Another two coincidences, this time of a completely different nature took place recently. Both were crimes of separate types, taking place within a few days of each other, in parks in my local area. They show how fragile the concept of safety and security in green spaces can be, and how long-lasting and devastating the effect a few minutes of madness can be. Persuading people to be more active and use parks more is difficult enough without these incidents, perceptions of secu

Last week a series of coincidences got me thinking about the deeper role of green space in place-making; what gives a city its character and what green spaces say about the community which creates them. I was recently given some photographs taken by an elderly aunt who is a keen photographer. Amongst the photos, mainly of family interest were some of Manchester city centre shortly before the ‘improvements’ of the early noughties. The ones of Piccadilly Gardens particularly ca