After Hulme Park was opened in 2000 its intelligent design received much acclaim, and many local people and police forces felt that the efforts of its designer Landscape Projects had resulted in a space that was crime free and had the potential to reduce the amount of crime that happened in the area.
The park was certainly the start of a much wider regeneration of Hulme which has benefitted from new social and open market housing, an architect designed footbridge connecting it to Manchester city centre over the Mancunian way and Manchester Metropolitan University has identified a space near Hulme Park as the site for its new super-campus which will consolidate buildings from seven current sites across the city.
The lasting impact of the design process and resulting park in Hulme can be summarised in five points:
- The park itself is being constantly improved as locals identify ways they can use it better.
- The collaborative approach taken by Hulme Park designers has been used again whenever new social building projects have been introduced in Hulme.
- Regeneration of Hulme is ongoing with facilities like the Zion Arts Centre, which sits on one side of Hulme Park, becoming well known across Manchester as a way for the power of local cultural and creative renaissance.
- Crime levels have reduced in Hulme in line with other wards of Manchester. It now faces different sorts of crimes and anti-social behaviour, like gang violence and gun crimes, than it did in 2000, which means Hulme Park’s designers would have found it difficult to design in a solution to these problems in 2000. April 2006 to March 2007 saw a 22.5 per cent reduction in key crime compared to the same period the previous year. Nineteen new Home Watch groups have been established in Hulme.
- Other indicators like house prices show that Hulme Park is now a desirable area as property surrounding it commands a price premium according to local estate agents. While it is often the case that homes overlooking green space cost more, estate agents stressed that in the Hulme area, the streets around the park have also attracted significant investment as a result of it being built and because of the feeling of safety it helps create.
The results in more depth
Sue Ahmadi became ward co-ordinator for Hulme after the park was opened but she says it has had a lasting impact on Hulme and the regeneration that continues there. ‘It is well used by people of all ages. Early in the morning there are people doing Tai Chi. And the Council uses it regularly to hold events for the whole community,’ she says.
The Council have been instrumental in keeping local people aware of what the park offers says Ahmadi: ‘We hold events and celebrations in the park that act as a constant reinforcement that this is a people place.’
One event organised by the Council in Hulme Park last summer attracted 2,000 people from the immediate area and from Manchester centre. They used the iconic new pedestrian bridge, which can be seen from Hulme Park and shows the route across the Mancunian way into Manchester city centre.
The design ideas which were included to reduce the risk of crime have been variously successful says Ahmadi: ‘It still feels good but it is just evolving. I think site lines remain very good. We can see all the way over to the landmark buildings in the city centre. But there are some problems with the paths because some of the lights are out on the well trodden routes. Some of the original lighting columns have been failing and then we have trouble getting replacements.’
Some local people have picked up on this lack of sufficient lighting and feel the park is unsafe as a result. In her Evaluation of the Regeneration of Hulme, Manchester Dr Caroline Davey asked local residents how they felt about the park. One said: ‘there’s been lots of muggings in it. I think it’s actually a park thing really, it’s not very well lit – well, although I think the Council have been doing something about that recently but it is quite dark.’
Davey comments: ‘The level of lighting appropriate in parks is debateable. It could be argued that lighting should be switched off at night so as to not encourage pedestrians or cyclists. On the other hand, such a public amenity should be available at all times and potentially with that comes greater risk of crime. Residents may simply decide for themselves.’
While some residents have questioned their safety in Hulme Park others have taken the idea of designing safety into green spaces to heart. Green-fingered residents in Hulme celebrated success in the North West In Bloom Neighbourhood Awards 2008 for their Liberty Gate defensive planting scheme which made the area safer using plants.
New problems come with an evolving society
Ahmadi is frank about what has worked and what hasn’t. She admits there are problems with seasonal homelessness, that an area of sunken garden got overgrown and became a site for drug users, that some of lighting columns are difficult to replace when they reach the end of their life and that modern social issues that weren’t a problem when the park was designed have started to have an impact on how the park is used, or misused.
‘I think it’s mainly in the North section of the park that we’ve had trouble with mini motors and the like,’ says Ahmadi. But she explains that the park’s managers have continued to design appropriate solutions to issues such as this rather than introducing standard lock and key deterrents. ‘We have gone back to introduce gates along the lines of kissing gates. It’s an obstacle that the mini motorbikes have trouble getting through and it has helped reduce that problem.’
While the local council continue to develop the park by putting in more features to show the area’s heritage as well as its future, they sometimes have problems reconciling the past, present and future user. For instance, a standing stone marking the first Rolls Royce factory was unveiled with a special ceremony last year. ‘But there was a shooting in the area a couple of days before,’ says Ahmadi, ‘It’s a reality of where we are. So Rolls Royce dignatries didn’t come to the unveiling, but we still held the ceremony and got lots of local support.’
The collaborative approach takes root in Hulme
‘We are often accused of consulting people to death,’ says Ahmadi as Hulme Council continues to involve the local people in developing their own area.
The relocation of Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) from seven campuses to one near Hulme Park is the next major stage of regeneration in the area and MMU is working with local people to develop a masterplan. ‘They are considering the environmental design of their facilities from a community perspective: how the buildings work and what they offer’ says Ahmadi. They want to bring the community in on the process so that they come into the buildings once they built. ‘The MMU are keen to replicate that feel from the Hulme Park project. They want local people to use the University and their space.’
Concerns about Hulme Park have resulted in a Friends of the Park group being formed. There is, apparently, tremendous loyalty to the park amongst residents with events planned throughout the year by its Local Action Partnership and by organisations like the Zion Arts Centre.
‘There are areas of Hulme that still feature high in deprivation status,' admits Admadi. 'That’s issues like levels of child poverty, unemployment and lack of education and training. The trend has improved fairly dramatically though. For instance, the housing is constantly improving. And Hulme does now feel a much more established area.’
Future developments
Just because the park was new in 2000 doesn’t mean that improvements can’t keep being made. Ahmadi says local residents are good at suggesting things they would like to be able to do in the park in the future. Some suggestions have already caused updates to be made. BMX riders who wanted somewhere to practice their skills have designed a BMX track which is now in regular use.
‘Some of our newer residents have come to us and said they want relaxed, informal areas like community farms or wild flower meadows,’ says Ahmadi who has also fielded requests for locals to use parts of land close to the park to grow food until they are used by Manchester Metropolitan University or for new houses.
This want of relaxed outside spaces has sometimes caused local people to label Hulme Park ‘too formal’ says Ahmadi but residents groups continue to combat this perception as they use the park for summer fun days. After collaborating with the designers on Hulme Park Ahmadi sees a legacy of confidence in the local people who are now increasingly voicing their demands for environmental improvements.
‘There will be lessons from what happened in Hulme Park that inform further development,' says Ahmadi. ‘A big lesson on the design was that in terms of infrastructure, we don’t want to design it down, but we want to be able to affordably maintain what we put in.’