comment on them. This was an effective way for women with similar experiences to come together virtually and volunteer information. </p>
<p>However, easy translation of data into usable information to be shared widely is equally important for any participatory exercise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204498/original/file-20180201-123833-1iy7ogt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many elements go into creating an inclusive public space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Evaluating success of public spaces</h2>
<p>Workshop participants found it particularly challenging to find the most effective means to measure the success of public spaces. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13574809.2013.854698">Few appraisal tools</a> exist to measure the quality of public space.</p>
<p>The project evaluation component almost always falls by the wayside as the impact of public spaces takes longer to manifest but is crucial to sustaining these spaces. </p>
<p>The workshop discussion highlighted the need to further explore evaluation tools that help ensure projects and initiatives have lasting outcomes. </p>
<h2>The next steps</h2>
<p>Public space is a critical ingredient of liveable cities. It is also recognised as important for sustainable urban development. </p>
<p>Getting it right requires investment in research, programming, information and advocacy. </p>
<p>Health, well-being and prosperity all depend on the rightful use of public space to create communities that are inclusive and connected for the benefit of everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iderlina Mateo-Babiano receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Myer Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joyati Das and SriPallavi Nadimpalli do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For a public space to be seen as safe, welcoming and accessible, a diverse range of people need to actively use it. That’s why any space-changing project needs to engage broadly with the community.SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, The University of MelbourneDerlie Mateo-Babiano, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of MelbourneJoyati Das, Associate, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/833542017-09-27T01:52:34Z2017-09-27T01:52:34ZWe’re investing heavily in urban greening, so how are our cities doing?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187479/original/file-20170926-17414-1fp1e85.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Perth has long had many fine parks but is losing vegetation cover in a band of increasingly dense development across the city.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruben Schade/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Governments at all levels invest a lot in greening Australian suburbs. Yet, in a <a href="http://202020vision.com.au/help-hub/the-research-hub/detail/?id=4059">recent report</a>, we show that the greening efforts of most of our metropolitan local governments are actually going backwards.</p>
<p>This is a puzzle, as greening has clear environmental and economic benefits. The environmental benefits are obvious and relatively easy to count. For private home owners, numerous studies have linked greening to a range of economic benefits from <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013231400081X">energy savings</a> to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916303585">higher house prices</a>.</p>
<p>So how do we explain the loss of green cover?</p>
<h2>How we tracked the changes</h2>
<p>Our research aimed to assess urban greening efforts and what accounts for the gains and losses. </p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://canopy.itreetools.org/">i-Tree</a>, a well-known method for sampling urban vegetation distributions and associated land covers, we compared 2016-17 figures with an early assessment that ranged from <a href="http://202020vision.com.au/news/2014/08/where-are-all-the-trees/">2008 to 2013</a> to examine changes in vegetation cover by local government area.</p>
<p>The report shows that large variation exists nationally in the growth and loss of tree canopy. Losses and gains can often be explained, however, by the changing nature of urban vegetation as neighbourhoods are transformed over time.</p>
<p>For example, in the graph highlighting the extent of tree canopy cover change for metropolitan local governments, Glenorchy in Tasmania shows the greatest tree canopy loss between 2008 and 2015 (more than 15 percentage points). Yet a gain in shrub area of more than 12% largely offset this canopy loss.</p>
<p>Similarly, Armadale in Western Australia gained more than 12% of tree canopy cover between 2011 and 2015 but lost more than 15% of shrub cover.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187683/original/file-20170926-13681-19lexk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Loss of canopy from 2008-2013 to 2016 for all 139 metropolitan local government areas. (To see more detail in the report itself, click on the title.)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://202020vision.com.au/help-hub/the-research-hub/detail/?id=4059">Where should all the trees go?</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Metropolitan local governments in Australia are very diverse in size and land use. The largest in our study, Cairns Regional Council in Queensland, is 1,500 times the area of the smallest, Peppermint Grove in inner-city Perth.</p>
<p>Some local government areas are dominated by non-urban land uses. This means natural processes such as bushfires, drought and forest regrowth are going to significantly affect greening efforts. Others are going to be affected by urban densification and housing growth.</p>
<p>Understanding greening efforts as a function of canopy loss alone is problematic for some local governments. Instead, a more appropriate measure may be the total change in urban greenery (canopy, shrubs and turf) between the two study periods. These results show that 54 out of the 139 local governments (39%) studied had suffered statistically significant losses in total green space.</p>
