Delineated (clearly public, or clearly private)

If it is unclear who is allowed to go where, spaces can become unloved and underused. This is a matter not just of ensuring free and equal access, but also of recognising that in the wrong places public spaces can be more problematic than if they were absent altogether, and that private spaces for relaxation (such as private or communal gardens) have an important but quite distinct role, too.

The basic principle is that legitimate use should be intuitive: it should be clear to everyone that a space is, for example, a private garden, or a public playground. Boundary treatments, entrances, materials and the facilities within the space can all help to make its intended use clear. In the example shown in Figure 14.4, a new public space extends from between the two new buildings and out into an open area alongside the church of All Hallows-by-the-Tower in the City of London. The presence of a glazed roof over part of this space, the obvious corporate nature of the buildings and the heavy presence of security guards undermine the sense of this being a public space. It is not clear whether the general public is allowed into the space or not. These are all features that should have been avoided.

Public spaces can be intimate and quiet, but their scale and styles of furniture are unlikely to be domestic. They should almost always have recognisably open, or openable, entrances.

Figure 14.5 Concert Square, Liverpool is surrounded by active uses. While sometimes viewed as a place of excess, it forms a natural and recognisable hub for Liverpool’s buzzing nightlife.

Engaging (designing in active uses)

While buildings, landscape and infrastructure define the physical limits of external public spaces, the land uses of spaces will dictate their character: whether peaceful, gently animated or full of life. At all times it is important to be realistic about what will or will not work in particular locations. It may be unrealistic, and inappropriate, to try to create a lively commercial hub in a quiet residential area or a peaceful oasis in a busy urban centre.

Much of the buzz associated with particularly active spaces, for example, will tend to be wrapped up in activities of consumption of one sort or another: activities such as shopping, cafes, markets and so forth (see Figure 14.5). If the intention is to create such a space, active uses should be carefully designed in to the buildings and spaces from the start. These are decisions in which planners almost always play a leading role.

Meaningful (incorporating amenities and features)

Spaces become more meaningful over time as users interact with them and they acquire the patina of age and use. Spaces can also become more meaningful by incorporating important historic or landscape features (such as historic buildings or mature trees), and by hosting other amenities and features with which users can directly engage.

These might be active, such as big screens, bandstands, kiosks, sports facilities, fountains, paddling pools, play equipment, skating opportunities, stages, amphitheatres or lighting displays. Equally they might be restful, serious or contemplative, such as public art displays, sculptural furniture, memorials and monuments, reflecting pools, flower gardens and displays, or Wi-Fi hotspots. Figure 14.6 shows new public space at the heart of the redevelopment of the former Kings Cross railway lands, incorporating a range of new sub-spaces. These include a space facing the Regent’s Canal, which uses the slope and southerly aspect to create a quiet seating area, and more active spaces that set off the buildings of the historic goods yard, where water jets, fountains and lighting help to animate the space.

Social (encouraging social engagement)

The design of public spaces can make them more or less conducive to social interactions of all types, from large-scale events and festivities, to friends meeting for a chat, and everything in between. Providing large uncluttered spaces and more intimate areas offers opportunities for different types of social activity. If particular events are expected, their needs should be planned for from the outset. For example, pop-up broadcasting hubs under Leicester Square in London come into use on the occasion of film premieres, but they lie unnoticed under people’s feet at all other times.

Movement in public space flows mainly along dominant corridors or desire lines, passing right through spaces, and

Figure 14.6 Granary Square, Kings Cross, London. The public space at the heart of the redevelopment of the former Kings Cross Railway Lands incorporates a range of new sub-spaces, including those facing the Regents Canal and setting off the buildings of the historic goods yard, where water jets, fountains and lighting help to animate the space.

Figure 14.7 Poundbury, Dorchester. This largely residential extension to Dorchester features a series of public spaces at its heart. Some are formal and some incidental, such as here where the space is gently animated by the presence of a cafe, and by movement along a clear desire line through the space from a neighbouring square.

from these corridors to active uses within the space (see Figure 14.7). It can be like an invisible mesh of streets and rooms without walls, and the movement eddies create quiet spots between them. Sometimes designs can build on these, raising or lowering areas, and using plants, seats, lighting, water, artworks or surface materials to highlight the character and support the use of different areas.

This largely residential extension to Dorchester features a series of public spaces at its heart. Some are formal and some incidental, such as here where the space is gently animated by the presence of a cafe, and by movement along a clear desire line through the space from a neighbouring square.

