How privately owned public space could add climate resilience to cities

Creating new public realm as part of commercial development is becoming commonplace in order to meet planning requirements but could these be obligations be extended to add climate resilience too?

The question is explored by founding director of Madeleine Kessler Architecture and Unscene Architecture Madeleine Kessler and Civic Engineers director Gareth Atkinson in the latest episode. Following the monthly news update from NCE editor Claire Smith and senior reporter Catherine Kennedy, the pair join Claire and features editor Sotiris Kanaris to look at the growth in privatised public space and the potential it presents.

Both Madeleine and Gareth use examples from their day to day work to explore what works well in terms of well designed privately owned public realm, as well as share a few stories about what has worked less well. The conversation then turns to how the owners of these spaces could adapt designs to become better neighbours within their communities and include features such as rain gardens and sustainable drainage systems to reduce flood risk in the surrounding area.

The discussion concludes with a look at the barriers to adapting existing spaces to include climate mitigation, which range from planning bureaucracy through to the charging of VAT on upgrades, which is not levelled on new build.

In the absence of an existing planning mandate, Madeleine and Gareth both urge the industry to use new – and review existing – public space as an opportunity to improve both the sense of place in a community, as well as the climate resilience.

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