<p>Added up across Australia’s major metropolitan regions, this amounts to vegetation loss of 2.6% in our urban environments. This doesn’t like sound much, but it is equivalent to 1,586 square kilometres – a larger area than the City of Brisbane.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187688/original/file-20170926-10403-pow3qw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Loss of total green space (canopy, shrubs and turf) from all 139 metropolitan local government areas. Red indicates a statistically significant loss to 95% certainty. (To see more detail in the report itself, click on the title.)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://202020vision.com.au/help-hub/the-research-hub/detail/?id=4059">Where should all the trees go?</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What explains this decline?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186122/original/file-20170915-8984-1xgw968.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New developments across Perth show densification in selected locations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WA Land Information Authority (2016)/Alex Saunders (2017)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The location of many of the local government areas suffering more than 5% loss in green space provides clues to the types of processes driving this loss. For example, Newcastle in New South Wales lost 8.5% of its green space during our study period largely due to losses in grass cover as a result of greenfield development.</p>
<p>Yet, in inner-city Ashfield, the infill development of once-vegetated lands continues apace, with grass-to-hard-surface conversions accounting for most of its 7.3% loss of green space.</p>
<p>In some cases, local government areas are undergoing losses in a similar location. For example, the areas with the greatest losses in green space across Perth lie in a band that stretches from inland Melville to coastal East Fremantle. In these locations, the traditional Aussie backyard is losing ground to densification and infill.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185078/original/file-20170907-14552-1fj1m9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of changes in Melville, suburban Perth, between 2011 and 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do our cities compare?</h2>
<p>In recent years, interest in benchmarking exercises such as these has increased internationally. In the US in 2012, David Nowak and others examined the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866711000999">growth and decline in vegetation cover</a> for 20 cities using the i-Tree methodology. US cities showed significant variability in combined tree and shrub canopy cover (54% for Atlanta to 10% in Denver).</p>
<p>The good news is that Greater Melbourne and Adelaide, both with 24% tree and shrub cover, perform better than the lowest values for the US cities. And Hobart’s shrub and tree cover of 57% is higher than Atlanta’s.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186124/original/file-20170915-8998-15aodkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Benchmarks for land cover in Australian capital cities 2016-17.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Where should all the trees go?/Marco Amati</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet within Australian cities the variability is pronounced. Canopy covers range from 77% (Yarra Ranges, Vic) to 3% (Wyndham, Vic).</p>
<p>The US urban forest is also subject to natural forces like Australia’s. New Orleans lost the largest amount of canopy cover (10%) as the study period included the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185081/original/file-20170907-14552-ipwn2y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the 1940s even cement companies were friends of the backyard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: The Australian Home Beautiful, October 1943</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet, when considering the downward trend in greening, it is the historical comparison that is the most striking. The backyard was once an icon of the lifestyle enjoyed by generations of Australians growing up after the second world war.</p>
<p>If the downward trend in green cover continues, should the Australian backyard be red-listed as a threatened species?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by Hort Innovation using the research and development Nursery levy and funds from the Australian Government (Project NY16005). Marco Amati receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Environment and Energy through the National Environmental Science Program's Clean Air and Urban Landscape's Hub.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Saunders receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program's Clean Air and Urban Landscape's Hub. Alex’s contribution to this work was funded by Hort Innovation using the research and development Nursery levy and funds from the Australian government (Project NY16005). He has previously worked for the Department of Planning in Western Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>During his academic career, Bryan Boruff has received funding from the Asia Pacific Network, AusAID, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Australian Department of Environment and Water Resources, Australian National Data Service, The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport, Cooperative Research Centres Programme, Grains Research and Development Corporation, Hort Innovation, National Academies of Sciences, National Geographic Society, National Health and Medical Research Council, Telethon Kids Institute, Western Australian Department of Regional Development, Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation, and the World Universities Network.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a research scientist with the CSIRO, Drew Devereux receives funding from the Australian government. The research referred to in this article was funded by the Horticulture Industry of Australia and carried out in collaboration with several research partners including the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the University of Western Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kath Phelan receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program's Clean Air and Urban Landscape's Hub. Her contribution to this work was funded by Hort Innovation using the research and development Nursery levy and funds from the Australian government (Project NY16005)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a research scientist with the CSIRO, Peter Caccetta receives funding from the Australian government. The research referred to in this article was funded by the Horticulture Industry of Australia and carried out in collaboration with several research partners including the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the University of Western Australia.</span></em></p>A new study shows major Australian cities are suffering an overall loss of green space –
