The value of public space

The value of our public spaces is so frequently discussed - yet often quite poorly understood. 

Typically, we think of the value of public space in economic terms - as a commodity, where its maintenance and cost-in-use has to justify initial capital expenditure. Land is considered in its real estate terms. Privatisation imposes corporate rules on who might use it. 

This may divide people and potentially lead to gentrification. 

But it’s not the well-designed public space that is responsible for this social fragmentation - it’s just where we see its effects. 

Viewing public space only in economic terms quantifies and commodifies it. 

It causes it to be viewed separately to the wider economic and social networks. But when a space is valued by people and embedded within those networks, then its maintenance and sustainability is secure. By widening our view of what the value of public space might be, then that same physical asset can bring people together, bring life to a city, and create a vibrant urban realm.

Leading figures in urbanism studies – you know them well! - Jane Jacobs, Doreen Massey, Bill Hillier - have underlined that it is the people that shape places – it is the chance and planned social interactions that create the urban life from which economic prosperity emerges. This is something that architects such as Jan Gehl have known for some time, and can be verified by his projects from Melbourne to Copenhagen. 

So, when we think about public space, perhaps we should be asking a different question – not ‘what is the value of public space’ but

‘ what is it that we value?’ 

If streets are the face of a city, then they communicate its character and its values. What do our streets say about the city we live in? What ideals and aspirations do they convey?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘value’ as “ the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance or, worth, or usefulness of something.” 

Only further down the dictionary entry does it mention monetary value. This suggests that value is in the eye of the beholder, not in the pocket of the real estate agent.

So what do we value about our public spaces?

There is mounting evidence that well-designed, purposeful urban public space is vital for our health and our mental well-being. Studies show that physical and mental illnesses associated with sedentary urban lifestyles are an increasing economic and social cost. They show that areas with more accessible green space are associated with better mental and physical health, and that the risk of mortality caused by cardiovascular disease is lower in residential areas that have higher levels of ‘greenness.’ 

Walkable neighbourhoods are associated with decreased obesity and diabetes. Reduction in the use of cars reduces urban air pollution levels. These benefits, in turn, alleviate the financial pressures on health service providers. 

Urban public space is also highlighted as a solution for the loneliness epidemic that is sweeping the world in the digital age. If spaces are designed according to the values of communities, then they bring people together. This is demonstrated by urban agriculture projects that have healed communities in cities challenged by gang violence and economic hardship, such as in Detroit in the US.

Urban space is a hub for collective creativity in the city. It is a place where its children play, where arts projects bring creative thinkers like yourselves and communities together. The World Economic Forum emphasises creative thinking as the 3rd most important skill that will be needed for businesses to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution. Incidentally, critical problem solving and critical thinking are at numbers 1 and 2. But where do we learn those skills? Where do children develop creativity through play? Where do we learn when and where we can take risks? Where do we learn how to get from A to B? Yes, of course, public spaces create these opportunities for emerging generations.

We might also argue that the value of public spaces goes right to the very survival of these future generations. This year, the young climate activist, Greta Thunberg, has so articulately impressed upon us the consequences of sacrificing our values in the sole pursuit of economic goals. The capacity of public space to deal with pollution and mitigate the urban microclimate, and thus the carbon debt of cities is a vital consideration as global warming continues to rise. Public spaces are one of our best tools in ensuring the sustainability and resilience of our population centres. Whilst we need to build more and more flood defences, sensitive and intelligent design means that these defences can also provide a human and liveable edge to the city, such as at the Embarcadero project on San Francisco’s waterfront.

So, with this in mind, we can see that value is a complex idea. 

The New York High Line project has shown us that urban economic revival can be achieved at the same time as the creation of social value. Good design enables widespread civic pride to be achieved at the same time as nurturing well-being for one person who views the setting sun through a blade of Piet Oudolf’s grass.

Taking a view of value that is both wide and long, we can create urban spaces that, in decades to come, we will realise are symbols of the values that we, as designers, as makers, as clients, as users, hold precious. 

I hope you will reflect on this topic in its widest sense, remembering that a public space without people is just a space – a vacuum. It has no value. Design for people and the rewards will follow.