Three must see public spaces

Three great public spaces to visit

1.       Federation Square

I visited Federation Square in January of this year during the Melbourne Tennis Open. It was such an experience sitting in the square with a couple thousand people watching the final of the men’s tennis on a big screen. The atmosphere and the space made for an incredible night of entertainment. Federation Square is a mixture of open space and attractions in the heart of Melbourne. It works so well due to its size which is an entire city block and incorporates an array of attractions that are symbolic of all that is great about Melbourne, including fine art, hospitality, bold architecture and a vibrant calendar of events.

Federation Square (Photo courtesy of Google Images).

Federation Square (Photo courtesy of Google Images).

Federation Square is situated on the busiest intersection in central Melbourne across the road from Flinders Street Station and the most prominent section of the Melbourne Tram network. Federation Square offers a central and unifying square in which people can meet and gather. If you’re venturing to Melbourne Federation Square is worth a visit for its restaurants and café, Arts and events or simply to soak in the atmosphere and do some people watching. Definitely my favourite public space.

2.       Plaza Hidalgo

Plaza Hidalgo (Photo courtesy of Google Images).

Plaza Hidalgo is the heart of the pleasant bohemian suburb of Coyoacan outside of Mexico City. I have not visited Plaza Hidalgo, but it is placed highly on my top public spaces to visit in the world. Project for Public Spaces lists Plaza Hidalgo in the top spot of their list of top public spaces around the world, so it must be worth a visit. The area is pleasantly framed by tree lined streets which lead to the Plaza which has a Church on one side. Activity in the plaza is messy but vibrant with markets spilling over onto the church steps and restaurants spilling out onto the plaza, making for a wide range of activities and entertainment available within the plaza. Luckily car access is restricted into the centre of the plaza making it a pedestrian friendly area and adding to its vibrancy.

The plaza acts as a center of thriving activity, yet provides enough activity to act as a buffer from the persistent hustle and bustle that typifies life in Mexico City. There is a high level of local pride, and this public space is populated by both locals and tourists at its busiest times. Making it a must see when in Mexico City.

Plaza Hidalgo (Photo courtesy of Google Images).

3.       St James Park

Located east of Buckingham Palace in London and has been called a spiritual place which is the best central park in London. This wonderful park has always been considered a respite away from the busy city of London. Again I have not been to this park but have heard many positive things about it. It is spread over 53 acres and has a small lake within its grounds. Many different birds make their home the park including Pelicans which were a gift from the Russian Ambassador in 1664.

It is the oldest of the Royal Parks in London and has an interesting history of private ownership by Henry VIII and had the land drained and turned into a home for exotic animals such as camels, crocodiles and an elephant. Charles II then redesigned the park into a more formal style and opened it to the public. This park appears to be a lovely setting to avoid the hustle and bustle of London and a must see.


St James Park (Photo courtesy of Google Images).



St James Park (Photo courtesy of Google Images).

These three public spaces are beautiful and unique in their own right and attract visitors from far and wide. The most important aspect of a public space in my belief is the little things such as seating or tidiness or a cool piece of art therefore even the smallest of public spaces can be attractive through the implementation of little bit effective initiatives.

Civic Centres a Great Place for Public Space.

Civic Centres are the places and spaces that surround public buildings, these can serve as the “front porches” of the buildings such as post offices, courthouses, museums, libraries and seats of government. These places have the most potential for enrichment of the public realm. Cities and neighbourhoods with thriving civic spaces reap the benefits of a strong sense of community spirit which is generated from these spaces being utilised. They create a sense of identity between a city’s residents and their spaces. Public buildings are at their best when they not only function as active community places in their own right, but also when they form part of a larger civic district.

A library and a city hall do not create a civic center on their own. But add an outdoor reading room to the library, start hosting public exhibits at city hall, set up food vendors on the sidewalk or a farmers market in the parking lot and suddenly you begin to generate much greater levels of activity than before. The moving from a Civic Centre out into the public realm such as a park, street, plaza or square results in the reaching out to the neighbourhood and creating a sense of inclusion of communities into the public realm. A good example in Auckland is that of Aotea Square next to the Town Hall which links a public space and beautiful architecture of the Town Hall together to form an atmosphere and space which people enjoy.

Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Square (Photo courtesy of Zimbio)

 

Civic centres are an extension of the community, when they work well they serve as a stage for our public lives. If they function in their true civic role, they can be the settings where celebrations are held, where social and economic exchanges take place, where friends run into each other, and where cultures mix. ‘The rewards of transforming a civic space into a great public place go way beyond just the space, although the place in itself enriches the lives of its users and enhances its surrounding buildings and neighborhood. Great public places contribute to community health in the means of socially, economically, culturally and environmentally. They add enhancement to the civic realm not only visually, but also in providing a sense of character and a forum for public activities. They can be anchors for downtowns and communities, acting as focal points for definition and foundations for healthy growth. All of these assets, as well as the opportunity these places offer for people to relax and enjoy themselves, add up to greater community livability’ (Project for Public Spaces, 2010).

Transforming the empty public spaces that surround our civic centres is the small change in which local authorities can develop a sense of pride within a city and neighbourhood. Hamilton City Council could develop the area around the court house which is just empty grass and is unused the transformation of this area into an open public space which is utlised by the public would help to generate interest in the Hamilton CBD as well as bringing a sense of pride and providing a great space around a beautiful civic building. What other areas do you think Local Authorities could utlise surrounding civic centres?

Hamilton City Ice Rink.

A winter wonderland is to be created in Garden Place September this year with Hamiltonians getting a taste of an outdoor ice skating rink in the central city. The ice skating rink will be around 15m x 30m and is planned to be set up for a month and would be open between 10am-10pm. Around 250 skaters will be able to grace the ice at any one time and the promoter Gareth Webber said it will give skaters a similar experience to that of the rink lit up outside Rockefeller Center in New York.

Rockefeller Centre, New York (Photo Courtesy of Waikato Times)

The rink is part of an ice hockey tour which is set to hit Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin for matches, from then the rink will be broken up and sent on the City Rink Tour. “With all the cafes and bars around it's a great place and people can wind down and have a coffee in the day or have a drink at night." The placement of the rink in Garden Place creates a draw card to the centre of Hamilton bringing in people from around the region. The rink's debut in Hamilton coincides with the city's hosting of the Rugby World Cup and would share the space with the community days planned at Garden Place during the match games in the city. I think the timing and placement of this ice rink in Hamilton will bring lots of money into the economy and give people the chance to enjoy the CBD, with lots of things happening and newly renovated public spaces for people to enjoy.

Hamilton has definitely maximised on the opportunity of hosting some world cup matches as they have renovated many areas within the CBD and more renovation is still to come, such as the cafes and restaurants outside the Centreplace mall and the completion of Garden Place.  The development of many events and infrastructure in Hamilton is a great way to bring people, money and investment into Hamilton.

This is a great example of utilising public space well. Just wish it was for a longer period of time maybe more during winter. Could Hamilton City Council extend this to occur every year?

Smoking banned from New York public spaces

New York: Smokers not welcome (Photo courtesy of Smokers Blog)

Smoking has been banned from New York City parks and beaches; creating an outdoor smoking ban which is enforced by park officials and people caught lighting up in these areas can face a fine of $50. New York City health officials hope to discourage smoking in the future generations of consumers, sending a message that smoking in family friendly areas is unacceptable. While this may promote healthy communities, will this leave public spaces empty or create more attractive places?

Smoking ban notice (photo courtesy of NYC parks)

Smoking being banned in public places eliminates the social aspect of the activity, especially in a country like New Zealand that has a ban on smoking in public buildings. "The new smoking ban is a quality of life rule that is primarily self-enforcing," a Parks Department spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday. "We're counting on all New Yorkers to comply” hoping that the non-smoking public will also put pressure on those breaking the rule. Public policing is one of the main ways to maintain a level of order within society as members of the public often criticise and isolate those that do not comply.

The New York Mayor says there are compelling reasons for banning smoking in some outdoor areas, such as children's play parks, as a means of shifting long-term attitudes. The ban comes as a push towards healthier lifestyles and a means to changing many people’s attitudes as it is no longer considered an activity to undertake in social environments such as public spaces. The concern I have with this ban is will it push people away from using public spaces as they cannot smoke there? When looking at the ban on smoking in public restaurants and bars in New Zealand, it did not stop people using these facilities it simply meant they had to adapt their smoking habit around these places. So this may create a shift to change people’s smoking habits as they can no longer smoke in public parks and beaches.

