Green space in the city: it's changing. Are you ready?

Nicola Dempsey

03 September 2013

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When local government budgets are cut, parks and green spaces are hit hard.

Why? Local authorities don't have to provide quality green space - so it's easier to justify budget cuts.

In 2011, 80% of local authorities had to cut staff, and expected parks and green spaces to deteriorate.

We don't know the full extent of the situation. Organisations like CABE Space and GreenSpace - who used to conduct nationwide research - no longer exist due to funding issues.

Parks and green spaces are very important places in our cities. They give us space to enjoy relative peace and quiet in natural and restorative surroundings. They are places where we can walk, run, play, explore, meet, eat, drink, sing, dance, juggle, get on a soap box and speak, climb trees and more.

And they provide less tangible stuff too: a welcoming feel, a safe atmosphere, a place that's looked after... Not too long a wish list. But as budget cuts begin to bite, and staff in parks disappear, this may be a far cry from what we find.

Quality of green spaces tends to be lowest in the poorer areas of our cities. Deprived neighbourhoods tend to have more environmental problems than affluent ones. And in times of austerity, anti-social behaviour like fly-tipping, littering and vandalism increase in deprived areas.

It is harder for local authorities with fewer resources to manage and maintain regularly vandalised spaces. This can lead to a downward spiral of neglect where spaces are written off as bad cases which aren't worth spending the limited resources.

It's overly-simplistic to blame local authorities. Since the 1980s they've been forced to contract out work to the best value private bidder - otherwise known as compulsory competitive tendering. Competition from the private sector drove down management costs at the expense of skills now lost.

In addition, awards such as Green Flag and Britain in Bloom disproportionately focus on high-profile and well-resourced parks and green spaces, many of which are not in deprived areas.

This all points to the need to re-think who owns and manages parks and green spaces. Increasingly, local authorities no longer have the capacity to do it effectively across their cities. And so (unsurprisingly, in this apparent "era of people power") emerges the idea that the community should look after green spaces. Well, that's the idea.

Sure, some communities have the skills, knowledge and contacts to manage their green spaces. They've formed groups and already do a fantastic job.

But such groups don't always reflect the opinions and priorities of the wider community. And what about those places where community spirit is not so strong or where there isn't a well-loved green space for the community to rally around?

So what will our urban green spaces look like in the future? Well, there simply is no longer the money for floral extravaganzas and regularly mown, manicured lawns. Isn't it time to mess up our parks with less formal planting, less rigorous maintenance and more nature? Is it as simple as let the grass grow and plant more trees? Should the new mantra be maintain less and grow more?

Now is the time to challenge the idea of the park and what we do there, especially if as communities, we are the ones who will be looking after them in the future.

Any change will require a shift in mindset. We are more wedded to the idea of a formal Victorian park than we might admit: this has been the dominant green space in our cities for over 150 years. But is it fit for purpose in the 21st century?

And when the local authority can no longer manage our parks and the responsibility becomes ours, might that change how all of us use them? It'll no longer be the faceless Council, but your neighbour that you answer to if you damage 'our' park.

We're heading into uncharted waters, and we really are in it together. But what is clear is that quality green spaces are important for the wellbeing of all residents across all cities. We must not give up on green spaces.

Dr Nicola Dempsey, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield

Twitter: @DrNicolaDempsey

These and a spectrum of related issues are discussed in the forthcoming book, Place-keeping: open space management in practice, edited by Nicola Dempsey, Harry Smith and Mel Burton published by Routledge in 2014.

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