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The #ParkPower project is a collaboration between a diverse group of organisations that share one thing in common, a deep interest in the future of London’s green spaces. Joining the City of London Corporation, who own parks and commons from Hampstead Heath to Epping Forest, are the urban design teams of the London Collective and Dar Group, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, London National Park City, Commonplace and the mental health charity the Frank Bruno Foundation.

We are hoping to have some introductory words from Frank Bruno himself, a tireless campaigner for mental health issues and one of this country’s great sporting legends.

We hope to see you there!

Earlier this week, the Government announced it would allocate £23m towards a new city centre park in Manchester as part of its £900m Getting Building Fund, as part of a series of investments in outdoor spaces in response to the coronavirus crisis. The plans come as part of a huge £1.4bn improvement project near the heart of the city, which will transform around 24 acres of unused space.

The new Mayfield Park , which will be located close to Manchester Piccadilly train station, will be “beautifully landscaped” and “at the centre of one of the most significant, catalytic sustainable and green regeneration developments in the UK”. The park also marks the first of its kind in the northern city in 100 years.

One of the big drivers behind the focus on outside public space has been Coronavirus. Green spaces have been a crucial part of people’s wellness and resilience through the lockdown. In urban areas such as Manchester, more public outdoor green spaces can make a huge difference to people’s lives.

Aimee Stimpson , the national lead for healthy places for Public Health England , said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has made many of us more aware of how much we value and rely on our outdoor spaces to support our health and wellbeing."

The current pandemic is highlighting the vital importance of urban green spaces as an essential quality‐of‐life element in sustainable cities. As cities get reconfigured after the pandemic restrictions, it is now a good time to start working toward creating or improving and parks community facilities.

Please keep sharing your thoughts on your local parks, and tell us what you would be excited to see in future green spaces in London.

#ParkPower

The blog post is part of an original article published by The Guardian and available here.

Image: Royal Parks

What's next?

As cities get reconfigured after the pandemic restrictions, it is now a good time to start working toward creating or improving and parks community facilities. Please keep sharing your thoughts on your local parks, and tell us what you would be excited to see in future green spaces.

#ParkPower

A recent research by the University of Exeter shows that access to good-quality green space is linked to feeling healthier (and happier!), decreased levels of obesity and improved mental health and wellbeing. Whether it’s a ParkRun or a 'Our Parks' activity on the weekends, an evening game with your friends, taking your dog for a walk, parks help us keep our bodies and minds healthy.

2. They make a great home for wildlife and can be the perfect climate solution

The trees, plants and undergrowth that scatter our parks provide essential habitats for the birds, insects and small mammals that keep our ecosystem going. A perfect example for that in London? Richmond Park. Also, parks and green spaces provide are the most effective ways to combat extreme heat, helping cooling neighbourhoods.

4. They make a great place for art and culture

We know that Britain is home to a brilliant range of art galleries and museums. But art doesn’t just live in those places. Many works of art by household names such as Barbara Hepworth and Antony Gormley were made to live and change in the great outdoors. Parks provide an invaluable space to experience some of the UK's best visual art, theatre and music.

6. They bring us closer

We eat, keep fit, play, escape from our busy lives and office jobs, experience our heritage all in our local parks. They are a fantastic, FREE resource that brings communities closer together and improve millions of lives.

Does your local park have what it takes?

As cities get reconfigured after the pandemic restrictions, it is now a good time to start working toward creating or improving and parks community facilities. Please keep sharing your thoughts on your local parks, and tell us what you would be excited to see in future green spaces.

You can also take a look at the map and share interesting comments with your network – we want to reach many more people and hear from everyone. The map will be open for you to add your thoughts throughout the summer.

#ParkPower

The following blog post is part of an original interview published on the NLA website and available here .

Having worked for a big firm of architects for several years, I knew that there had only really been a loose collaboration between people or bigger multi-disciplinaries and they have bigger overheads and need to cross-sell services. So I wanted to create a more structured network for people, and particularly the specialists who do things like social impact, modern methods of construction, zero carbon and so on, working alongside architects and engineers, graphic designers and others. That is one of the reasons why I've decided to create the London Collective.

The #ParkPower idea was born after a conversation with one of our members, Commonplace, the UK’s leading community engagement platform. I've been talking to the CEO, Mike Saunders, bout how to really demonstrate the power of this tool in a broader way and thinking about cities and issues rather than a particular project by a particular developer or turning to the planning process.

We thought the London Festival of Architecture would be a great platform to do that with because it often galvanises people to do things that they wouldn’t do in the normal course of events. We started thinking about the public realm and how we could find out what people love about their parks and their green spaces in order to help create a vision for what parks could be like in the future.

That actually predated, in many ways, the current crisis. But what's happened since is that there's a lot more pressure on parks but people have also recognised that they are critical pieces of infrastructure. There was some research recently that showed they make something like a £34 billion contribution to the economy in terms of wellbeing, but also save the NHS a huge amount of money – £111million, or something along those lines.

We felt like it would be good to really understand better how we can solve some of the problems that parks are facing at the moment in terms of densities of people wanting to use them in different ways, but also come up with creative ideas around planning and design.

I think London is incredible in the amount of green space we have, and that's partly why it has now become the world's first National Park City. Almost half of it is green space, and I think it's what makes London very special. It's got these green lungs and this tapestry – different types of green spaces. I think everyone loves parks – they are universally loved. But they are also underinvested-in. So hopefully that will be one of the outcomes.