Transform public space

👉🏽 This story is developed as part of the Doughnut Economics for Policymakers guide.

Governments worldwide are transforming public spaces to strengthen community bonds and connections with nature. This is done through regulating harmful advertising, funding space transformation, engaging communities in co-design processes, and providing design guidance. These interventions have demonstrated significant positive social and ecological impacts.

Overview

Governments can regulate and design the use of public space to nurture communal bonds and connections with nature. Possible actions include:

• Regulate advertisements for products that cause high ecological harm in public or all spaces: Several local governments in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK ban advertisements for fossil fuels or high-carbon industries and products in public spaces; some extend the ban to all spaces. Furthermore, many national governments, including France, ban fossil fuel advertising in all spaces. Bhutan bans billboards and shopfront advertising to curb consumerism.
• Champion and fund initiatives to transform public spaces: Mexico City has reclaimed public spaces in Iztapalapa as openly accessible communal places for nature, art, and culture; Paris has transformed schoolyards into public spaces for people and nature; and Copiapó in Chile converted a landfill into a green park that connects communities.
• Engage and mobilise local communities in designing public spaces: Medellín in Colombia, Melbourne in Australia, and Port-au-Prince in Haiti have all engaged local communities to co-design public spaces that nurture communal bonds and stewardship of nature.
• Provide guidance on how public spaces can nurture human nature: The UK government has published a national design guide for planning practices, including how to design public spaces for nature, culture, and local communities. Similarly, the Chinese State Council recommends key principles to local governments on designing and developing urban spaces for culture, nature, and local communities.

Implementation

Emerging good practices from local and national governments around the world underline the importance of tailoring approaches to local ecological, social and economic contexts. They also highlight the need for collaborative and participatory processes to ensure effective implementation.

Impacts

Well-designed public spaces that centre local communities and nature have been shown to reduce crime while strengthening cultural identity and communal bonds. They positively impact local community wellbeing by encouraging physical activity and providing opportunities for play and exercise in fresh air and green environments. Local businesses and community engagement can be boosted. 

Green public spaces also help contribute to carbon capture, nurture communal nature stewardship, and build climate resilience.

Challenges

• Limited public funding and capacity to redesign and maintain public spaces can hinder implementation. 
• Balancing different demands from local communities on public spaces can be tricky. 
• Fragmented governmental structures and weak collaboration among government agencies may result in conflicting policies and demands on public spaces. This risks missed opportunities to use public spaces for multiple purposes. 
• Where there is weak societal trust, local communities may be unwilling to engage, co-design, or use public spaces. 

Reference and further reading

• Badvertising collates case studies on advert bans.
• C40 provides design guidance for green and thriving public spaces, showcasing good practices from cities around the world.
• CABE Space’s report collates evidence on the benefits of well-designed public spaces. 

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