Children and young people were concerned that parents who smoke may no longer take their children to the play parks if they are not allowed to smoke. Parents should not smoke around their children anyway, and isolating activities due to the need for smoking seems ridiculous in this society. Children should not be inhibited by their parents need to smoke. I think the ban in New York had the intentions of creating healthier and more attractive environments while creating a negative social connotation of smokers who are no longer allowed to affect others by their habits.

Time Square smoking ban sign (Photo Courtesy of Google Images).

It already has happened in the UK, Glasgow and the north-west of England have a number of parks that have gone smoke-free. Will the smoking ban catch on in the rest of the world, just like the ban on smoking in public restaurants and bars did.

I think that public spaces will still be utilised even though a portion of the population can no longer carry out an activity in these areas. I think they will still be utilised as smoking is not an activity that public spaces are design around. Smoking actually leaves public spaces dirty and full of cigarette butts, which is not ideal to a clean and attractive space. So this ban will be for the better creating well-integrated communities that will attract more people into public space as the smell and dirt of smoking will no longer inhabit these spaces.

I think New Zealand needs to take the initiative and create a smoking ban in all our public parks and beaches as our environment is being damaged by cigarette butts, as it is not hard to find cigarette butts in the sand at the beach or on the pavement in a park. We pride ourselves on our natural environments, so why should we let a small minority of the population ruin the enjoyment for everyone? Public space should be smoke free.

Placemaking!

Placemaking is the multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It involves looking at, listening to and asking questions of the people who live, work and play in a particular area. This is to discover their needs and aspirations. It forms a sense of connection between the communities and the spaces around them. This concept was originally constructed by William H. Whyte who largely pioneered the concept in New York back in the 1970s. It was the beginning of the ‘bottom-up’ approach, where people were the instigators of their own planning initiatives in their communities.

Placemaking is not just the act of building or fixing up a space, but rather a whole process that creates the kind of places where people want to be. Community input is the fundamental factor in the placemaking concept as the success of a public place is determined by the amount of use that the space gets from the local community, therefore if the community has been the fundamental contributor to the project then they have a sense of ownership and therefore are more likely to use it.

Three examples of placemaking in New Zealand are that of the Queen Street revitalisation, the Wellington Waterfront project and the Piopio conversion of empty buildings. Although all of these projects are on different scales they have all been successful in using the bottom-up approach where the community is at the heart of the project and is fully engaged through the design, implementation and monitoring.



Wellington waterfront (imaged sourced from placemaking.org.nz)



Placemaking New Zealand have come up with six principles which they believe are important when developing a placemaking project in your community, they are as follows;

1.       The locals are the experts

·         Get out and meet the locals

·         Valuable history of place and functions

·         Gives community sense of ownership

2.       Create a place not a design

·         Work with communities to identify what they want, and actually implement it

3.       The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

·         Offer multiple options for the community

4.       Start with the small stuff

·         Experiment with small, short term improvements that can be tested and refined over time

·         Elements such as seating, public art, community gardens and murals

5.       It’s not about the money

·         Don’t need a multimillion dollar budget to create great places

·         The more involved the community, the greater the benefit you will see

6.       You are never finished

·         Successful public spaces respond to the needs, opinions and on-going changes in the community

·         Being open to the need for change and having the flexibility to create change will build great public spaces

Placemaking New Zealand considers everyone to be a placemaker, they even have two categories in which people fit into, and the diagram below illustrates these:




Everyones a placemaker (imaged sourced from placemaking.org.nz)

 

Placemaking starts at the bottom and works its way up so if you live in a place you want to see get turned into a great place with lots of public space and just a neat place to live, work and play don’t hesitate to be a placemaker, as every little bit counts to making our places better.

Markets, A Viable Land Use in Public Space

William H Whyte believes that the biggest attractor of people is people themselves. This concept got me thinking about the idea of attractions in public spaces. Is it a good idea to place a land use such as retail within a public space? It became apparent that local markets are best fit to occupy public space as they do not encompass all of the space itself due to the stall like nature of its set up therefore people can still enjoy the outdoors without feeling confined to a artificial man made environment such as a mall or a supermarket.