although some areas are doing better than others.Marco Amati, Associate Professor of International Planning, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityAlex Saunders, GIS Specialist, Centre for the Built Environment and Health, The University of Western AustraliaBryan Boruff, Senior Lecturer, School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western AustraliaDrew Devereux, Research Scientist, Data 61, CSIROKath Phelan, Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityPeter Caccetta, Research Scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/833452017-09-17T19:40:23Z2017-09-17T19:40:23ZMore than just drains: recreating living streams through the suburbs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185575/original/file-20170912-1368-1qg03ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A drain carries water but does little else, but imagine how different the neighbourhood would be if the drain could be transformed into a living stream.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Myers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/vanishing-australian-backyards-leave-us-vulnerable-to-the-stresses-of-city-life-81479">Lot sizes and backyards are shrinking</a> in Australia at the same time as <a href="https://theconversation.com/density-threatens-liveability-if-we-miss-the-big-picture-of-how-a-city-works-69549">building density is increasing</a>. So we cannot afford to overlook the potential of existing – but neglected – spaces in our suburbs, like drains. </p>
<p>In denser living environments, we <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/34429/64917_1.pdf?sequence=1">will need new types of green and open space</a> to meet the needs of residents.</p>
<p>One such overlooked space is the urban water drainage system. As part of my research I’m examining the potential of a co-ordinated and integrated network of suburban streams. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-planners-understand-its-cool-to-green-cities-whats-stopping-them-55753">If planners understand it’s cool to green cities, what’s stopping them?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>The largest water catchment in the Perth metropolitan area is <a href="http://www.bayswater.wa.gov.au/environment/bayswater-brook">Bayswater Brook</a> (previously called the Bayswater Main Drain). Largely for the purpose of improving water quality, in recent years <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Barnett/2012/11/Bayswater-drain-to-be-transformed.aspx">work</a> has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-19/bayswater-wetlands-rejuvenation-to-protect-swan-river-health/6025606">begun</a> to remake drains running through the suburbs into “<a href="https://www.water.wa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/1716/99300.pdf">living streams</a>”.</p>
<p>Aside from the obvious benefits of <a href="http://www.water.wa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/1657/84955.pdf">water purification and stormwater management</a>, these networks of suburban streams can be re-imagined as preferred paths through the neighbourhood. </p>
<p>Using established drainage routes capitalises on their existing connections through a suburb. This network could amplify the connections between parks and other green areas, providing a rich soundscape of birds, frogs and insects, and a diversity of sedges, rushes, melaleucas and other vegetation along the banks. </p>
<h2>Look at the big picture</h2>
<p>While the conversion of <a href="http://www.water.wa.gov.au/water-topics/waterways/managing-our-waterways2/urban-waterways-management-and-living-streams">old infrastructure into living streams is not new</a>, it has as-yet-unrealised potential to rehabilitate the large sections of open drainage that run in visible, connected ways through our suburbs. This elevates the idea of a living stream to a multi-layered ecosystem, one that includes multiple drains across the suburb. </p>
<p>The Bayswater Brook <a href="http://www.bayswater.wa.gov.au/cproot/932/2/Bayswater-main-drain.pdf">permanent drainage system</a> runs through the northeastern suburbs of Perth. These drains can be dangerous and public entry to these areas is prohibited out of necessity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185494/original/file-20170911-1342-1x06nn9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Access barriers are unsightly but necessary because the existing drains can be dangerous.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's own</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The drains run along the rear of mostly low-density housing, hidden from streets.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185489/original/file-20170911-1373-ui5dv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=729&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aerial view of houses backing onto a 90-metre long open drain in Perth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Earth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their condition is typically marked by weeds, minimal vegetation and stagnant water. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185609/original/file-20170912-11536-k2gph2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fenced-off areas offer no public benefits to the neighbourhood other than drainage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Myers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sheer number of these open drains across the metropolitan area offers a compelling opportunity to reconceptualise the system as a holistic and integrated network of ecologically restored streams. This requires co-operation between multiple levels of government. </p>
<p>A project by WaterCorp in Western Australia (which manages drainage infrastructure) has begun <a href="https://www.watercorporation.com.au/water-supply/ongoing-works/drainage-for-liveability-program">inviting local governments</a> to submit proposals for use of the green space around drains. These are currently for small portions of the larger network, such as a <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/Barnett/2016/09/Drains-fuel-green-community-space-gains.aspx">pop-up park planned for a basin in Morley</a>. </p>
