The Future Prospects of Urban Public Parks

University of Leeds (UK)

Public parks are long-standing and familiar features of the urban environment. For many people, visiting parks is an integral part of everyday life in the contemporary city. Yet parks in the UK are at a possible ‘tipping point’, prompting important concerns about their sustainability. Parks face essential challenges over funding and management, as well as questions of unequal access and competing demands on use.

This study of public parks in the city of Leeds focused on how they have changed through time, how they are used today, and what their future prospects might be.

Acknowledgements

The research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/N001788/1). We would like to thank our project partners, Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside Department, for providing support throughout as well as facilitating access to people and data that have provided important insights to the project.

For more information about the research and to download this research report free of charge please visit: www.futureofparks.leeds.ac.uk | @leedsparksstudy