Cabe Report

Social Housing GreenSpace in Europe

A CABE Space Design Skills Scholarship“Turning Mean Streets into Green Streets”

Noel Murphy

2009

Vauban Freiberg Germany

Hammarby Stockholm

CABE

1 Kemble StreetLondonWC2B 4AN

Tel: 020 7070 6700Fax: 020 7070 6777Email: [email protected]

Social Housing Green Space in Europe | Noel Murphy 20092 Noel Murphy 2009 | Social Housing Green Space in Europe 3

Social Housing landlords in the UK now own and manage large

estates and this has increased significantly over the last decade

as stock transfers and the creation of ALMOs has taken the

Housing stock away from Local Authorities and there is a vast

amount of Green

Space within these

Neighbourhoods

which is not

particularly well

designed or

maintained and does

not meet the needs

of the communities

who we expect to

live there. My own

organisation Places

for People Group has

over 60,000 social

rented properties

from Edinburgh to

the Isle of White in

over 200 local

authority areas. We

have as much Green

Space as a medium

sized town or local

authority area, and if

we can improve the

quality of this Green

Space and engage

the residents at the

same time we will

have a much better

chance of creating

sustainable communities with improved Social Cohesion. The

Green Spaces in these neighbourhoods give us the opportunity

for recreation whether passive or active, this is where people

meet and get to know each other.

Social housing in Europe accounts for around 15 Million units of

the available housing (see table below). Social Housing as a

percentage of the housing stock ranges from a high of 35% in

the Netherlands to 6% in Germany. There is no single definition

of Social Housing across Europe. Also the profile of Social

Housing stock differs from countries in terms of age, type of

housing and the percentage located on Estates. Providers and

funders also vary from country to country as do the type of

residents from the very poor to the low paid and middle classes

in general the social sector tends to house either the elderly, the

poor and a disproportionate number of single parent

households.

Project Overview

Background to Social Housing in Europe

Housing Tenure and Size of Sector by Country

Social Housing in the UK houses approximately one fifth of the

countries inhabitants with some 9 million people living in

around 4 Million homes. Very often the Green Spaces in and

around these homes are poorly designed and maintained

leading to a lack of ownership and usage by the residents.

Good design is a key factor in the success of the Landscape of

our Neighbourhoods. Too often the Landscaping has been

designed without input from the people who are expected to

live in these environments and the budgets are vulnerable to

being cut as the cost for the building works inevitably overruns.

Therefore we are left with inappropriate designs delivered with

inadequate budgets, quite often not very well maintained and

with no additional funds for improvements or replacement over

time. It is not surprising then that Social Housing

Neighbourhoods in the UK have some of the poorest quality

environments and this contributes to vandalism, anti social

behaviour and a general lack of respect for the environment and

each other.

The Bijlmermeer is an area in the South East district Zuidoost of

Amsterdam; The Zuidoost comprises four areas, Gaasperdam,

the Bijlmermeer, Driemond and Kantorenpark. The Zuidoost has

a population of approximately 80,000 and provides

employment for around 50,000 people.

The Bijlmermeer was my main area of interest and comprised 9

neighbourhoods in total, 3 low rise, 3 medium rise and three

high rise gallery flat blocks. The original layout for the high-rise

blocks was an Architects utopian dream and was constructed

from 1966 to 1975 and was laid out in Le Corbusier, style

designed around the segregation of functions, so that

residential, business and traffic and recreation were separated.

There are around 12,500 social housing units in 11 storey

apartments. The apartments were spacious and there were

interior walkways and also rooms with communal facilities. They

were constructed in park like surroundings with 80% of the land

given over to landscaped green space, separate from cars and

traffic. The blocks had a hexagonal honeycomb pattern and the

surrounded landscape provided play areas and cycle tracks in a

traffic free environment. Residents could park their cars in car

parks accessed by elevated roadways then walk home under

cover. Shopping centres and social facilities were also part of

the design although these took some time to follow on after

the residential construction.