<p>The benefit of doing this in a co-ordinated way – rather than single stream restoration – lies in the possibilities of making these spaces a genuine alternative to the street.</p>
<h2>What are the benefits?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185584/original/file-20170912-20832-79puyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Typical drains (above and below) add very little to neighbourhood amenity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Myers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185585/original/file-20170912-15801-196l0fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Myers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By activating unused, off-limits areas at the back of houses, we can turn public space “inside out”. Providing a sequence of accessible paths creates a new option for pedestrians away from roads and cars, but still with an established, clear route through the suburb. We can have a space that is buffered from traffic noise without the isolation of an empty park segregated from main thoroughfares. </p>
<p>Many studies have convincingly found <a href="http://www.tlu.ee/%7Earro/Happy%20Space%20EKA%202014/blue%20space,%20health%20and%20wellbeing.pdf">connections between the sounds of waterscapes and restorative emotional states and views</a>. Having multiple entry and exit points as the streams thread through the suburbs would heighten the spaces’ usefulness as everyday pathways. Children could walk along the streams to school, or adults could take a short cut to catch the bus to work, maximising this kind of beneficial interaction with water. </p>
<p>Recreating natural habitats would also increase biodiversity and create a multi-sensory environment, as well as a cooler micro-climate. That would make it an even more attractive place to be in hot months. Encouraging a more natural flow of water through the streams would also reduce biting midges and mosquitoes, which thrive in stagnant water. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-for-wellbeing-science-tells-us-how-to-design-urban-spaces-that-heal-us-82437">Green for wellbeing – science tells us how to design urban spaces that heal us</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Potentially the most convincing reason for local governments to rehabilitate drains is that living streams increase neighbourhood property values. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212428416300123">Research has shown</a> the effect is significant. In the Perth suburb of Lynwood, for example, median home values within 200 metres of a wetland
restoration site <a href="https://watersensitivecities.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IndustryNote_A1.2_livingstreams.pdf">increased by A$17,000</a> to A$26,000 above
the trend increase for the area. </p>
<p>This in turn can support increased density. High quality nature spaces potentially offset the sacrifice of the usual backyard area, by increasing the number of people with direct access to these spaces.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185485/original/file-20170911-1327-1hmpnwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Turning an urban drain into a living stream opens up a world of possibilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's original render</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a growing imperative to remove the false choice between designing for people or for nature. Remaking our old infrastructure for many new uses offers multiple benefits to our ecology and well-being. When a drain becomes a living stream it doesn’t just provide a new kind of open space but adds a new dimension to enjoying, and moving through, your suburb.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Myers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Drains take up precious but inaccessible open space in our cities. Converting these to living streams running through the suburbs could make for healthier places in multiple ways.Zoe Myers, Research Associate, Australian Urban Design Research Centre, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/835682017-09-14T19:34:55Z2017-09-14T19:34:55ZPeople-friendly furniture in public places matters more than ever in today’s city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185452/original/file-20170911-28497-hubvwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cities and their residents' needs in public space have changed, but the type and function of the furniture are stuck in the past.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-city-september-03-people-235965100?src=dQWi6EDRF5cc1piok1657A-1-20">Carlos Neto/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/city-planning-suffers-growth-pains-of-australias-population-boom-75930">Increasing urbanisation</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/equitable-density-42055">denser city living</a>, more expensive <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-17/housing-market-powder-keg-could-blow-with-rate-rises/8714674">apartment prices</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/two-pictures-of-rental-housing-stress-and-vulnerability-zero-in-on-areas-of-need-77714">higher rents</a> are reshaping our access to and use of urban space. Room-sharing websites are one sign that the cost of city living is driving people to consider sharing rooms with strangers out of necessity. Those flats are not homes anymore.</p>
<p>If people can’t spend time in their flat – because it is too crowded, too noisy or not safe enough – they end up spending more time in public spaces like libraries or quasi-public spaces like gaming arcades or shopping malls. Dutch <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2000/announcement">Prizker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas</a> calls this <a href="http://garagemca.org/en/publishing/rem-koolhaas-junkspace">Junkspace</a>. Or they are spending time in the street, plazas and parks. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-living-off-the-edge-in-a-city-mall-where-design-fuels-conflict-72351">Contested spaces: living off the edge in a city mall where design fuels conflict</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>How does the city cater for people in these places? Imagine a home furnished with the kind of furniture we typically see on the street. Would it feel comfy?</p>
