![Who Wins When a New Park Seems Public But is Privately Owned?
Bonnie Alter. June 15, 2012
A huge new square, Granary Square, has just been opened in a formerly gritty part of London. The King’s Cross area is undergoing a major urban transformation, and this 8,000 sq.M park, one of the largest new spaces in Europe, is part of the regeneration.
It used to be a railway yard from the 1850’s and there is much to praise: the lovely and fascinating fountains, the benches made out of chunks of old wood, and the bits of railway heritage left in the ground.
But the park is not public: it has been redeveloped by a private developer and they own it and run it. Why should we care? There are lots of benefits to redevelopment: cash-starved City councils get a lovely space and don’t have to pay and we can all sit out in it and enjoy it.
Sort of. These privately run parks are often characterised by lots of security: forget about cycling, skateboarding, busking, filming, and of course, political protests. One only has to think of the problems for the Occupy movements in New York and London . They thought that they were demonstrating in public places but in fact they weren’t and they got turfed out.
One could also argue, as representatives of London Sustainability Exchange do, that the developers want the public spaces to be ornamental, corporate-looking and not very sustainable. For example, in Granary Square, “it’s just a massive paved [area] … fountains which are very nice for cooling but don’t actually really cool you if there’s no shade. It’s energy intensive. In terms of upkeep you need to keep cleaning and grouting them out, but biodiversity is poor.”
Via: Treehugger
Photo: Bonnie Alter/CC BY 2.0](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5nx2urWju1qm7ffpo1_500.jpg)
Who Wins When a New Park Seems Public But is Privately Owned?
Bonnie Alter. June 15, 2012
A huge new square, Granary Square, has just been opened in a formerly gritty part of London. The King’s Cross area is undergoing a major urban transformation, and this 8,000 sq.M park, one of the largest new spaces in Europe, is part of the regeneration.
It used to be a railway yard from the 1850’s and there is much to praise: the lovely and fascinating fountains, the benches made out of chunks of old wood, and the bits of railway heritage left in the ground.
But the park is not public: it has been redeveloped by a private developer and they own it and run it. Why should we care? There are lots of benefits to redevelopment: cash-starved City councils get a lovely space and don’t have to pay and we can all sit out in it and enjoy it.
Sort of. These privately run parks are often characterised by lots of security: forget about cycling, skateboarding, busking, filming, and of course, political protests. One only has to think of the problems for the Occupy movements in New York and London . They thought that they were demonstrating in public places but in fact they weren’t and they got turfed out.
One could also argue, as representatives of London Sustainability Exchange do, that the developers want the public spaces to be ornamental, corporate-looking and not very sustainable. For example, in Granary Square, “it’s just a massive paved [area] … fountains which are very nice for cooling but don’t actually really cool you if there’s no shade. It’s energy intensive. In terms of upkeep you need to keep cleaning and grouting them out, but biodiversity is poor.”
Via: Treehugger
Photo: Bonnie Alter/CC BY 2.0
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dreamsforthecity reblogged this from massurban and added:
I get that it’s about money, but I still don’t understand the whole privatization of public space. What is the point of...
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