Let people design public space

The people who use a public space every day often know it best. Yet they are often the ones with the least influence over how it is designed.

That was the message at the heart of former Mayor of St. Paul Melvin Carter’s closing keynote at the 2026 Parks & Greenspace Conference, organised by Park Pride. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in city planning, Carter argued that the people who use public spaces every day should play a greater role in shaping them.

He recalled his high school days, when thousands of students consistently cut across the grass instead of following the designated concrete path. Rather than dismissing it as rule-breaking, Carter saw it as a reminder that people naturally reveal what works best for a place through the way they use it.

Too often, however, design decisions are shaped by the loudest 10%, the most vocal stakeholders, formal consultation groups or familiar community voices, while the needs and behaviours of the other 90% remain unheard.

This isn’t a new idea. Half a century ago, urbanist William H. Whyte reached a similar conclusion through his Street Life Project, using time-lapse photography to observe how people actually occupied streets, plazas and parks. His work demonstrated that the best public spaces are informed by the people who use them, rather than assumptions about how they should behave.

Today, that same principle remains as relevant as ever.

More information can be found via Saporta Reporto.

Photo courtesy of Park Pride.