THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE IS THE HIGHEST LAW

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THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE IS THE HIGHEST LAW

• Ken Worpole
• Planning for Healthy Wealthy Communities
• 29 November 2007

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Park Life People, Parks Cities

• The report Park Life (1995) was described as a
  report which will change for ever the way we
  thinks about parks.
• A collaboration between two think-tanks Comedia
  Demos.
• Inspired setting up of the Heritage Lottery
  Funds Public Parks Initiative.

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• PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
• (Based on 1000 interviews and analysis of 10,000
  users)
• Most people visit parks in company of others
• 70 walk to parks
• 40 claimed to use their local park every day
• 1 dog for every 8 people
• Slightly more men than women
• Many more people use parks than policy-makers and
  providers realise
• A wider cross-section of users than most other
  leisure facilities.

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• THE URBAN GREEN
• SPACES TASK FORCE (2002)
• Over 30 million people in England (70) use parks
  frequently. 2 billion annual visits.
• Decrease in quality poor public image
• Public spending favours indoor over outdoor
  leisure
• Work in partnership with communities
• Develop Green Flag Award
• Establish national agency

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THE TWO CULTURES OF LEISURE(From Greener Spaces,
Better Places)

• Spending on Urban parks and open spaces
  dropped from 44 of local authority spending in
  1976/77 to 31 of spending in 1998/99.
• Spending on Country parks, nature reserves and
  tourism increased from 7 to 17.

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THE TWO CULTURES OF LEISURE(From Greener Spaces,
Better Places)

• RECREATIONAL CULTURE
• 70 walk
• All ages
• All social groups
• 600m for 2.5 billion visits

• FITNESS CULTURE
• Over 80 drive
• Pre-dominantly 18 - 45
• Mostly professional users
• 400m for 100 million visits

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The loss of the street

• The greatest single impact on childrens freedom
  to play has been the rise of the car - now 32
  million of them in the UK. Four cars for every
  child. There is a crisis surrounding childrens
  presence in public space.

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Loss of relationship between home, street
neighbourhood

• The findings of this research relating to
  public transport, the importance of the car, and
  the lack of interest in local services or
  community interaction, all suggest that
  residents views are rooted in peoples
  individual aspirations, which have little regard
  to societys broader priorities.

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Findings from CABE New Housing Audits (214
residents interviewed from 11 new housing schemes
in the UK)

• On the negative side, the dominance of highways
  infrastructure and the limited evidence of
  bespoke design are alarmingly evident.
• Obtrusive areas of car parking dominated the
  majority of schemes, with a negative impact on
  the public realm.
• Most adult residents said they use a car for
  most or all of their journeys from home. Some
  admitted to never having walked out of the
  housing development.
• In most of the developments there seemed to be
  little or no social interaction between
  residents.
• Aspirational lifestyles seem to be identified
  with exclusivity and owning more and larger cars
  rather than sustainable forms of transport and
  layouts where the pedestrian takes precedence
  over the car.

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Children in the UK

• By 15, two-thirds of girls are classed inactive
• The British Heart Foundation says a third of
  Under-7s fail to reach minimum recommended
  activity levels - and by the age of 15,
  two-thirds of girls are classified as inactive.
• Two-thirds of 9 - 11 years olds in the UK are
  dissatisfied with the quality of outdoor play
  facilities where they live. For 15 - 16 year
  olds this rose to 81, higher than any other
  European contry.

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Urban design is only part of the solution

• From Barcelona to Possil Park Five Spaces for
  Glasgow 1999 - 2002
• Five modernist designs for neighbourhood spaces
  - all failed.
• Looking back at the depopulated streets of the
  Five Spaces neighbourhoods, a fundamental
  questions threatens all such agendas. Is there a
  threshold below which is it siomply not possible
  to create good neighbourhood space?

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• Many of the shiny new quaysides and squares
  seemed curiously empty of people or curiously
  monocultural in the type of people they attract.
• The shift from a place-based to a user-based
  understanding enables the quality of space within
  a neighbourhood or even a whole city to be
  assessed in terms of how well it supports a range
  of public experiences such as belonging and
  companionship, risk-taking and adventure, and
  reflection and learning.

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• Creating Child-Friendly Cities
• In recent decades, debate about public space has
  focused on women, loft-dwellers, people with
  disabilities
• Childrens voices silenced
• Children need safe streets and secure family
  lives
• Fears of feral children.

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• Public space is all around us, a vital part of
  everyday urban life the streets we pass through
  on the way to work, the places where our children
  play, or where we encounter nature or wild life
  the local parks in which we enjoy sports, walk
  the dog and sit at lunchtime or simply,
  somewhere quiet to get away for a moment from the
  bustle of a busy daily life.

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PARKS ARE PLACES FOR EVERYONE
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Conclusions

• The Urban Renaissance Design Agenda was
  pre-occupied with city centre living at expense
  of everyday spaces.
• Children are the canaries in the mine - can we
  make child-friendly streets, neighbourhoods and
  city centres.
• Strengthen the connection between suburbs and
  city centres, through green corridors, walking
  and cycling routes.
• Design is now being used to social engineer
  public health policy, for good or bad.
• Support the Eco-Towns Initiative, particularly
  through its planning and health synergies.