A high-quality temporary space in the heart of central London

This parklet was developed not only to benefit our neighbourhood, but to highlight the benefits of urban greening and small-scale interventions, an approach developed in our Cities Alive: Rethinking green infrastructure publication.

FitzPark was funded by The Fitzrovia Partnership BID, as well as the Mayor of London’s Clean Air Better Business (CABB) fund, and financial contributions from Arup and street furniture provider Vestre. The installation was supported by the London Borough of Camden.

Designed and delivered by our Landscape Architecture team, we developed a parklet that demonstrates how small spaces can be adapted to provide people-friendly uses. This promotes health and wellbeing and encourages people to walk, cycle and spend more time outdoors. FitzPark was monitored throughout its duration, to understand the social value of changes to urban environments by collecting the experiences of people, rather than the performance of the built environment.

By monitoring the results of FitzPark, we were able to gather data to prove the social value of urban environments. Among other things, our pre- and post-evaluation study showed that: enhanced walkability and seating opportunities generated a 41% increase in self-reported wellbeing; 23% more users came to the street; biodiversity increased immediately, with rapid colonisation of wildlife; and a general enthusiasm for the improved loko and feel for the street – with 100% local-business support.