If large enough, individual spaces can also work successfully as a series of distinct and separate smaller spaces, each with a different character and purpose, and designed to attract different sorts of users (fountains for children, steps and ramps for skateboarders, alcoves for quiet conversation, and so on). In designing public space it is important to consider the desired social outcomes, and how the physical space and its context will or will not support them. While particular social outcomes can never be guaranteed, leaving them entirely to chance is rarely a successful strategy.

Balanced (between traffic and pedestrians)

The challenge of traffic dominance is a perennial problem that continues to blight many public spaces. The solution, however, does not have to be banning all traffic. Instead a subtle rebalancing of space is often all that is required (see Figure 14.8). Traffic and pedestrians can harmoniously share public space with mutual benefits to both groups: allowing drivers direct access to and between important urban centres, and providing a background level of animation and surveillance in public spaces. This requires that enough space is given to pedestrians for movement and socialisation; that they are not corralled and kettled, but trusted to move and navigate freely; and, to enable this, that traffic is slowed sufficiently on roads leading into and through public spaces.

This space on Bristol’s Floating Harbour is also on the busy A4 trunk road through the city. While traffic still flows along both long sides of the space, the centre has been redesigned as a distinctive new sanctuary for pedestrians and as a more civilised setting for the range of active uses that surround the space.

Comfortable (safe and relaxing)

Ultimately the objective should be the wellbeing of users, and their ability to use spaces in a relaxed and comfortable manner. Safety is promoted by preventing accidents, as well as by discouraging crime and the fear of crime. Busy spaces will always seem safer than deserted ones in terms of crime, as will spaces that are well overlooked and clearly visible from the outside. Spaces that are clean, tidy and well maintained will also seem safer.

Spaces should be relaxing, with opportunities to stop and linger, for example with comfortable and preferably moveable formal seating, informal places to sit (on steps, kerbs and walls – see Figure 14.9), toilet facilities, soft landscaping and careful consideration given to microclimate (places to sit in the sun, and to shelter from the wind and the rain). Grass, for example, while requiring active maintenance, is popular because it is comfortable and flexible, and allows users to position themselves to take advantage of microclimatic conditions. It is highly conducive to relaxation, play and social engagement.

The complete redesign of this space has transformed it from being sad and largely abandoned to being an active place for Woolwich’s diverse communities. In the summer it fills with people who sit, lounge and play on and around the grass, and sometimes watch the big screen.

Figure 14.8 Broad Quay, Bristol: This space on Bristol’s Floating Harbour is also on the busy A4 trunk road though the city, but whist traffic still flows along both long sides of the space, the centre has been redesigned as a distinctive new sanctuary for pedestrians and as a more civilised setting for the range of active uses that surround the space.

Figure 14.9 General Gordon Square, Woolwich, London. The complete redesign of this space has transformed it from being sad and largely abandoned to being an active place for the diverse communities that live in Woolwich. In the summer it fills with people who sit, lounge and play on and around the grass, and sometimes watch the big screen.

Figure 14.10 Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester: this part of Manchester has long acted as a public transport hub, but the creation of a large partly turfed and partly paved square turned a purely functional space into an adaptable multi-purpose place capable of hosing different events throughout the year, alongside the busses and trams. Here the space is hosting a street food market in one corner of the space.

Robust (adaptable and distinct)

The success of public spaces will depend on shaping places which, through their robust design (simple, uncluttered and with resilient natural materials, trees and planting) and background level of activity, are able to adapt and change over time in a manner that can withstand pressures of homogenisation and yet still feel distinct, welcoming and rooted in the local context.

In the short term, this means spaces that can adapt to different uses and activities, perhaps at different times of the day (such as somewhere for workers to lunch, for children to play after school, or for strolling in the evening); throughout the week (such as a market on a Monday and, without feeling deserted, peace and quiet on a Sunday); or across the year (such as concerts in the summer and ice skating in the winter). This part of Manchester has long acted as a public transport hub (see Figure 14.10), but the creation of a large, partly turfed and partly paved square turned a purely functional space into an adaptable multi-purpose place capable of hosting a variety of events throughout the year, alongside the buses and trams. One corner of the space regularly hosts a street-food market as shown in the figure.

In the long term, a robust space will adapt successfully to changes in the uses that surround the space, or to the demands imposed by unpredictable social and technological change. Robust design solutions will reflect the realities of management routines and the budgets available for upkeep, enabling features to age gracefully and timelessly.