Trend Watch November 2024

New UK Report Reveals How to Transform Streets into Safer, Healthier Spaces

Damian Holmes from World Landscape Architecture (WLA) explores a new report ‘Highways Greening – Best Practice and Lessons Learnt’, published by Urban Design Learning (UDL)* for London Boroughs of Camden and Islington and authored by LDA Design.

In Holmes words, “the report describes the approaches and strategies that have enabled local authorities and others to improve air quality through transforming highway land from grey to green”. He reveals images from the report of streets and public spaces, before and after they have experienced “highway greening” which is now taking priority over highways and parking.

The report reveals the need for community to be courageous and ambitious in order to create spaces that enhance our wellbeing. It also encourages people with different expertise and specialist skills to come together, to provide training and new skills.

Read the WLA article here, and access the UDL report Highways Greening – Best Practice and Lessons Learnt, here.

*UDL is a not-for-profit organisation who provides practitioners the tools to make better, more informed decisions to shape our built environment.

Image: Alfred Place Gardens Credit: Neil Speakman and LDA Design

Global Public Space Toolkit: From Global Principles to Local Policies and Practice

UN-Habitat has developed a practical toolkit for local governments to implement principles, policy recommendations and public space initiatives that promote our long neglected public spaces. 

The publication encourages the involvement of the community to create, secure and manage public spaces in the city. “The adoption of management strategies based on dialogue and participation when programming and designing, is decisive for gaining the ‘appropriation’ of spaces on the part of local communities, keeping maintenance costs under control and encouraging forms of co-management.” (Charter of Public Space, para. 38).

“It is important to adopt policies that encourage the permanence of artisans and neighbourhood shops, which contribute to the quality of life, to the animation and vivacity of daily-use public spaces. (Charter of Public Space, para. 42)

“The enjoyment of public space is intimately linked to its civil, respectful and responsible use. The quality of public-space enjoyment is therefore tied not only to the availability, quality, mutability, adaptability and maintenance level of public spaces, but also to the behaviour of individual citizens.” (Charter of Public Space, para. 49).

The final section of the Toolkit, Turning Good Principles into Actions highlights good and promising practices, using over 62 case studies from cities around the world, from Nairobi in Kenya to Bogota in Columbia. 

Explore the complete Global Public Space Toolkit here.