Originally there was a waiting list of people wanting to move to

the Bijlmermeer due to chronic housing shortages within

Amsterdam. Straight away there were problems with security,

the interior walkways and the public open space were

considered unsafe, and the lifts and the waste disposal system

did not work properly. Crime rates of drug dealing and robbery

Social Housing Green Space in the UK

I decided to visit the European countries with the largest stock of Social Housing as identified on the table (below left), I met

with a range of stakeholders from senior Town Planning Officers to retired residents, Project Workers and Consultants. My aim

was to try to see what lessons could be learnt from successful Neighbourhoods in terms of the design and management of their

Green Spaces that we could then apply back in the UK. My Starting point was the Netherlands where I visited three diverse

areas, ljborg, Western Garden City and Bijlmermeer. Whilst my purpose was to concentrate on the Green Spaces I was also

considering the context of these spaces in relation to the building Architecture, transport links and different social issues that I

found to be inherently linked together and I have commented on these also.

Study Tour

Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam

The aim of this study was to bring together good practice in Social Housing Green Space from across Europe to see what

lessons could be learned and good practice identified so that we can apply what works to our own Neighbourhoods in the UK.

Netherlands 54 11 35 2,400,000

Denmark 52 17 21 530,000

Sweden 59 21 20 780,000

England 70 11 19 3,983,000

France 56 20 17 4,230,000

Germany 46 49 6 1,800,000

OwnerOccupied %

PrivateRented %

SocialRented %

Number ofSocial Units

Sonder Boulevard in Copenhagen runs for over a kilometre

through the city quarter of Vesterbro. This is a dense urban area

with little if any Green Space around the high density Housing.

It is in situations like this that areas of public open space are

very important to the communities that live beside them as

they offer the opportunity for recreation outdoors that is so

vital to health and well being. The Boulevard has recently been

redeveloped to provide a variety of experiences for the

community living adjacent to it and those who travel along it.

From wildflower and seating areas to ball courts and play

facilities the redesigned Boulevard caters for all age groups and

sections of the community. Those who live in the apartments

close to the Boulevard that have no communal Green Space use

the Boulevard as their garden Through a comprehensive

community participation process the residents of the area have

had the opportunity to place their ideas on the urban space in

the form of basket ball courts, seating areas, walks and small

peaceful gardens. The residents have determined which

activities and uses should be incorporated. This has created

inclusive spaces for everyone and amenity values for the whole

area. Sonder Boulevard in Copenhagen now directs the traffic in

a calmer fashion with reduced speed and widening of the linear

recreational space down the centre of the boulevard. A simple

arrangement of the space with rows of different tree species

along the entire boulevard provides variation, but also allows

future uses to be incorporated in the plan. The trees are chosen

so they flower, spring into leaf and drop their foliage at different

times. Thus the boulevard is always experienced in different

ways, and draws the beauty of nature right into the inner city.

were high and the neighbourhood spiralled into decline with up

to one in four flats unoccupied. Various attempts to improve the

situation were attempted and in 1992 a wholesale renovation

commenced, this meant demolishing some of the high rise

blocks and replacing them with low rise accommodation,

renovating some of the high rise blocks, removing the internal

walkways, putting the lifts on the outside of the structure,

lowering the elevated roads and closing and demolishing some

of the car parks.

The Green Spaces were originally laid out in the English

Landscape Parkland style and accounted for 80% of the land. In

certain areas this ratio will stay but in others where the old

high-rise blocks have been pulled down this will reduce to 40%

of available land so that cars can then be parked in front of

homes. Most of the Bijlmerpark approximately 40 hectares is

being redeveloped into an urban park with sports facilities, with

the remainder being designed as a natural park, some 800

homes are also being constructed around the parks boundary.

The redevelopment of the open spaces includes a clear Green

Belt area, which is easy to maintain, and where people feel safe,

it will also include more private areas for single-family homes.

