Designing and managing public space to cope with change

Designing for change is essential in all elements of a city. Striking a balance between good design and room for adaptation to climate change will become increasingly important and public space has a central role in facilitating both.

David Millington Photography Ltd

The role of public space in climate change adaptation is about much more than adding greenery. At a city scale, the network as a whole should be seen as a significant tool for addressing the impacts of climate change. It should therefore be managed with the impacts of wider temperature variation, depleting summer water availability, more frequent strong winds and higher extremes of surface water run-off in mind.

Street design and civic spaces can combine to provide cooling corridors by allowing air to circulate through cities as well as water run-off attenuation. Equally, design can help promote walking and cycling and encourage greater use of public transport in the future.

At a site scale, streets need to be able to cope with potential changes of use in the future. Wider streets tend to be more adaptable to the needs of growing cities so allowing an extra two to three meters space in an initial construction may avoid future problems. It is however important that the needs of road users are not prioritised over pedestrians so the design should carefully consider how best to utilise space which may in future be required for recycling facilities, public transport lanes, cycle hire points and new or replacement underground utilities.

The design should be influenced by both the need to maximise walking and cycling space and potential future forms of transport. It is also essential that the street width is appropriate for the street hierarchy and function.

CABE has produced guidance on adapting public spaces to climate change.

Priority: maximise the potential of public space
Tags: public space, cities and towns