<p>Generally the design of this kind of public furniture has a strictly defined scope. It has to be vandal-resistant, easy to install, require little to no maintenance, not encourage littering, tie in with the style of the precinct, etc. </p>
<p>Public furniture also has an established typology – benches and seats mainly. This restricts what we can do in public (sit down with a straight back, we can’t lounge). These are part of the design considerations to provide a bench for people to sit on. </p>
<h2>What if we want to do more than just sit?</h2>
<p>The spacing, positioning and location of furniture in public space play a big part in deciding what I can look at, with whom, for how long and how I’ll feel while sitting there. </p>
<p>But what if I want to do more then just sit there? Where, for instance, do I plug in my phone or laptop to recharge? </p>
<p>It is also not easy to wash my hands in a public space. For example, I’ve sat down and eaten an orange on a bench, my hands are sticky and I’d like to wash them. Perhaps I’ve also taken off my coat while sitting there. What now? </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185566/original/file-20170911-1368-1o9ehj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why don’t public toilets give you anywhere to put what you’re carrying other than the toilet floor?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/public-restroom-center-city-62874775?src=GSGZl-V-KmLvIV5f97VHPw-1-14">Henryk Sadura/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’ve got to seek out the nearest public toilet and use the hand basin, but where to put all my other belongings while doing that? On the toilet floor? </p>
<p>A basic human right is access to water and utility services. We need to provide this access in the public sphere, and not just in commercial environments like coffee shops. </p>
<p>Filling up a water bottle is not easy, buying water is – if you can afford it. This is not an equitable solution. It adds to the already significant financial burden of paying high rents and city living.</p>
<h2>Think about how design can expand our options</h2>
<p>While we have furniture for the street, the street, parks and plazas lack other services. Design embeds a narrow social script in the current range of street furniture. The design of new public furnishings needs to adapt and offer citizens a wider, more diverse range of options for being in the city. </p>
<p>For example, people should have access to facilities to carry out basic healthy living practices, such as washing hands. They also need access to power – perhaps even a facility to heat up food, like a home-made lunch, or a pre-prepared meal from the supermarket. </p>
<p>Furnishing a public space with such new public appliances could transform it, soften it, bring familiarity, comfort and a sense of domesticity to it; a public backyard. The opportunities for a smart city are not just large-scale infrastructure, public transport and traffic monitoring, but also exist at a finer-grained level.</p>
<p>These new kind of street furnishings can be made available to users via a contemporary, digital version of the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_gate">city gate</a>. It can require them to log in or authorise them to use equipment via a unique identifier. We already practise this on e-commerce and sharing economy websites.</p>
<p>This new kind of public street furniture can have sensors embedded that monitor and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-adelaide-in-how-a-smart-city-can-work-to-benefit-everyone-81824">respond in real time</a> to their use. Interactive furniture can be part of a larger dedicated data system. It can inform relevant authorities if the power point is drawing excessive power, or if the noise level at this power point is too loud for the time of day and, in response, turn off the lights and the power. </p>
<p>Parameters can be tested and the calibration of use and user patterns can be explored in line with neighbourhood expectations. The system can then autonomously react to the data gathered.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-adelaide-in-how-a-smart-city-can-work-to-benefit-everyone-81824">Lessons from Adelaide in how a smart city can work to benefit everyone</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Street furniture can be reconceived as connected and interactive appliances. These would then provide a gateway that gives people access to everyday utilities. And, by doing so, these new facilities could provide quasi-domestic-style amenity in the public realm, making the city a more equitable and welcoming place for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Tietz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With cities becoming more dense and housing more crowded, people rely more than ever on well-designed public spaces, so why hasn’t the furniture changed with the times?Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/820712017-08-23T19:24:23Z2017-08-23T19:24:23ZWhat’s equity got to do with health in a higher-density city?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182732/original/file-20170821-27241-1lw7thv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green space, easily accessible to everyone no matter what their income, should be a priority in designing high-density residential areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/apartment-block-sunny-green-sydney-australia-543594550?src=xqAcCH77Dv6cCieSpZyWwQ-1-4">Marcus Jaaske from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is the last of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/equitable-density-42055">series</a> of articles based on new research into the place of lower-income and disadvantaged households in a compact city.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>More and more of us living in denser cities where apartments and high-rise developments are increasingly common. This creates specific health concerns for residents of these areas, and for lower-income households in particular.</p>