Trees and shrubs have been removed to increase security, create

space for play and parking facilities, and the replanting of

specimen groups of trees and shrubs. When the original design

was conceived there was no provision made for places of

worship, so the residents who came to live there made their

own, either in the Green Spaces or the car parks. Nine of the

twenty-one car parks have now been demolished, and most of

the new parking places will be on the streets.

There is a strong presence of public art in evidence in the

Bijlmermeer, which appears to be well received by the residents

and has not been vandalised. Also it is the site of the memorial

garden for the people who lost their lives in the early nineties

when a cargo plane crashed into one of the high-rise

honeycomb blocks. The final death toll has never been known

due to the high number of illegal immigrants inhabiting these

blocks at the time. There has been a memorial garden created

for the people who lost their lives in that accident and this is

well maintained and respected by the residents.

The footprint of the honeycomb block that was hit by the plane

also remains as a memorial.

Charlotte Garden is a housing complex comprising around 200

units adjacent to Nordhavn Station in a suburb of Copenhagen.

Residents and people who live in the local area use the garden,

as a meeting place, and to bring their families to use the play

facilities.

The design of this space is quite stunning and the impact is

striking particularly when you consider it is based on a dune

style of landscape planted mostly with grass species, the idea

behind the design is to reflect the proximity of the sea and to

create movement through the planting and the contours of the

design. It has the sensation of a large outdoor room, when

viewed from one of the surrounding apartment windows the

landscape is constantly changing and unusually for gardens this

far North there is also year round colour as the grasses change

from blue and green to more golden tones. The quality of

materials used in the construction is impressive with steel up

stands used to form the elaborate curves that are a key feature

of the garden. The different and changing spaces are held

together by a series of paths crossing the garden, whilst the

different elements of the garden are accentuated by a change in

materials. The garden was constructed in 2004 at a cost of 1.1

million Euros. The garden has become a place and an outdoor

room loved by the surrounding community.

Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam (continued)

Western Garden City, Amsterdam

Charlotte Garden, Copenhagen Denmark

Social Housing Green Space in Europe | Noel Murphy 20094

In the west of Amsterdam 130.000 people live in 54.000

dwellings. 10.000 Of these dwellings will be torn down in the

following years. Taking until 2015 17,500 new dwellings will be

built instead. Within this city transformation are a number of

innovative housing projects, which attempt to develop a

contemporary image of the garden city. The Western Garden

Suburbs are characterised by broad avenues, waterways, open

space, and dwellings in green surroundings. Tall blocks of flats,

dwellings with shared entrance halls and stairways, and houses

with gardens predominate. Open building blocks are a common

feature. Despite the idyllic layout, the garden suburbs no longer

meet current Housing standards. The district is currently

undergoing a large-scale restructuring. The task is sizeable, a

quarter of the existing stock of 41,000 rental dwellings will be

demolished and replaced by privately owned homes. In addition,

11,000 dwellings will be built. Social and economic renewal will

lead to new programmes, and improving public space is a

priority. An urban- rather than garden-suburb character has

been opted for.

