‘Having the enjoyment of sitting outside and feeling like you’re in nature really came through in our findings,’ Dr Rishbeth said. Dr Rishbeth and the team, including partners fromThe Young Foundation, Greenwich Inclusion Project, filmmaker Esther Johnson and geographer Ben Rogaly, spoke to people using benches and outdoor spaces in these locations, undertaking ethnographic research and making a film. The Bench Project, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, focused on two case study sites Gordon Square in Woolwich and St Helier Open Space in Sutton. That’s your right and nobody can really move you on unless you happen to be breaking another by-law, so I think there’s a real generosity to providing benches,’ said Clare. If you’re on a bench, then you’re on a bench. ‘I think it’s an interesting dynamic to public life. Sitting on benches ‘enables a flexible and undemanding way to enjoy public life,’ as Dr Rishbeth’s research paper claims.ĭr Clare Rishbeth being filmed for the BBC One Show where she discussed her research into the use of benches
HANGING BENCH LANDSCAPE ARCH FREE
They are free for all, regardless of who you are. There’s a civic quality to benches, in that they are paid for by someone else, for anyone to sit on. ‘So I would say that if you’re going to have a ‘walkable city’, you also need a sittable city. And so it’s important for people to have somewhere they know they can sit down if they need to, without having to wait in queues or spend money in coffee shops and cafes. ‘Nearly everybody has a story of a person they know who has to plan where and when they’ll need to sit down when they are out and about, whether they are elderly or have mobility issues. But most people don’t want to walk around for hours and not sit down, and for many people, it isn’t physically possible. ‘There has been a lot of emphasis on creating ‘walkable cities’ in recent years, with the idea that you can explore large parts of a city on foot.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture
They might be caring for someone, they might be out of work, their homes may be overcrowded, and they feel they don’t want to or can’t be at home all the time.’īut where does this fit into the discussion of removing benches? Dr Rishbeth’s leading argument in The Bench Project is that if urban spaces are designed to be used by a wide range of local people, then these need to include places to sit. From our research, we found that spending time outdoors and in public spaces is most important for many people who have problematic or tricky home situations. ‘What lockdown has done is made people more aware that spending time outside is really important and a valued way to spend time. ‘However the covid-19 pandemic means that we’ve seen it in different ways, with benches and outdoor seating also being temporarily taped off as part of measures to prevent the virus spreading. ‘While the BBC have noticed this occurring recently, we know that the removal of benches has been happening for years,’ she said. Image © Esther JohnsonĬlare's research, The Bench Project, began in 2014 when ‘hostile architecture’ – like the spikes fitted to prevent homeless people from sleeping in certain spaces – were gaining attention in the media and there was a surge of benches being removed from public spaces. The Bench Project explored the use of benches in public spaces.
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