Starting With the Petunias: LQC Action for Better Public Space

This invited output describes the context and methodology behind a series of public-space-led events and debates on urban regeneration, organized by Golden in February 2013. Golden adapted Project for Public Spaces Ltd.'s "lighter, quicker, cheaper" methods for temporary targeted urbanism into a unique design consultation project that took place in the public realm of Belfast city centre. It provided an alternative outlet for debates and consultation on Government supported, Private Developer-led, proposals to create a new public square. The ‘positive occupation’ involved members of the public, design professionals, public artists, and representatives of the Department of Social Development (DSDNI); contributing to DSDNI’s formal consultation process. The project displays the first steps in demonstrating how more informal open-ended approaches to urban design decision-making might impact and improve the place-led qualities of new urban development, in contrast to more controlled or top-down statutory approaches. Golden's event received international recognition when shared through a peer reviewed presentation at the Future of Places, UN sponsored conference, in June 2013. The conference presentation preceded this commissioned piece for the Project for Public Spaces Ltd. Blog, which has a global reach and has elicited shares and commments on this project from across Europe and the Americas.