Noel Murphy 2009 | Social Housing Green Space in Europe 5

Sonder Boulevard, Copenhagen Denmark

Hammarby Sjostad, Stockholm, Sweden Augustenborg, Malmo, Sweden

Hammarby is a city district of Stockholm set around a lake in

the South of the city, eventually up to 20,000 people will live

there as it is currently under construction and should be

completed around the middle of the next decade. Hammarby is

a truly inspirational place which has brought together the best

in design and sustainable development. The design of the

district places a strong emphasis on the environment and

sustainability. Throughout the development runs a network of

small parks and Green Spaces. Use of native species like birch

and oak trees along the lake side give structure to this newly

developed site. The whole development has been designed

along principles of working in harmony with nature alongside

the contemporary architecture of the buildings. There is a strong

green infrastructure permeating throughout the district where it

is possible to walk through large sections of the estate without

coming into contact with traffic.. It is a mixed tenure

development which is aiming for a 50 - 50 split between owned

and rented properties. The district is characterised by a sense of

being close to nature due to the lake and the large amount of

Green infrastructure, and around each different block the

landscape provided a different experience, whether this was

play, allotment gardening or areas for quiet relaxation, all

interests appeared to be catered for. There is a high number of

allotment gardens within the blocks and these all appeared to

be in cultivation and well maintained, this was in contrast with

the contemporary architecture but at the same time did not

appear out of place, . I visited the district on late midsummer

afternoon 2009 which is a time of year that Scandinavian

countries particularly celebrate. There where families picnicking

and barbequing in the Green Spaces and a real sense of family

celebration. A number of schemes that I visited across Europe

catered for impromptu celebrations and events by having

communal facilities within the Green Spaces, such as barbeques,

large tables and seating, table tennis tables and this feature

must help to encourage people out of doors to partake in

parties and gatherings and help with social cohesion. Public art

again was very much in evidence throughout the district which

was again another feature in many of the Green Spaces.

Reading the background to the planning and development of

the district the local authority have been very much the driving

force that have shaped the development with strong leadership

aligned to sustainable design principles, again this is a common

factor across the successful European housing schemes that I

have seen.

Augustenborg is district of the city of Malmo in Sweden. There

are currently around 1800 properties there owned and managed

by MKB Housing Association.

It was originally built

in the 1950s and in

the beginning it was a

successful mixture of

housing, employment

and social facilities.

However in the 1970s

the 32-hectare

neighbourhood was

failing. There were

problems with damp

affecting the buildings

and the drainage

system could not

handle the storm

water. The problem of annual flooding from an overwhelmed

sewage system also led to further problems for residents, with

disruption and damage to cars and private property. The estate

continued to suffer a spiral of decline as more people moved

out, flats remained unoccupied and the remaining residents

became marginalised with a high level of unemployment storm

water system has gone through a major change. Augustenborg

now is a model of sustainability with excellent initiatives

around Green Roofs and water harvesting with open storm

water channels leading into ponds have stopped the flooding in

the area and have created a beautiful environment and a richer

biodiversity. There are a total of 6km canals and water channels

in Augustenborg. 90 % of the storm water from roofs and hard

surfaces is led into the open storm-water system in the housing

area. The aim the project was that 70 % of all storm-water

should be captured for the whole of Augustenborg.

As well as Green Roofs and sustainable drainage systems there

is also solar hot water systems and geo thermal heating

systems in place. The Neighbourhood is very attractive now

with any available accommodation quickly being taken. I was

told by one of the housing managers that there can be as many

as 300 people wanting each property as they become available

Barnistan Project, Malmo, Sweden

Close to Augustenberg is one of the most notorious

Neighbourhoods in Sweden with at its centre the Sevedsplan

square. In the past this was a high crime area with lots of drug

related crime and conflict in the Neighbourhood between the

Somalian community and the established Swedish community.

Much work has

been done to try

and improve

social cohesion in

this area and the

most inspiring

project that I saw

was Barnistan,

This is a Somalian

funded project

which aims to

bring greater

understanding

between the

different groups

of residents

through small

scale Horticultural projects such as fruit and vegetable growing,

establishing a community centre and café and public art. The

idea is to increase understanding between the young Somalian

children and youths and the ageing Swedish residents who have

the Horticultural skills, by growing fruit that the Somalian

children can recognise. To create planting areas they have taken

up sections of pavement as well as creating raised beds and

containers out of weld mesh. This project has had a positive

effect on crime in the area, and the community has held events

which have further improved understanding and respect

between all sections of the community.