Earlier on in this blog it was illustrated the importance of having sociability within a public space, studies have shown that people strike up four to ten times as many conversations in farmers markets than supermarkets. I believe this helps to create a strong sense of community spirit and sense of place due to the connections formed with other people.

As well as linking to the social aspect, markets provide an activity within the space in which draws people into the area as there is an activity to attract people’s interests.  Food is a big part of everyone’s, everyday lives, and the development of a market provides access to fresh, healthy food as well as supporting the local farmers. Food brings people together and in many cultures is considered the main feature in social environments therefore markets stimulate this as people will be brought together by food.

The spin off benefits of markets are numerous, from increasing access to healthy food to providing important revenue streams, markets positively impact local businesses, governments and residents. But perhaps the most important is the way markets serve as public gathering places for people from different ethnic, cultural and socio-economic communities. Markets are identified as one of the few places where people comfortably gather and meet. We must remember that markets are our original civic centres and originated back in the Roman and Greek time. But in those days markets were considered a place of gathering, for conversation and social aspects of society but were only for the use of men a somewhat different society then we have today. In a way markets have simply evolved as they still promote conversation and gathering of people within a community, it is just initiated through the means of local produce.

Roman Market- meeting place only for men. (photo sourced from google images)

Within New Zealand farmers markets are traditional especially in historically farming towns such as Hamilton although these farmers markets have declined over the many decades and now take place in areas which do not encourage civic engagement with the rest of the city centre. The Hamilton farmers market is located in a car park on the fringe of the city centre, limiting peoples experience to simply the market and no other engagement with local businesses and public space. An ideal placement of this market would be the newly developed Garden Place in which has been discussed earlier on in this blog. Garden place would be perfect for this market due to its placement in the city and the availability of space. This placement would capture other people who are in town as currently you have to be going to the market to experience it but many passers-by may be drawn in to the vibrant public space.

Hamilton Farmers Market. (Photo sourced from google images)

Auckland’s Britomart precinct is home to the City’s Farmers Market where regional produce is on offer as well as a vibrant atmosphere in the centre of Auckland’s downtown located directly next to the Britomart Transport centre which is the hub of all public transport for the CBD. This makes the market available to a wide range of people whilst drawing people into the public spaces of downtown Auckland.



Britomart Farmers Market (Photo sourced from google images)



A movement back towards farmers markets can be seen as a positive move within today’s economy due to the global movement towards a more sustainable future, local authorities need to start thinking locally and establish a market in which local produce can be sold to local communities in which would stimulate economic development, limit transport costs of produce and create a healthier community with stimulated civic engagement through the successful use of public spaces.

What makes a public space successful?

Great public space are where celebrations are held, social and economic exchanges take place, friends run into each other, and cultures mix. They are where we interact with each other and government. When the spaces work well, they serve as a stage for our public lives. Project for public spaces has found successful public spaces have four key qualities, these are accessible, people are engaged in activities there, the space is comfortable and has a good image and finally it is a sociable place, one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit.

The following diagram is used in judging a place good or bad. It highlights the above four key qualities and expands on the qualitative or intuitive aspects of a place and then the quantitative aspects which can be measured by research and statistics.

Access and Linkage:

The accessibility of a place can be judged by its connections to its surroundings, both visual and physical.  A successful public place is easy to get to and get through.

Comfort and image:

This quality is essential to the success of a space. Comfort includes perceptions about safety, cleanliness and the availability of places to sit. It is important to give people the choice of where to sit as options makes people feel more comfortable than having to conform to what one person’s ideal of comfort is.

Use and Activity:

Having something to do gives people a reason to come to a place. And from experiencing a place with a positive atmosphere once they are likely to return.

Sociability:

This is a difficult quality for a place to achieve, but once attained it becomes an unmistakable feature. When people see friends, meet and greet their neighbors, and feel comfortable interacting with strangers, they tend to feel a stronger sense of place or attachment to their community – and to the place that fosters these types of social activities.

Therefore the incorporation of all these aspects creates a place and space in which people enjoy and fosters a sense of community spirit and gives atmosphere to the area.