<p>We already know socioeconomic status is <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/socio-economic-disadvantage-and-health/">closely related to health and wellbeing</a>. The importance of equity was highlighted in the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/series/2016-boyer-lectures/7802472">2016 Boyer Lectures</a>. Entitled Fair Australia: Social Justice and the Health Gap, the lectures were delivered by a world leader in health inequality research, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/professor-sir-michael-marmot/7637440">Professor Sir Michael Marmot</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-determinants-how-class-and-wealth-affect-our-health-64442">Social determinants – how class and wealth affect our health</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Marmot examined the challenges for poor communities in achieving good health from early life to old age. His message focused on the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2016/determinants/">social determinants of health</a>. And the built environment, including its environmental context, is among the most important of these. </p>
<p>This is usefully presented in the below health map for human settlements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182545/original/file-20170818-1994-1rdzmf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The health map shows the determinants of health and wellbeing in our neighbourhoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/7863/2/The_health_map_2006_JRSH_article_-_post_print.pdf">Barton & Grant 2006</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does the built environment affect health?</h2>
<p>Many urban planners are working with health professionals to create a built environment that promotes good health for diverse populations. An ever-increasing body of <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-better-data-access-urban-planners-could-help-ease-our-weight-problems-80604">research and practice evidence</a> is available to support this work. </p>
<p>We know that the neighbourhoods where people live, together with their workplaces and the transport systems that link them, <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/city-wellbeing/city-wellbeing-resources/literature-review/">are fundamentally important for health and wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>We also recognise that the obstacles to health and wellbeing are <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Planning-for-Health-and-Well-Being-Shaping-a/Barton-Thompson-Burgess-Grant/p/book/9781138023307">greater for lower-income groups</a>. For instance, those who live further from good city infrastructure and services, typically poorer communities, face greater challenges to <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-are-where-you-live-health-wealth-and-the-built-environment-23141">stay healthy</a>. </p>
<p>Residents of the outer suburbs tend to travel much longer distances between home, work and the services they need daily. Getting around necessarily defaults to the car, which has serious long-term implications for health. Driving is particularly associated with extended sitting in a confined space and, as a result, not getting enough exercise each day. </p>
<p>Long car-based commutes are also tiring and often stressful. Arriving home exhausted takes away from quality time with family and friends, as well as the energy needed to prepare nutritious meals. These are all negatives for maintaining good physical and mental health.</p>
<h2>High-rise living and health</h2>
<p>Denser cities are <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/series/urban-design">seen as the antidote to these problems</a> – and with density comes high-rise and apartment living.</p>
<p>So, the question then is: how does a higher-density built environment affect our health?</p>
<p>The first thing to consider is the location of high-rise development. Siting high-rise residential blocks along busy and polluted roads is <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/publications/Increasing-density-in-Australia-Evidence-Review-2012-trevor.pdf">problematic for health</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/transport-access-is-good-for-new-housing-but-beware-the-pollution-77790">Transport access is good for new housing, but beware the pollution</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>When poorer communities are located in areas of lesser amenity due to lower housing costs, this exacerbates their health problems. While the initial cost of home ownership might be lower for the individuals, the longer-term impost on the health budget, associated with respiratory disease, needs to be factored into the equation. </p>
<p>Another critical concern is building design and construction. Poor design and building standards can mean adjoining apartment dwellers are affected by noise from their neighbours. This can result in sleep deprivation, stress, and anxiety (and in extreme cases, neighbour conflict and violence).</p>
<p>These are all risk factors for mental health problems, as well as being implicated in poor physical health. For example, sleep deprivation is linked to obesity, which is a risk factor for many chronic diseases. </p>
<p>It doesn’t stop there – ongoing building maintenance and management are crucial. A pristine development won’t remain that way if not well managed. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>security might well complicate easy access between floors and prevent stair use, which is a <a href="https://www.stepjockey.com/health-benefits-of-stair-climbing">great way to get some incidental physical activity</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>meeting rooms can be closed off for fear of noisy gatherings or messy community groups; and</p></li>
<li><p>garden spaces may be contracted out, denying residents the benefits of growing and harvesting their own food.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Green open space is good for us</h2>
<p>There is no shortage of evidence to show just how important access to <a href="http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/about-us/healthy-parks-healthy-people/the-research">quality green open space</a> is for health and wellbeing. </p>
<p>Different types of green space, easily accessible to everyone, no matter what their income, should be a priority in designing high-density residential areas. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/planning-and-building-healthy-communities-a-multidisciplinary-study-of-the-relationship-between-the-built-environment-and-human-health/">recently released research</a> explored how neighbourhoods <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-medicare-levies-joining-the-dots-to-create-places-that-are-good-for-our-health-79115">support community health</a>. Our findings offer insights into key elements of health-supportive environments:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>free (or low-cost) infrastructure for activities such as walking and cycling is important, as are continued maintenance and safe and direct routes to nearby destinations;</p></li>