Tingbjerg, Denmark

Tingjberg is a large Housing Project designed and built from

1950 – 1972 by the famous Danish Architect Steen Eiler

Rasmussen it is located 6km North West of Copenhagen

Denmark. The area is isolated from the rest of Copenhagen with

the road leading to Tingbjerg being essentially a dead end. It

does have many Green areas and is surrounded by the

Vestvolden and Uttersley Mose which are large Green Spaces.

The residents are a mixture of Danes and immigrants with

6,500 inhabitants 42% are Danes, 37% are immigrants and

21% are Danes with immigrant parents. The area has just

undergone major improvement works both to the properties

and the Green Spaces and public realm. The improvements to

the Green Spaces are characterised by very high quality street

furniture and hard landscaping materials, natural play provision

and public artwork.

Berlin

I was particularly interested in the six Housing Estates in the

suburbs of Berlin which are on the UNESCO world heritage list.

These Estates were constructed in the 1920s and are still

vibrant and vital and attractive places to live. In the UK we are

demolishing estates that we have built in the 1960s and even

more recently than this, we have estates that we have built and

then had to demolish without anyone ever living in some of the

properties, due to bad planning and social problems. This cannot

be allowed to happen, and is a terrible waste of resources and

the worst example of unsustainable practice.

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates. consist of six housing

estates that testify to innovative housing policies from 1910 to

1933, especially during the Weimar Republic, when the city of

Berlin was particularly progressive socially, politically and

culturally. The property is an outstanding example of the

building reform movement that contributed to improving

housing and living conditions for people with low incomes

through novel approaches to town planning, architecture and

garden design. The estates also provide exceptional examples of

new urban and architectural typologies, featuring fresh design

solutions, as well as technical and aesthetic innovations. Bruno

Taut, Martin Wagner and Walter Gropius were among the

leading architects of these projects which exercised considerable

influence on the development of housing around the world.

These housing estates in the Berlin Modern Style provide

outstanding testimony to the implementation of housing

policies during the period 1910 – 1933 and especially during

the Weimar Republic,

when the city of Berlin

was characterised by its

political, social, cultural

and technical

progressiveness.

The housing estates

reflect, with the highest

degree of quality, the

combination of

urbanism, architecture,

garden design and

aesthetic research

typical of early 20th

century modernism, as well as the application of new hygienic

and social standards. Some of the most prominent leading

architects of German modernism were involved in the design

and construction of the properties; they developed innovative

urban, building and flat typologies, technical solutions and

aesthetic achievements.

The six Berlin housing estates provide an outstanding expression

of a broad housing reform movement that made a decisive

Freiburg, Vauban, Germany

Freiburg is a suburb of Vauban in the South West of Germany, it

is a new Neighbourhood created on the site of a former military

base, the Neighbourhood has been completed over the last 10

years and houses around 5,000 people. From the planning

stages the idea was to create a truly sustainable development

based around public transport and energy conservation.

The citizens were actively encouraged to partake in the design

process and the developers were encouraged to adopt an

ecological approach and the planning process allowed for

learning while developing so that new ideas and proposals could

be incorporated as the project developed. The first thing that

strikes you when you visit Vauban is the absence of cars, there

are excellent public transport networks with the tram running

through the Neighbourhood with trams into the town every 10

minutes. Car ownership was also discouraged by making it

prohibitively expensive to purchase a parking space in one of

the public car parks

costing around 40,000

euro. Car sharing is

encouraged and free

public transport is

available to those who

participate in the car

sharing scheme. There

are some car parking

spaces within the estate

but these have been

designed so as to

minimise the sight and

presence of cars. This all

contributes to the

Green feel of the estate

with excellent use of

plants particularly

climbers up the built

structures. There are

also larger Green Spaces

and Green Corridors

running through the

estate with play facilities and climbing walls as well as facilities

for very young children. There is a vibrant shopping area and

well equipped cycle repair shop centred in the Neighbourhood.

Vauban is an excellent example of a new development that is

based upon a sustainable model with a great deal of resident

participation. Strong leadership and vision have also been a vital

element to producing this exemplar development.


