We took advantage of a trip to Manchester to visit the excellent urban park at Mayfield in Manchester in May. We were lucky to have Paul Morris along from Civic Engineers who was able to tell us some of the detail of how the scheme was planned and delivered. It is an ambitious and successful scheme, delivering a river-daylighting at the centre of the park, restoring the River Medlock to all its glory, allowing the restorative sunshine to work its wonders on the plants and animals in and around the river. The park has been designed to celebrate the industrial heritage of the area, and a number of the old metal beams are incorporated into the bridges and the landscaping. There is a magnificent playground too, with a slide that allows the children to zoom across the River, high above it in a steel tunnel – what fun! The best thing about the park is that it creates a large, beautiful green space for local people to walk their dogs and bring their children to play. But it creates a space for local workers too, to take a break and gather their thoughts in nature. That’s the trick of good green/blue infrastructure in cities; we don’t need to make a song-and-dance about all its benefits. If we design it well, the benefits will just seep out silently, improving the lives of people and nature without expecting any reward or recognition in return. Do you have a green space like this in a city near you?
