Life-cycle - An experiment of a year in the life of a bike.
From the 1st January 2011, a bike was chained to a cycle rack in New York. It was photographed every day for the following year.
See what happens.

‘Grass Spills’ by Sean Martindale is just one way in which street planters have been adapted by locals once they are past their best. Sean created four spilling planters near University Avenue, Toronto.
There are no limits on materials or techniques for these guerilla gardeners which is a growing trend, including lego and crochet.

There is lots of inspiration, ideas and examples at www.guerrillagardening.org - (Click here)

Shared Space can work, as seen for nearly a decade at Seven Dials near London's Covent Garden. The character of any area changes throughout the day and night. Designs for Shared Space work best when pedestrian numbers are high but they also need to function safely at times when pedestrians are low.
Courtesy crossings can work well on simple crossings which give time for drivers and pedestrians to assess who goes. Drivers are more likely to give way to pedestrians at single lane crossings and when pedestrians are crossing to a central refuge. Pedestrians also feel safer with this type of courtesy crossings.
Drivers who are already dealing with more complex junctions or more than one lane carriageways may not allow pedestrians to cross.

Some examples of how New York is striking a better balance by providing more space for walking, biking, and transit.  This short film is of Columbus Avenue, First and Second Avenues, and Prospect Park West and how the safer streets have been designed for pedestrians, cyclists while drivers benefit from calmer streets.

Many of these streets have a protected bike lane also has less speeding, shorter pedestrian crossings, less lane-shifting and more predictable movements for drivers, and the opportunity to add more trees and plantings. Injuries to pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and car passengers drop wherever the new designs go in.

Link to movie: Street Films

Piccadilly - two way scheme opens with convoy

Piccadilly two way traffic scheme is opened with a convoy of vintage cars and a red London bus. In the 1960s traffic was made one way but the new two way system is hoped to improved journey times which means savings for all. The project was a collaboration between Westminster Council, The Crown Estate and Transport for and also includes significant reduction of guardrails and street clutter.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who took part in the convoy, said: "By providing more paving, ripping out superfluous signs and restoring two-way traffic for the first time in almost 50 years we are rejuvenating a jewel in London's crown."

The space will be better for pedestrians with wider footways which have been de-cluttered and guardrails removed. Crossings are simpler and shorter to allow easier movement along key desire lines.

Public open spaces – Seeds of Change with Britain in Bloom 2012

Parks play a vital part in the social community of a place. ‘Parks and gardens are an important part of our community fabric. New rights will give local people a bigger say over what happens in their area; new powers could be used to ensure that greens spaces are preserved for the enjoyment of local communities’, Minister Baroness Hanham, Communities and Local Government.
91% of people believe that public parks and open spaces improve their quality of life. (GreenSpace.org.uk)

Planting with wild flowers, shrubs, grasses and hardy annuals needs less costly maintenance.
Such schemes in Truro, Cornwall have proved less labour-intensive and may be more wildlife friendly.

Local groups can also be encouraged to take a active role in the parks by volunteering. The existing Britain in Bloom proves how successful community involvement in green spaces can be. The theme for the 2012 competition is ‘Wildflowers’ with a free pack of seeds available for each group entering which will include: Corn poppy, Corn marigold, Corn chamomile, Corn cockle, Cornflower. Neighbourhood groups can apply by 12 March 2012 via the RHS
Link to RHS Application Form

Local authorities are facing substantial cuts. GreenSpace have found Parks teams are reducing budgets significantly and are now looking for new ways to maintain the parks in their areas.
                        
They also have a great section of handy tool kits for community groups to download.
They include:
 • Setting up a park or green space community group
 • Surveys and consultation
 • Accessibility at events
 • Action plan for events
 • Budgets for events
 • Organising events: a guide
 • Site plans for events
 • Volunteering in parks and green space - a guide
 • Wildlife activity at events
 • Work days and tasks
 • Young people: a guide to involvement

Website: www.greenspace.org.uk

Here are two shop fronts which bring a touch of unique creativity and innovation to the High Street.
Wallpaper and paint company, Farrow & Ball recently opened a new showroom in New York. The shopfront was papered in their Lotus design showing to all who pass what is sold inside.
This Cycle shop in shop in Altlandsberg, Germany started their collection with 40 bikes that were brought in as trade-ins and it has since increased to about 120.

The Department for Transport document sets out a policy framework for ensuring our traffic system meets the future needs of all road users, while building upon the existing and established traffic sign system. It sets out recommendations for improving the information that traffic signs communicate to road users by providing more freedom for decisions about signing at the local level.
  Summary of recommendations
  •  Provide more flexibility for local traffic authorities
  •  Reduce traffic signing on the road network
  •  Deliver effective enforcement
  •  Traffic signs for all road users
  •  Provide road users with better information
  •  Develop local solutions built on local knowledge

Link to Dft site: Signing the way: traffic signs policy review

A pop-up book for all ages of public realm enthusiast, telling the story of the city as a living body that is born, develops and differentiate its buildings and functions: from the very first nucleus (an isolated church among the trees in the countryside) to the huge metropolis crowded with streets, pylons, factories and stations.

See how a city evolves and develops, some urban and landscape elements remain constant references for the growth of the city, while others simply disappear and make place to new ones.
What lasts is the steady stream of occasions and possibilities which, in the book just like in reality, remain unpredictable till the moment of turning the page.

A funny book to be flicked through, unexpected in its simplicity: Popville is a vivid and faithful translation of the living course of a city.

Created by Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud               ISBN-13: 978-1596435933

The idea of garden cities may not be new but Singapore project ‘Gardens by the Bay’ takes the concept to higher level. Move over Hampstead Garden Suburb, this is more like a scene from Avatar.

Gardens by the Bay is an innovative and ambitious project around Singapore’s river mouth.
The 18 huge concrete ‘supertrees’ 50m tall are planted with 200 species of bromeliad, orchid, fern and tropical flowering climbers. Also in the scheme is a 3 acre Flower Dome and two cooled conservatories.
The project is part of a Singapore wide loop of leisure and tourist attractions which will emerge over the next 5 to 10 years

  •  Link: Garden by the bay website

 Link

Place-making and public art have been united in Pippilotti Rist’s pedestrian scheme for financial area Raiffeisenplatz, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The central area has been carpeted in red polymer to create the, Stadtlounge (City Lounge).
Beds, chairs, benches, tables, fountain and car covered with 4103 square metres of tartane, with various other media to soften the street and bring comfort to public realm. The aim was to animate and recreate urban life with a gentle continuous space with reduced demarcation of use.
Highway adaptions for a pedestrian friendly shared space include: slowing traffic to 20kph on a level surface, car & cycle parking with a new twist.
A daring way to create a public space.

  •  Link to youtube movie of Stadtlounge

Olafur Eliasson's has created a panoramic rainbow viewing structure in the city of århus, Denmark at ARoS Museum of Art. The raised circular pathway gives a full 360º view of the city in all the colours of the spectrum. Combining Art, Architecture, public realm and emotion.
'Your rainbow panorama' opened at the end of May and is a permanent structure providing a tinted changing view of the cities roofscape.
In 2003 his ‘weather project’ installation, transformed the massive turbine hall of the Tate Modern with a glowing orb and mirror which gave a complete feeling of tranquillity.

  •  For more of his work: Olafur Eliasson's website

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition on 3rd May 1951 with sites on London’s South Bank and across the country.
The Festival also celebrated the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. It was the brainchild of Gerald Barry and the Labour Deputy Leader Herbert Morrison who described it as "a tonic for the nation".

  •  BBC Clip - King George inaugurates the Festival of Britain and opens the Royal Festival Hall.