Dr Simon Bell is the Principal Investigator in a project funded by the Data-Driven Initiative programme, together with City of Edinburgh Council, looking at the potential for parklets.

Parklets (typically repurposed car parking spaces into public community spaces) have the potential to provide community-led interventions in the public realm that can have a positive social and environmental impact on the local area, as demonstrated in numerous cities around the world. In cities where parklets have been delivered, they have usually been initiated by local parties interested in this model that have come together to bring forward a proposal to the local authority.

There is, however, no precedent for this in Edinburgh and there is a lack of local evidence as to whether communities have the appetite to initiate this type of public space intervention, as well as whether they have the capacity to lead the delivery and maintenance of the associated infrastructure. This project will work with local communities to build the evidence base and assess whether there is potential to create parklets in key locations within Edinburgh city.