<li><p>affordable spaces that enable community-led social groups (sewing, cooking, men’s sheds) are critical in helping with social interaction, at little or no cost, to avoid isolation and loneliness;</p></li>
<li><p>all residents benefit from free, accessible, good-quality and well-maintained public spaces;</p></li>
<li><p>residents should have access to affordable, healthy local food outlets, and community food box programs are a key initiative for lower-income groups; and</p></li>
<li><p>implications of ageing and the use of public facilities need to be considered – our interviewees spoke of frailties that made it more difficult to be out and about, enjoying physical activity and being socially connected. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Study participants living in high-rise apartments were concerned about increasing residential density and loss of amenity. Issues they mentioned included access to sunlight/daylight, privacy and inter/overlooking, and dust and grit affecting their use of balconies. </p>
<h2>A fair go for all?</h2>
<p>This is a good question when it comes to the health and wellbeing of poor communities in high-rise housing. </p>
<p>All of the issues mentioned above are potentially challenging for maintaining wellbeing day-to-day. Many are not income-specific, but lower-income groups have less capacity to respond to these challenges.</p>
<p>High-density living is increasingly trumpeted as “healthy”. But without supportive infrastructure based on an understanding of specific geographic contexts and community needs, this way of living will pose significant health risks. </p>
<p>Blindly pursuing a uniform denser city agenda will only reinforce and exacerbate health inequalities. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/equitable-density-42055">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Thompson has received funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Health, UrbanGrowth NSW and the Heart Foundation. She is a member of the NTEU.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Paine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being crowded into poor-quality high-density units harms residents’ health, but design features that are known to promote wellbeing can make a big difference to the lives of low-income households.Susan Thompson, Professor of Planning and Head, City Wellbeing Program, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyGregory Paine, Research Officer, City Futures Research Centre, City Wellbeing, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/791152017-06-21T20:02:45Z2017-06-21T20:02:45ZBeyond Medicare levies: joining the dots to create places that are good for our health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174632/original/file-20170620-22129-1g1ovm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Airds Bradbury residential development has open spaces but these lack the amenities of public parks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>We have lots of open space, but no real parks. – <strong>participant in <a href="http://soacconference.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Thompson.pdf">Airds Bradbury study</a></strong> </p>
<p>When you build a park, put a cafe there and a newsagent, or something, people will buy coffee and a newspaper and sit and read and that’s encouraging that interaction. Or even chess sets, things like that, activities to encourage people. <strong>– participant in Victoria Park <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/documents/375/Victoria_Park_Study_Findings.pdf">study</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Two basic classifications in health distinguish between diseases we catch from each other – communicable – and those associated with our lifestyles and genetic inheritance – non-communicable. </p>
<p>It’s relatively easy to justify government funding for communicable diseases as these very quickly affect a lot of people. We obviously need medical infrastructure to deal with the patients, as well as environmental improvements to prevent outbreaks in the first place – such as access to sunlight and fresh air, clean water and waste disposal. </p>
<p>Non-communicable diseases are different. These include the many chronic conditions that plague modern Australians and cost our health system dearly – heart and respiratory diseases, obesity, diabetes, cancers and mental illness. </p>
<p>Contributory factors are complex, however, and include personal preferences, such as patterns of eating and drinking, and levels of physical activity. Many then argue that preventive intervention is “nanny”-like and should not be the responsibility of the state.</p>
<p>This is a <a href="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/ellendo/rittel/rittel-dilemma.pdf">wicked problem</a> – its <a href="https://theconversation.com/death-by-suburban-sprawl-better-urban-planning-will-combat-sedentary-lifestyles-3395?sr=7">complex and interrelated causes and consequences</a> are hard to pin down. As a result, it isn’t easy to allocate responsibility. But governments are implicated in many ways. </p>
<h2>Where does government come into this?</h2>
<p>Governments organise employment arrangements that dictate work-life balance. They fund “sedentary” car-based transport over “active” transport – walking, cycling and public transport. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-healthy-approach-how-to-turn-what-we-know-about-liveable-cities-into-public-policy-50185">plan urban areas</a>, which should increase walking and cycling and provide inviting spaces for physical and social activity and restorative “greenness”. Governments can also influence access to nutritious foods.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174124/original/file-20170616-493-1kbsm9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Healthy physical and social activity happens in public spaces that are designed to encourage this.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/just1snap/7863133712/in/photolist-cYQBGU-ap7vzc-abk3dR-64q1iG-aywZL6-3aYfrD-owGWb-8nmYpa-T5sDpf-QH4JPz-fKjzKf-4aLdKf-apa6v3-26MZe-eLFfK9-ayCuZZ-8pRjAR-apa71N-52m6ZM-6Vz8dy-ap7yR4-bJQRpk-mj71S-r7ReG-tFSYe-C8Q4ii-onLQB4-sEW1GZ-34Snsq-JKPzy-apu3EN-ap765p-5N4HRE-9vPB8k-cBzmP-bJ3rXz-apagYY-ap6ZnV-6a3hr9-b12M6M-NEmHG-ap7udK-5KNRyE-apa6ey-ap75KX-5meAyR-eUDs8A-bzewSy-Q9uWTc-aptH6S">just1snap/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, in a move seemingly towards reduced state responsibility, the New South Wales government has deleted a well-conceived objective of “health” <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-health-from-new-south-wales-planning-laws-72098">from proposed planning laws</a> and <a href="http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/urbanism/planning/nsw-government-axes-highly-valued-premiers-council-for-active-living/85285">abolished</a> its well-respected <a href="http://www.pcal.nsw.gov.au/">Premier’s Council for Active Living</a>. </p>
