‘Parklets pave the way for repurposing road space for people over cars’

As the Car Free Bristol campaigner at climate charity Possible, I’m used to answering questions about what greener cities look like.

Over the coming months, I’ll be writing pieces to introduce you to the innovations that can make our cities healthier. Bristol is a city that deserves to breathe freely, have more green space and allow its citizens to move around easily and in climate-friendly ways.

To be clear, we’re not proposing a Bristol with no vehicles at all. There are many people, including disabled people, who need cars to move around but reducing the number of vehicles will improve their lives too by reducing traffic congestion and providing better air quality. Just one of the innovative approaches to reducing cars in our cities are parklets.

But what are parklets? They take a variety of forms but they are all pavement extensions that provide more space for people using the street. They are usually installed on parking lanes that use between 1 and 3 parking spaces. They should be inclusive and made with wheelchair users in mind.

Woodchester Road, Henleaze: before a parklet was installed
Image credit: Google Maps and Rob Bryher

They are also loaded with community value. By offering the public a place to stop, sit and rest where people can interact with one another, they improve the quality of our lives. Not only that but they can also be places to provide greenery in areas where residents have poor access to parks and green spaces and they can be used to accommodate bicycle or e-scooter parking. And the best thing is, these spaces can be vibrant, creatively designed and include work by local artists to ensure that they serve and reflect the communities around them.

Woodchester Road, Henleaze: after a parklet was installed
Image credit: Google Maps and Rob Bryher

If you asked 60 people in Bristol what they think is the number one priority for reducing transport emissions and pollution, it’s unlikely that many of the respondents will say “parklets”. They’re a relatively new concept in urban planning and many people aren’t aware of how useful they are at solving some of our other street issues (lack of interactive space, greenery, car dominance). However, the interim report of Bristol Citizen’s Assembly suggests that it’s higher on our collective priority list than we might first think.

When answering the question “What changes should we make to our neighbourhoods to make how we travel easier, healthier and better for the environment?”, 89 per cent of the 60 assembly members supported the recommendation to “get people involved and engaged in the planning and implementation of transport initiatives. Make the process accessible, responsive and fun!” and 90 per cent supported the recommendation to “fundamentally reimagine the places we live so that they are people-centred (i.e. create liveable neighbourhoods)”.

And this is where parklets come in. With parked cars dominating most residential streets in Bristol, parklets are a people-centred way to decrease on-street parking and increase access to green space. Resident involvement is intrinsic to the success of any parklet – including in deciding where the parklet is located – but also the process by which a parklet is installed.

On Clean Air Day (June 17), Possible’s Car Free Cities campaign will be asking the people of Bristol to get creative and design their own parklet using our tool.

You can choose from multiple options for your community-orientated space: a wheelchair ramp, plants, trees, picnic benches, a community notice board, a mini-book swap, a barbecue, a bicycle rack,  a birdbath and even a neighbourhood cat or dog, it’s completely up to you what’s in your design.

Possible’s parklet design tool gives you the chance to get creative. Credit: Rob Bryher.

We want to spark imaginations and see people’s solutions for making their city cleaner, more liveable, and carbon neutral. Use the hashtag #mypossibleparklet to submit your design!

Bristol, as far as I can tell, has fewer than 10 parklets across the entire city. Where they have been implemented, they create much needed green growing space while providing no dedicated seating area (Belton Road in Easton), or are mostly located on pavements rather than repurposing parking spaces (Upper Perry Hill in Southville).

So why have parklets not been adopted so far and what are the barriers to their roll-out? The answer is simple: parking spaces aren’t easy for local people to reclaim from cars. Although it costs just £29 per day to suspend a designated parking bay for a day, a permanent change requires a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) that can mean around 6 months of processing as well as a cost in the region of £4,000.

But there is one key example from Bristol’s recent history that breeds hope for a more streamlined process. The healthy streets organisation Playing Out was frustrated at how hard it was to temporarily restrict traffic in a residential street so children could play safely and residents could interact more.

So they set about working with Bristol City Council to initiate an easy-to-access Temporary Street Play Order process. Their success is evidenced by over 250 streets in Bristol (1 per cent of all streets) having run a playing out session.

Belton Road, Easton. Credit: Rob Bryher.

What we need to do now is work with the council to ensure a similar level of ambition for resident-led parklet installation. The principle of space equity is key here – people that don’t use the street to park a car should have the same right to access and use public space as those that do use the street to park a car.

A fantastic example of the rising popularity of parklets is in Hackney, London. There a local resident called Brenda Puech spearheaded a campaign to establish an application process in the borough.

In an area where approximately 70 per cent of residents don’t own a vehicle, the curbside remained dominated by parking. If there was equal access to space, 70 per cent of public space (including roads) would be used for other purposes than parking or travelling in a car. Thankfully, the pressure worked and Hackney Borough Council has set up an application process for residents.

One possible approach for implementing this in Bristol uses the pre-existing council process for Residents’ Parking Schemes (RPS). These are places where parking is managed and residents have to pay a small annual fee to park (£24 to £48 for most vehicles). A simple extension to this scheme would allow residents who don’t own or store a car in the street to apply for a “parklet permit” instead.

From there the council could then monitor which streets have the most non-car households and re-allocate space accordingly, potentially using a catch-all Traffic Regulation Order to minimise costs. This could also be combined with fulfilling the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to “provide more on-street bike hangers throughout the city”, a direct result of a brilliant report from Bristol Cycling Campaign.

Bristol needs to end the dominance of and dependence on cars. By engaging with councillors who are our local representatives and community champions we need to show the groundswell of support for more parklets across the city. Vitally, we need to show enthusiasm for them to the city’s transport cabinet minister and mayor, Marvin Rees. If you’d like to hear more about these campaign updates, join us as a Possible supporter for free now.

I would love to hear from residents and businesses who want a parklet on their street or outside their premises, particularly in streets dominated by vehicles and/or with poor access to green spaces. We need to show how reimagined, liveable streets are possible and getting at least one exemplar parklet installed will be a key step in showing our city’s potential. Please get in touch if you want to work together on this: rob.bryher@wearepossible.org

At Possible, we’re looking for a Bristol location to install a parklet. We’re particularly interested in places that have poor access to green spaces or limited ability for people to interact with others on their street. What are your suggestions? pic.twitter.com/mqDc5Y8ToD

— Rob Bryher (@RobBryher) June 7, 2021

Rob Bryher is Car Free Bristol campaigner for the climate action charity Possible. This article is the first in a series on Car Free Cities over the coming months.

Main photo: Justin Thomas, Creative Commons

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