Leeds Parks: Past, Present and Future

Roundhay Park Visitors’ Centre, Leeds

To celebrate World Parks Week, this free exhibition from the Leeds Parks Project documents how Leeds parks have changed over time. It presents the findings of a major research project into public parks, and showcases a new collection of images of Leeds parks through time, submitted by members of the public.

Find out why public parks were first created, and how their founders hoped they would transform the city around them. Discover which parks in Leeds are the most popular, how they are used, how they benefit the public and what challenges they currently face. And explore people’s hopes and fears for the future of public parks, in a time of financial cutbacks and growing demand for access to green space. Visitors of all ages and backgrounds are welcome.

The main exhibition programme takes place between Saturday 29th April and Monday 1st May from 10 am – 4 pm, featuring displays, an image slideshow, activities for children, and the following events:

29 April, 2pm: Guided park history walk*
30 April, 2pm: Guided park history walk*
1 May, 1pm: Talk: history of Leeds parks

Reimagining the Future of Urban Public Space

5th June 2017, Great Hall, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT

This one day event will bring together academics and practitioners to explore the current challenges facing, and ways of reinvigorating, urban public space.

The day will explore both a number of contemporary themes and the manner in which these are played out in different types of public spaces – such as parks and green spaces; brownfield regeneration areas; market areas; and commercial and retail zones. Our intention is to deliver the conference around these significant themes and to provide a forum to debate current issues and explore new collaborations. Potential questions for consideration include how might urban space be thought about and used in the future? What purposes might public space seek to secure? What are the core values of ‘publicness’ in public spaces? And how do public spaces become sustainable?

The event is being organised by the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI), in collaboration with LEAF, the Sustainability Service, and academics from across the University of Leeds.

Find more information and register here: https://lssi.leeds.ac.uk/event/lssi-public-event-reimagining-the-future-of-urban-public-space/

House of Commons Parks Report