Place-making and place-keeping of open spaces – MP4 Harry Smith – Heriot-Watt University

Edinburgh Knowledge Environment Partnership21 June 2012

MP4 Project Aims (2008-2012) Funded by EU – Interreg IVB North Sea Region

– Demonstrate how positive socio-economic impacts of open space improvements can be maintained in long term

– Provide solutions for maintenance & management needs– Mainstream best practice in place-keeping across North Sea

Region– Embed place-keeping innovations into policy– Develop shared agenda for long-term open space improvement

Temalekplats playground, MalmöFirth Park, Sheffield HafenCity, Hamburg

Place-making

• Creation of high-quality places that people want to visit, experience and enjoy

• Implies a people-centred approach– Health and wellbeing– Sense of belonging and attachment– Welcoming and inclusive places

HafenCity, Hamburg; River Don, Sheffield; Hailes Quarry Park, Edinburgh.

Place-keeping

• What happens ‘after’ high quality places have been created– Retaining, maintaining and enhancing

the qualities and benefits through LTM

• Long-term management of places – to ensure that the social, environmental

and economic quality and benefits can be enjoyed by future generations

• E.g. trees in park growing to maturity (increased biodiversity/ aesthetic value/ interest)

Woesten, West Flanders; Leuven, Flemish Brabant; Manor & Castle, Sheffield.

Place-making and place-keeping

a. A process leading to a product?

b. A process influenced by the type of product required?

c. A two-way relationship between process and product

where place-keeping is considered at the beginning?

MP4 Activites

1. Assessment of current practice• Case studies• Literature review

2. Demonstration – pilot projects• Assess partnership and agreements• Evaluate process and product• Identify ways to improve, share good practice

3. Information sharing, influencing• Outputs – knowledge transfer• Changing practice and policy

Grassmarket, Edinburgh, Scotland; Bürgerpark, Bremen, Germany; Aarhus, Denmark.

Policy

• Widespread area-based policy initiatives are based on place-keeping ideas

• Place-keeping often included in policy guidance, but not in statutory legislation– some aspects may be covered by policy (e.g. health+safety)

• Rules/ regulations may influence use + behaviour– e.g. through signage– aims to support long-term positive use of and behaviour

Policy Gothenburg Strategic Park Programme5 strategies for the landscape of

Göteborg:• 1. Identify and enhance the

characteristics• 2. Make sure that green areas

are accessible and within reach• 3. Make sure every place is

taken care of (=place keeping)• 4. Make places and spaces

available for the residents to use

• 5. Create diversified environments

Governance & engagement

• The processes of interaction between public, private, third sector and community partners involved in place-keeping

• Government does not work in isolation, but through the above relations with a range of stakeholders

• Participatory model of decision-making: – is underpinned by democracy– puts emphasis on consensus

Governance & engagement Shared space in Barger-Compascuum, NL

Town Council

Residents(Comm. Group)

Reflection group

(centre group)Project team Project group

Communication

DesignImplementation

Partnerships

• Agreed shared responsibility for place-keeping

• Partnerships are effective in achieving place-keeping, especially:– a combination of public-private-third

sector– where the local community is involved

+ engaged

Emmen, the Netherlands; Steilshoop, Hamburg; Woesten, Belgium.

PartnershipsRipples in the Pond, Firth Park, Sheffield

• Joint partnership project between Friends of Firth Park and Parks & Countryside Service

• Friends Group – highly involved in consultation, securing funding, design development, tendering

• Ownership/Empowerment• Identity – local identity & site history

fed into design• Design – innovative and adventurous,

bespoke to the site• Sustainability – ongoing maintenance

and community use

Funding/ finance

• Funding is crucial for place-keeping but limited– ideally in place from the outset/ place-making stage

• Funding easier to access for place-making– place-keeping costs often not considered

• Tends to come from the public sector– the funding of place-keeping is not statutory– place-keeping is particularly at risk when budgets are cut

Funding/ financeFrom BIDs to NIDs, Hamburg• Business Improvement

Districts– Joint financing of public realm

improvements via obligatory levy – Additional to public provision– Landowners in Germany; businesses

in UK

• Neighbourhood (Housing) Improvement Districts– Legislated for in Hamburg in 2007– Pilot project in Steilshoop

Evaluation

• Wide range of existing tools: e.g. awards, competitions, user counts, surveys but…– not a statutory obligation & not carried out regularly

• Evaluation often not a priority– it can be costly and time-intensive– but can lead to secure funding for place-keeping (e.g. Green Flag (UK))

• Can everything be measured?– e.g. quality/ aesthetic value…?– increasing attempts to give landscape/ green space a monetary value

EvaluationSociotope mapping, Gothenburg• Lövgärdet and Eriksbo:

two deprived 1960s/70s housing estates with under-used adjacent nature areas

• Identified high priority areas through sociotope map and park plan

Challenges

• Policy: How can we improve the current policy framework for place-keeping?

• Governance: What can and should the role of government, business and communities be in the place-keeping of open space?

• Partnerships: How can long-lasting partnerships be formed that ensure access to resources and deliver place-keeping that meets the needs of different stakeholders?

• Funding/finance: How can the economic benefits of open spaces be harnessed to secure funding of place-keeping?

• Evaluation: How can barriers be overcome to ensure more widespread evaluation of open space that contributes to it its long-term management?

• Design: How can open space be designed to facilitate long-term management?

http://mp4-interreg.eu

Temalekplats playground, Malmö