Public space and public transport go hand in hand

When enjoying public space in Melbourne I noticed that people need something to look at when enjoying public space such as river, people, vegetation, public artwork. As well as something to look at people also need a purpose for being in those public spaces, due to the busy nature of people’s lives not many people take time out to ‘smell the roses’ as time is a precious commodity. The most common purpose I noticed in Melbourne was that of eating. People like a nice place to sit and eat therefore public spaces need to provide settings for this, such as picnic benches or large bench like seats. The other main activity attributed in public spaces around Melbourne was that of waiting or in transit from public transport. Most public spaces are based within a close vicinity of public transport stops or stations. This got me thinking about the possible connection between people who use public transport and those that use public spaces. I came to the conclusion that those who use public transport are more mobile than those that are bound by a car and therefore can move more freely through the city and enjoy all the spaces and places the local authority has implemented. Therefore a well-served city of both public transport and public space will have a better atmosphere as more people will be on the streets.

This idea of the synergistic link between public space and public transport is shown in Portland’s Pioneer Square where public transport systems utilise all sides of the public space.

Photo sourced from http://www.pps.org/articles/pioneersq/

The light rail system is located on two sides of the square and public buses utilise 3 sides of the square. It has many places for people to sit and shelter whilst waiting for public transport or eating their lunch during the working day. It also houses many festivals and events encouraging people to use this space. It is a great case study and should have been looked at by those who developed Britomart transport centre, where limited inclusion of public space has been given as priority has been given to buses and buildings. Therefore a link has not been established between public space and public transport.

Federation Square in Melbourne is another example of how public transport and public space can be separate but still closely linked as Flinders street station is across the road from Federation Square and a number of tram stops are located on all roads that surround federation square including the city circle free tram. Therefore access to the public space is easy and enables a place for those travelling by public transport to enjoy, along with the rest of the general public.

Public space is also a great way to use up empty spaces surrounding transport corridors or derelict areas under railway lines. For example in Melbourne all surrounding areas of public transport which may not be considered appealing have been transformed into public spaces which may be utilised. This enables all parts of the city to be utilised for economic, environmental and social benefits. For example under the railway that stretches parallel to the Yarra River  a number of public spaces have been developed underneath and around the tracks which sit a story above the ground.  See photo below. This is a fantastic use of space as people may not want to live within these areas and businesses may not want to form here due to the railway line travelling through but people may want to gather here. In Melbourne’s case the Yarra River provides a backdrop for those using the public space which links back to the idea of entertainment within public spaces.

Why Public Spaces Fail

William H. Whyte said 'it is difficult to design a space that will not attract people- what is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished." This got me thinking about why public spaces fail if William H. Whyte believes it is difficult to design a space that will not attract people so what goes so wrong?

Lack of places to sit: Many public spaces have limited seating arrangements and if they do have seating they are normally placed in places that are fixed and sometimes not ideal for people. Seating should be moveable and in all different forms and places giving people plenty of choice for places to sit. Giving people a choice is what encourages them to use public space, as if you do not give them a choice it is simply like they are comfrming to what urban designers believe would be the ideal place to sit. People should not have to adapt to the space, the space should be adaptable for different requirements. This makes the space more versitile and prone to success.

Lack of gathering points: This includes features people want and need such as playgrounds or places with varying elements such as food carts, bus stops and outdoor seating. People are drawn to other people therefore is there is places for people to gather with groups of friends of a bunch of individuals gathered in one place due to a common interest creates a sense of vibrancy and will encourage more people to use the space. In Launceston, Tasmania within the Brisbane street pedestrian mall a bunch of solid cusion shape seats have been placed within the centre, these create a place for children to play as well for people to sit and watch people. The shapes are an awesome colourful addition to the space which is dominated by people.

Dysfunctional features: Often features are designed to punctuate the space rather then serving multi purposes such as visual as well as functional. Such as the cusion shapes in Brisbane street as mentioned above. These serve as a colourful visual amenity to the area as well as being highly functional for a number of purposes.

