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Future Vision 2011 Jotaro Tokunaga, BA Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield Future Open Spaces Make the most of open space in towns, cities and villages The Urban Corridor Park An adaptive approach to making the most of poorly used streets. The Problem In Britain, there has recently been a transformation of our cityscapes. ‘Millennium’ branded projects and the rise of shrines to the religion of shopping, retail and leisure were common throughout the country, resulting in a dense homogeny of consumerism. When that dream began to fade in 2008, it took with it many of the shop fronts and industrial environments which supported it. Parts of our towns and cities are now peppered with boarded up shops and lie dormant. As this was happening, there too was a type of cheap city environment which always had lagged behind - the pound shops and discount shoe outlets, which were at risk of segregation and disconnection with the rest of the affluent city. As social mobility decelerates and wealth disparities wid- en, it’s important that such close city districts are glued together and share a common network of spaces which enrich the city centre as a whole - greater than the sum of its parts. With the coming decades, the urban fabric has an oppor- tunity to reclaim these ‘dead’ streets, and make the most of under used spaces. Pocket Parks Stalled Spaces The concept of a pocket park is not new - taking a small space and squeezing the max- imum impact out of it - was realised famously by Robert Zion’s Paley Park in 1967. Its principles were simple: - A retreat from the noisy, dirty streets of Manhattan. - Slower paces, vegetation and a recreational attraction. This report, published last year, explores the idea of stalled spaces (the underlying issue of this pro- ject submission), Problems they cause: Environmental: overgrown, dangerous and det- rimental to the overall image of the wider area. Social: unpleasant for visitors, and despairing to residents and their quality of life Economic: hamstrings hopes of new attractions into a downward spiral of closures. Opportunities: These spaces are in essence open canvasses for place- making, community engagement, de- velopment, green infrastructure, growth, education and temporary uses. If these principles were applied in a way which connects spaces, rather than a reclusion, this would give a higher impetus to inhabit our streets, with a slower pace and a better appreciation for the surroundings. Crucially, this is about making the connections through the city, over fragmented spaces connect- ed by unappealing streetscapes. Precedents A recent article illustrating the impact of a poor city environment, as affecting pedestrian footfall into a spiral of urban dereliction. The Solution The idea of the corridor park, is to allocate a street, or stretches of a street, which are dedicated to en- hancing the site, and the surround- ing streets. It is essentially sacrificed, for the benefit of the rest of the area. This could take any form, but has the potential to become a haven for: - Stormwater Catchment - Vegetation - Habitat creation - Social and Cultural Milieu - Environmental quality: Shade, Shel- ter and air quality - Recreation, Relaxation, Food + Drink - Allotments, Community functions or other senses of ownership. Concept Model: How a Corridor Park would radiate its benefits outwards. Brief + Fabric Concept A conceptual way of examining the idea is through the idea of fabrics: - Connecting the dif- ferent threads, stitches and patches. - Weaving in colours, textures, functions. - Creating a cohesive end product which exceed the sum of its parts: a tapestry of con- nected users, charac- ters and functions. The boost it creates, in terms of perception, a light- er streetscape, cosmetics, interest, desirability and quality of life will drive the economic investment in that area, whereas a partially derelict street would do very little to enhance its surroundings. In a resi- dential environment, the boost to the quality of life is significant, and would stretch lengths in curbing antisocial behaviour. The benefit can potentially outweigh the cost of ‘sacrificing’ a flagging street - not just in the imme- diate recession phase, but for the long-term good. As a route and connection, the park become a seamlessly transient space which helps to merge and create a gradient in character shifts from one neighbourhood to another. To gain the maximum benefit of space, corridor parks works effectively when the area between two streets are claimed for use. In the example site, this is 40m wide. The buildings contained in this space should be demolished or adapted to fit the needs of the new corridor park, with the waste material converted to landform or planting beds. Small Scale: In small streets the site could become spaces for al- lotments or habitat creation, and extend the ideas built on by Pocket Parks, with wider benefits. This could be a school or other community regenera- tion project, along an allocated street. Large Scale: The potential for the space to become distinctive socio-economic-environmental hubs and as part of the construction of the city is much greater, with a full design and consulation process. The project is driven by the idea of the space and what it can offer to the area. The details of What, Who, and How, should be at the discretion of the site needs and context. Theoretically, as long as the context is suitable, this can be applied to any settlement, as it has the flex- ibility to become whatever it needs to be. Future Vision 2011 Jotaro Tokunaga Future Open Spaces Example Study Community Impacts Applying the Solution Drainage: Slits + gradient direction are used to feed the waterscape + SUDS. 1:200 Pub (The Washington) Student Accommodation (Opal 1) Modern Apartments Soil Planting. Herbaceous with winter shapes and silhouettes. Vegetation Styles: Crushed Rubble / Gravel Plant- ing + Grasses. Dense vegetated groundcover and canopy entrance experience Block seating partially masked from road traffic for a calmer environment. Downwards Gradient Direction Leisure Allotment Shed Timber crossing creates the sense of entering semi- private space. Utility Space Allotments: - Raised and wall-re- tained for privacy, but allows open views, meetings and conversations . - Flexible Plot Sizes depending on tenure and demand. - Shed adds to sense of ownership and structure of the allotments. Landform (1.5m) created with crushed building material from site. Short, intimate path along the water & planting. Mixtures of transient & lingering spaces. Landform ends with rockery planting from crushed demolition rubble. Dappled shade from Sun and Rain. Block seating on gravel for drained footspace. Balance of character, interest, function and desirability to glue the north and south masterplan areas together. Raised Beer Garden Overlook and Steel mesh platforms to expose the planting underneath. Depressed grass slits are the threads that stitches the site conti- nuity together. 0m 0mm 5m 25mm 10m 50mm 15m 75mm Students Cyclists Residents Allotments Industry+ Business Site: Fitzwilliam St, Sheffield. The stretch of identified buildings are either dere- lict, poorly used parking or can be relocated rela- tively easily. The space between the two streets is used to create a corridor park, which connects the modern / trendy Devonshire Green, with the poor- ly connected, run-down Moor shopping district. Night lighting essential as an unlocked public space, for social and park safety. N
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