8    Neighbourhood Design

8.2    Centrally Located Open Spaces

Parks and open spaces provide opportunities for recreation and social contact, and their spaciousness can contrast with the built form of urban areas.

How a subdivision relates to public spaces such as roads, parks, and streams is very important for visual amenity and safety. Too often parks are inconveniently located, inappropriately sized or poorly overlooked, as a result of left-over land from the lot design process.

Developers should consider the following design elements:

• Locate open spaces where they are highly prominent, visible and accessible, with good road frontage. Parks should not be made of ‘left-over’ land.
• The location and design should be determined by the neighbourhood context and site analysis.
• Open spaces for recreational use should be located within 5 minutes’ walk of all allotments, positively contributing to residential amenity.
• Provide open spaces based on the type of space that would add the greatest value to the neighbourhood. In some instances, high quality ecological corridors or pedestrian linkages are more desirable than neighbourhood reserves if there are existing ones (or similar spaces that can offer the same services) close by.
• The number of parks and open spaces in a neighbourhood and their amenities need to be based on:
  • The needs of the community, reflected by population density and demographics
  • The types of users and their requirements
  • The participation rates for selected activities
  • Use and access to facilities, and gaps in amenity provision
  • Opportunities for dual purpose functions (active and passive recreation)
• Use open spaces as a design feature, adding value to the lots, with lots fronting on to the parks adding to the natural surveillance.
• Locate and design parks to take advantage of existing trees and features of interest (natural and cultural), adding identity to the neighbourhood.
• Provide walking and cycle paths through an open space network, connecting with adjacent streets. Investigate opportunities to connect with other open spaces to form a network.
• Provide amenities within parks, such as children’s play equipment, landscaped areas for passive recreation, public art and flat land for active recreation.
• Ensure the design of parks takes into account future maintenance requirements and costs.
• Avoid creating spaces, pedestrian linkages, or cycleways that are located between the backs of adjacent sites as these will be less safe for users. If this is the only option, ensure there are no high fences.