Knowledge Bank

2,200 acres cover what used to be landfill waste. Today it has undergone a massive renewal project, which converted the site into a great park for recreational use. Still under development, Fresh Kills is an example of creative land reclamation that will transform how we experience vast, past industrial urban landscapes.  Using innovation ecological restoration techniques, the park aims to be a wild life sanctuary as well as a site for public art, recreational activities and sports. 

www.nycgovparks.org

A investment foundation that supports projects that help the built environment. It focuses on projects that improve quality of life through the building of public spaces. Their methodology is based on communication and research and operates through a grant making and investment strategy. They aim at maximizing the balance of returns on equity while still funding the development of built environment with a direct benefit of common good.

www.realdania.dk

Shared Space has developed a design manifesto for planning, management and maintenance of streets and public spaces based on the balance of traffic with other forms of human activity. Through the absence of traditional signage, road markings and humps and barriers, human behaviour is controlled by everyday life norms. They have work in partnership with local authorities in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany among other countries.

www.shared-space.org

 A project to renew the design of a 1970s ring road in Ashford using a design approach that gives equal balance to pedestrians and motor vehicles on roads and highways. Shared Space- European urban design a policy makers - are working with artists such as Michael Pinsky, John Atkin, John Maine, Nayan Kulkarniu and Simeon Nelson to work on the surrounding landscape, lighting strategy, and road.

www.kent.gov.uk

 An architects practice specialising in designing social public spaces and green spaces with great importance given to community consultation. They offer an alternative vision to community consultation by enabling the community to lead the design process by their own experiences and from their position as lay people.

www.civic.org.uk

This is an artist lead participatory project initiated by the Aberdeenshire Council to regenerate the remote town of Peterhead in Scotland.  The artists Sans Façon worked with DEF Landscapes initiatives to create a regeneration plan for the town. Through organising a conference, creating a history map and curating 3 artistic interventions in the town, Sans Façon generated engagement form the local inhabitants in the visioning of the future of the location.

www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

This is an art centred collaborative regeneration initiative forr the former mining town of Castleford, England. 11 improvement projects include the relocation of memorial public benches, the development of a children’s play forest in what used to be an abandoned council allotment and the improvement of the Ferry Fryston Green. This is project is lead by  regeneration, design and development organisations and supported by the Channel 4, City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, English Partnerships, Yorkshire Forward, Groundwork UK and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. 

www.channel4.com

Observatorium is a non for profit, artist run forganisation that creates exhibitions, public sculpture and networks. It develops projects relating to public space using an inter-disciplinary and participatory approach to decision making for environment design.

Container Cities are an alternative solution to traditional space building in which shipping containers are linked together to provide strongl modules that can be combined to create a wide variety of building shapes. Container City building technology has a great social impact because they provide extremely affordable housing that at the same time is environmentally friendly.