Berlin (continued...) Aalborg, Denmark, City project

Malakoff, Nantes, France

contribution to

improving housing

and living conditions

in Berlin. Their quality

of urban, architectural

and garden design, as

well as the housing

standards developed

during the period,

served as guidelines

for social housing

constructed since

then, both in and

outside Germany.

The six Berlin housing estates are exceptional examples of new

urban and architectural typologies, designed in the search for

improved social living conditions. Fresh design solutions and

technical and aesthetic innovations were incorporated by the

leading modern architects who participated in their design and

construction. The six properties were selected out of the

ensemble of housing estates of the period existing in the city,

on the basis of their historical, architectural, artistic and social

significance and the fact that, due to their location, they

suffered little damage during World War II. Even though minor

reconstruction and interior changes were carried out in the post

war period, restoration works within the framework of the

protection law of 1975 and their current state of conservation

achieve a high standard of integrity and authenticity.

Adequate protection is ensured by the legislation in place,

especially by the Berlin Law on the Preservation of Historic

Places and Monuments (1995). The properties, buildings and

open spaces, are in a good state of conservation. The blocks are

typically arranged around a Green centre which in some cases

has been turned into allotment gardens for the residents which

were attractive to look down on and were obviously well

tended by the residents.


Aalborg East was planned and developed in the mid-1960s as a

greenfield development some 6-8 kilometers to the southeast

of the Aalborg city centre. The area was planned in the

modernist tradition with separate zones for social housing,

detached housing, shopping, services, sports and recreation, and

industry, separated by extensive green areas.

The dominant housing type in Aalborg East is two-storey social

housing blocks, which in combination with atrium houses make

up two thirds of the area's present day housing. The rest of the

housing stock is detached housing and low rise-high density

student housing.

As a 60s development, Aalborg East has a highly segregated

traffic system with a hierarchy of roads from arteries to housing

lanes and bicycle and footpaths which cross the roads at split-

level. While the major roads constitute barriers between the

different zones of development, the paths constitute the only

direct connections between them. While the majority of the

workplaces in Aalborg East are light industrial and

administrative, there is only very little commerce and services

and the area has no distinct commercial or shopping area. Most

of the people working in Aalborg East live outside the area. The

15.000 inhabitants of Aalborg East therefore have to go outside

of the area for working and shopping.

Aalborg East contains three primary schools, 15 kindergartens, a

number of youth clubs and sports facilities, a public library, a

cultural facility, and a number of community buildings. There is

a number of social facilities, such as a retirement home,

serviced homes for the elderly, and daycare facilites for the

mentally ill. South of the area lies the Aalborg University main

campus.

Demographically, the child and youth population of Aalborg East

is above the average of the Municipality of Aalborg, and so is

the number of single parent households. It also has a highly

culturally mixed population with many immigrant residents,

including refugees, particularly from Somalia, who make up 7-

8% of the residents.

The suburb of Malakoff is directly adjacent to the city centre of

Nantes but has suffered from effectively being cut off from the

rest of the city by the river, the high speed TGV, line and a main

road. This has led to the area becoming disconnected from the

main City and the general decline of the area as it became an

undesirable place to live and increasingly ghettoised. The area is

now undergoing a complete re modelling both of the 6,500

mostly high rise properties and also the Landscaping of the

entire estate, the planners and designers have ensured that

there is a significant amount of Green Space in and around the

development and through extensive consultation with the

residents have designed an appropriate landscape that caters for

all sections of the community. Including areas for active play

and passive recreation. The designers have specified large

specimen planting which gives structure and maturity to the

new Landscape, although costly there is less risk of damage

from vandalism and the planting has an instant impact.


Le Plessis Robinson, France

Le Plessis Robinson is a suburb about 6 km South West of Paris.