Domination of a space by vehicles: People do not like to feel threatened when in a space, therefore they will not use a space where they do feel threaten. Resulting in a number of public spaces being taken over by cars. Therefore if the space is designed for people keep cars as far away as possible. The simple exercise of making pavements wider and narrowing carriage ways in order to promote pedestrian moveability can make a huge difference. Such a redevelopment has occurred in Victoria Street, Hamilton where the Hamilton City Council has given pedestrians a more dominant stand point along the road by making the carriage ways narrower and creating pedestrian islands along the road with plenty of vegetation seperating the people from the cars. It seems to have worked with a considerable increase in pedestrian movement within this area.

                                         Photo sourced from Hamilton City Council website.

These are the main reasons why public space fails, so why dont the urban designers acknowledge this and make sure the money being spent on public space is worth while, with a public space that is vibrant and utilised by the people of the area. It is definitely one of the cases where you can learn from your mistakes so hopefully when designing public spaces, the designers look at what works and what doesnt in many successful and not so successful public space and cater the space around the fails and successes of the past.

City Heart Revitalisation

Hamilton City Council is currently undertaking a huge transformation over the cities public spaces within the centre of the city. This revitalisation is to encourage people back into the CBD as many developments in the suburbs have drawn people away from the city environment and into malls. Therefore Hamilton City Council has come up with the plan to make the central city more people friendly.

The main project is that of the redevelopment of Garden place, the open public space off Victoria Street. Garden place was once empty becoming dangerous at night as limited eyes were on the street. But the introduction of events such as 'Summer in Garden Place' which held a number of music festivals and childrens events such as free movie screenings on a temporary big screen has encouraged people to use the public space. But will this create a sense of place within the city? I personally believe the Hamilton City Council will have to do more then just hold a few events to change Hamiltonians way of thinking about public space and the city centre.

Hamilton City Council has introduced seating and grassed areas which have the potential to be utilised by people for different things such as eating lunch or simply just people watching. But what else can you do in Garden Place unless there is an event on? The question that arises from this is will people in Hamilton use it?
Hamiltonians are prone to going to shopping malls instead of spending time in public space due to the suburbanisation of Hamilton and the limited vibrant public spaces avaliable to them have instilled this sense of behaviour within them. I believe the only thing missing from Garden Place is a thriving cafe scene as this would bring people into the space and make it more versitile as right now it just has a few shops and the Hamilton Central Library. This draws limited people in. therefore maybe Hamilton City Council should encourage cafes and restaurants into the area to make it more happening.

                                        Photo sourced from Hamilton City Council website.

Hamilton City Council must make the most of this redevelopment in order to maximise the use of this public space. It is simply a matter of 'watch this space' for the revitalisation of the Hamilton city centre.

Are public spaces soley for the tourists?

Having just recently visited Melbourne and spent a wonderful weekend exploring the beautiful city, I now have a great appreciation for awesome and effective public spaces. It wasnt just one experience and encounter that left me love struck with the great use of public spaces, it was the combination of being able to experience many different spaces all within one city. This experience is new to me as living in Auckland and before that Hamilton I am yet to be won over.

Photo taken by author.

As the photos illustrates I visited a great park like gardens called the Carlton Gardens, this is a similar setting to Aucklands Albert Park but on a much grander and more mature scale. But could not be compared to the Domain as its sole purpose was for leisurly enjoyment and to surround the World Heritage site within it. Many people, some tourists like us but many residents of Melbourne were basking in the gardens lush grass and open space with trees and fountains and places for people to sit and watch the busy world go by.

Maybe my mind was on holiday time but I couldn't help but notice how the aray of public space created a sort of atmosphere to the city of Melbourne. An atmosphere I do not feel when I'm in Auckland. Is this due to the way in which people look at things when on holiday compared with work mode. This leaves me wondering, do residents of a city enjoy public space as much as tourists do?

Bill Di Paola states in his blog that without tourists New York would be without public spaces as they are the 'activists of public space' using and demanding more. So maybe residents of cities are too busy with their life to slow down and take in some people watching in a public space. But maybe tourists just help with the extra push in order for local authorities to see that public space is a neccessary piece of infrastructure in a great city due to the outside money they bring into the economy. But this brings up the issue of would tourists still come to a city if it didn't have great public spaces already established?

In the city of New York there is already lots of things for toursits to see and do so maybe there has to be a draw card for tourists before they can influence infrastructure development. I think this is where Auckland and maybe New Zealand is lacking.