<p>Such disconnects flow down. Our recent study of four new residential communities in Sydney, <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/planning-and-building-healthy-communities-a-multidisciplinary-study-of-the-relationship-between-the-built-environment-and-human-health/">Planning and Building Healthy Communities</a>, found a host of good intentions for a health-supportive environment were simply not carried through. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>residents don’t use a link to a regional cycleway offering access to a greater range of facilities because it is on a busy highway and they consider it unsafe;</p></li>
<li><p>restrictive booking policies limit use of estate recreation facilities;</p></li>
<li><p>an extensive pedestrian and cycle path network is designed for recreation activity, but is too circuitous to encourage active transport use;</p></li>
<li><p>high-rise residents are frustrated about not knowing their neighbours, but regard foyers and lifts as too impersonal to be meeting places; and</p></li>
<li><p>garden maintenance is contracted out, so residents don’t garden and enjoy the benefits of improved fitness and contact with nature.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174642/original/file-20170620-22151-13i28uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A
bike lane should promote healthy physical activity, but it won’t if potential users feel it’s unsafe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/5190071781/in/photolist-8UCtwe-893HVZ-owAP3U-ch8YRu-kebswH-cu71Vf-hojV6Q-8BjjAf-bGBeTg-cHLt85-auE48W-bGBerX-bEB4j6-btGr3d-brG9GS-HLcuFi-9YjCDm-6LUYnX-85kpQF-9XJ7yY-bQVjFe-77Q8eR-btGrTu-85kHcv-7i7YCv-5sw9f1-85oLNf-77U3V5-btGrPw-3eUnWv-bGBf78-aHWvyV-77U1Sh-bC1ES1-bQVm14-6Pdsks-85p2RU-48emTg-77Q6v6-85kqXP-85kB9p-tZL4aR-yoATpD-ueSZLW-9p6B2M-8XkhBk-e6dGGR-fzVoc-apafye-pm9WKT">Richard Masoner/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One explanation points to a lack of engagement by designers, builders and managers. <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/38966/">Research</a> suggests this derives from the long-held notion of a need for “professional detachment”. </p>
<p>This is curious when one considers the responsibility of professionals to be client-focused and responsive. No doubt professionals’ own heath aspirations and experiences would mirror those expressed by our study participants.</p>
<p>But it is not just practitioners who are implicated. Much research is still organised around the model of linear and quantifiable cause-and-effect, which is typical of communicable disease. This approach doesn’t work for people-place-health relationships, which are broad, qualitative and networked.</p>
<h2>A ‘deep immersion’ response to problems</h2>
<p>In response, our study took an integral, “deep immersion” method. This included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>partnerships with key health and built environment “players”, state health and urban development authorities, and the Heart Foundation;</p></li>
<li><p>a comprehensive audit – not just reviewing census, medical and GIS data, but pounding the footpaths (or lack thereof), buying food in local shops, and observing how spaces were used day and night, on weekdays and weekends; and</p></li>
<li><p>detailed interviews with residents, asking about behaviours, aspirations and needs, followed by workshops to explore further what worked and what didn’t in terms of their health.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/city-wellbeing/city-wellbeing-resources/healthy-built-environments-audit-instrument-and-interview-questions/">audit, interview and workshop processes</a> are available for others interested in conducting similar comprehensive studies.</p>
<p>Instructively, the participating residents invariably “got it” in terms of what is actually needed – action by each of us as individuals, combined with action by us as a community to provide effective policy, design and management. One workshop participant summed it up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>So … you’re asking, what do I do to keep healthy? That’s us. We need to do that. What should I do to keep healthy? That’s [also] us. What is helping me to keep healthy? This is about our community. What could actually help us? By having better gyms, all this sort of stuff … What I need to [do] … that’s where I see the linkage coming through … We’ve got to do that and make the choices…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A sympathetic “putting oneself in the shoes” of residents via the deep-immersion techniques used in our research will better equip designers, builders, managers and researchers to plan and manage health-supportive environments for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Thompson works for The University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is a member of the NTEU.
The research reported in this article was funded by an Australian Research Council Grant No. LP100100804. The research was conducted within the City Wellbeing Program (City Futures Research Centre UNSW) with partners UrbanGrowth NSW, the Heart Foundation (NSW) and the South Western Sydney Local Health District (NSW Health).
Senior Researcher on the project, Ms Emily Mitchell and Chief Investigators, Professors Bill Randolph and Bruce Judd (UNSW), are acknowledged.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Paine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows many good intentions for creating urban environments that promote good health were not carried through. The solutions start with engaging more closely with residents themselves.Susan Thompson, Professor of Planning and Head, City Wellbeing Program, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyGregory Paine, Research Officer, City Futures Research Centre, City Wellbeing, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.