It has undergone a transformation over the last decade to

improve the quality of life for the residents whilst at the same

time managing resources to achieve a sustainable development

working towards carbon neutrality. The first thing that strikes

you when you visit this area is the high quality planning and

maintenance of the public realm which is truly outstanding.

The mixed tenure development caters for around 20% Social

Housing in one of the most attractive Housing environments

that it is possible to create.

There are seven parks and 50 hectares of Green Space which

gives the development a rural feel within an urban setting.

There is a theme of water running through the development

and the original wetland habitat of the area has been preserved

with stunning landscape architecture. This truly is an

inspirational development and shows what can be achieved

when the right principles are adopted and due consideration is

given to the impact that such a development can bring.

The attention to detail in the hard landscape materials used is

truly remarkable as well as the inspirational planting schemes.

The district is an attractive place to live and work and has

excellent transport links to Paris being only 20 minutes away.

There is also a vibrant commercial sector within the

neighbourhood providing jobs and attractive propositions for

businesses as the land prices are cheaper than being in Paris

itself.

This appears to be a truly sustainable development from the

drawing board up as well as being a desirable place to live both

for social housing and home owners. A lot of this is about how

the place looks and feels to walk through, and this is the

challenge for the designer and the planners to try to recreate a

similar effect in Salford or Newcastle, which we know is

possible.


Each country and scheme had it’s own unique reason for being

special but I was able to identify some common themes which I

felt could apply to all the schemes that I visited. These were:

• Visionary and strong leadership

• Thorough and appropriate consultation

• Find the “Glue People”

• Robust design with quality materials

• Sustainability

• Innovation

• High standard of maintenance

Visionary and strong leadership has been a common factor in

the majority of the schemes I visited, from the Berlin schemes

of the 1920s to Augustenborg in Malmo there had been

resistance to the ideas behind the developments and the driving

force behind these projects whether a Local Authority, Architect

or Town Planner had to overcome considerable resistance to see

the project to fruition.

Thorough and appropriate consultation is also a key factor in

the success of these Estates. It is probably the most difficult

element of the planning process and this is why it is so often

not done well resulting in designs that are not sustainable or

owned by the community and therefore do not last much

beyond the first couple of years after completion.

One of the terms used by NIRAS Consultants in Denmark who

are experts in Green Space consultation was the term “Glue

People” these are the natural born community leaders who have

respect from the community in which they live and who are

very influential in getting the community to accept new ideas

and who “Glue” the community together. It is very important

that these people are identified in the consultation process and

that their skills are harnessed to cascade the information and

ideas down through the community.

Social Housing Estates in any country can be challenging

environments for plants and hard Landscape materials and

features, it is important that the materials specified are robust

and of the best quality if the design has a chance of survival.

Some of the newly planted schemes I visited such as

Hammerby and Malakoff had utilised large specimen plants and

trees, as well as giving instant impact they can also withstand

vandalism better than smaller specimens. The play equipment

and street furniture, benches etc was also of the highest quality

meaning that it would last longer and even though initially

more expensive would present better value for money over

time.

Sustainability had also been addressed on many of the schemes

from the green roofs and water harvesting schemes in

Augustenborg Sweden, to solar power and energy efficient

design in Freiburg as well as the many community gardening

and allotments that were present on these schemes. The Green

Spaces on these Estates provided many opportunities for

sustainable living as well as the benefits to community

cohesion that these activities also brought. In particular

community gardening and public art had been used as hooks to

engage the community and delivered many benefits over and

Lessons Learnt


When planning my itinerary and choosing the schemes that I wanted to visit I was hoping to find the magic ingredients that

make these places so special and loved by the communities that they serve, and then to be able to apply this information

through my own work to improve the Green Spaces for our residents back in the UK.

above the physical or aesthetic gains that these features or

activities had brought to these Estates.

Innovation was also a feature in the design of these schemes

right through from innovative consultation techniques to the

Universty of Aalborg and their work on GPS tracking of people

to understand how they use and move around Green Spaces. Dr.

