How Do the ’Peace Gardens’ Make You Feel? Public Space and Personal Wellbeing in City Centre Sheffield

Alex McClimens, Mark Doel, Rachel Ibbotson, Lesley Lockwood, Elaine Muscroft & Nick Partridge

Go to article

APA
McClimens, A. , Doel, M. , Ibbotson, R. , Lockwood, L. , Muscroft, E. & Partridge, N. (1). How Do the ’Peace Gardens’ Make You Feel? Public Space and Personal Wellbeing in City Centre Sheffield. Journal of Urban Design, 17(1), 117–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2011.593961

Keywords
Community , Respite , Safety , Wellbeing

Abstract
This paper reports on a pilot project to examine the concept of wellbeing as expressed locally by public reaction to the Peace Gardens refurbishment in the city centre of Sheffield completed in 1999. It was immediately popular with the public, but the aim was to find out what benefit people felt they derived from using the space. The study was conducted via a questionnaire delivered on site to pedestrian traffic over three weeks one summer. Over a thousand users of the space were asked one very simple question: How do the Peace Gardens make you feel? The authors’ interpretation of the responses indicates a very high level of approval. Users of the space reported high satisfaction across four themes: wellbeing, safety, community and respite. While these findings largely accord with the literature, further planned city-centre development threatens the success of the Peace Gardens. The paper considers whether the planning of such spaces is designed to empower users to meet others on their own terms, or whether planners recognize that social needs require to be more controlled in busy urban environments.

Main finding
The paper finds that the users of the Peace Garden reported high satisfaction across four themes: wellbeing, safety, community and respite. The study confirms the general argument made in the literature about the public health and social benefits that might accrue from providing such spaces.

Description of method used in the article
The study was conducted via a questionnaire delivered on site to pedestrian traffic over three weeks one summer. Over a thousand users of the space were asked one very simple question: How do the Peace Gardens make you feel?

Verdict
Of practical use

Organising categories

Activity
Other or N/A
Method
Survey
Discipline
Health
Physical types
Parks/Gardens
Geographic locations