As part of being invited as a speaker at the upcoming Dubai Expo 2020, I have been invited to contribute a call to action for policymakers. This is what I wrote.

A call to action:

The urban built environment is made up of everyday spaces - the streets we step out into whenever we leave the house to the places we move through to get to work, school or to visit friends and family. These public spaces are more than just the glue holding our cities together, they are often where huge amounts of public life and day to day interaction happen, where we learn to ride bikes or walk to the shops, take the bins out or bump into neighbours, where trees and planting can provide shade, habitat and stormwater management, or the benches on which we share a view and a chat with friends.

With increasing urban populations, the way a city's built environment is designed and maintained - and the way its streets and public spaces are experienced by those on the ground - has a huge and important role in our health and well-being, carbon footprint and environment. It influences whether we choose to cycle or drive, how safe we feel letting our children play outside or to walk home alone at night, whether pavements feel wide, easily navigated and with enough rest spots for everyone to access and move around independently, and much more. In short, whether a city feels more like a concrete car-filled jungle that is hard to walk, cycle or spend time outside in, or a greener, more pleasant and prosperous place filled with people and life.

There's a lot of good research out there, and most practitioners - such as landscape architects and urban planners - already have ideas how cities and specific public spaces could be designed or improved to better support our environment and promote health and well-being. There are also plenty of bottom-up community groups and third sector organisations doing incredible work to help us move toward this goal of a better urban environment too. So, collectively, we know in principle what to do, but are struggling to make this a reality. A higher standard for our streets and public spaces across our cities would be good for public and environmental health, but to achieve this at a faster pace we need bold action through stronger policies and a rethink of how we prioritise budgets to achieve this.

So my call to action for policymakers, is:

How can we create truly robust and bold policies to support the ambition to create more liveable, sustainable cities, from the street at your doorstep to more prestigious public spaces in the city centre? What can you do as a policymaker to take a stand, and lead the way to ensure the reality on the ground of our cities and public spaces provide friendly user experiences and places for all? Whether you are 3 years old or 93, neurodiverse or neurotypical, regardless of gender, and which promote walking, active travel, green infrastructure and social connection to support both our health and well-being and the environment?

Do you agree? Did I miss something? What else do you think it is important to include? I have an open survey here if you work in public realm design, planning or implementation and would like to add your thoughts. In addition to use for my PhD research, I’ll be reviewing the survey ahead of speaking at the Expo next month.

Making better everyday urban public spaces: a call to action

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