Thomas Randrup from NIRAS associates in Copenhagen has also

developed a formula for valuing Green Spaces dependant on the

scale and experiences that an individual Green Space can bring.

As you can probably see from the photographs all of the

schemes I visited were maintained to very high standards,

whether this was undertaken by external Contractors or the

Housing organisations in-house workforce, or there was

evidence of residents involvement is maintenance as in

Augustenborg where the residents were offered a reduction in

their service charges if the maintained areas of the estate.

Maintenance is a very important consideration if the Estates

are kept looking their best the residents also have more respect

for their environment. Managers need to ensure that there are

sufficient budgets available to keep these areas maintained to

the highest standard and also that there has been consideration

given to future replanting and repairs to hard Landscaping.

How will I promote my findings

and how will I bring good practice

to my industry?

I am currently bringing forward a comprehensive Green Space

strategy for my organisation, Places for People. This will draw on

my experiences gained from the CABE scholarship and guide

our Green Space policy for the next ten years. I have also

become involved in the early design stages of our development

programme in influencing the design of the Green Spaces

around our new build portfolio. These are significant schemes, in

Brooklands on the outskirts of Milton Keynes we are building a

development of 2,500 units including a school and a

community centre. We also have a site in early planning stages

in Harlow which will eventually see the construction of over

20,000 properties in a mixed tenure community and I will be

involved in the planning stage as this project develops over the

next ten years.

I am keen to share the best practice that I have seen, aligned

with what I think will be the first Green Spaces strategy for a

Housing organisation that I hope will be adopted by others to

raise the standards of design and maintenance of Green Space

for a significant proportion of the UK population. The most

important factor that I think I

can bring is improved social

cohesion by involving the local

communities in this process.

Many thanks to all that assisted me with this study,

including;

Mathew Frith London Wildlife Trust

Noel Farrer Landscape Architect

Sarah Gaventa CABE space

Helen Beck CABE space

Lasse Flygare [[email protected]]

Sille Askefrø Bjørn (SAB) [[email protected]]

Sille Askefrø Bjørn

chefkonsulent arkitekt maa

telefon 8732 3203

mobil 2920 7449

e-mail sab

NIRAS Konsulenterne

Åboulevarden 80

8100 Århus C

www.niraskon.dk

Camilla Richter-Friis van Deurs [[email protected]]

Camilla Richter-Friis van Deurs

Ph.D. studerende, arkitekt MAA

Center for Byrumsforskning

Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole

Philip de Langes Allé 10

1435 København K

Tlf.: 32 68 66 48 / 32 68 66 67

http://www.karch.dk

Åse Dannestam [[email protected]]

MKB Fastighets AB (publ)

Box 50405

202 14 MALMÖ

Besöksadress:

Augustenborgsgatan 3

Tel vx: 040-31 33 00

Fax: 040-31 34 80

www.mkbfastighet.se

Thomas Barfoed Randrup (TRA)

[[email protected]]

Petter Åkerblom [[email protected]]

Martin Søberg [[email protected]]

Martin Søberg

Head of Communications

Art Historian Mag.Art.

Arne Juul (AJU)

[[email protected]]

Oord C.V. van der

[[email protected]]

Haan (PVB), Joop de

[[email protected]]

[email protected]

Morten Weeke Borup [[email protected]]

Morten Weeke Borup

Arkitekt MAA

Partner

GHB Landskabsarkitekter a/s

Frederiksholms Kanal 18 A

1220 København K

Tlf.: +45 33123738

juliane [[email protected]]

Simon @ Supersonic Travel London

Experiences from GPS tracking of visitors in three Public

Parks in Denmark based on GPS technologies

Paper presented at the International workshop SPM2008 in

Tartu, Estonia

http://www.ut.ee/spm2008

Lessons Learnt (continued...) References and Acknowledgements


Documents

Cabe Report