“London Play’s Play Street Advocacy Workers Catherine Togut and Fiona Sutherland will identify target neighbourhoods and willing residents within them, and then provide the support, guidance and training needed to enable them to become play street advocates in their own communities. They will gain confidence, skills and experience in the process, going on to inspire and recruit other residents to launch play streets in their areas and multiplying the impact of their work.

The project will focus on 12 London boroughs where the demand for support is greatest. “ (https://www.londonplay.org.uk/content/33442/our_work/recent_work/play_streets/london_play_streets_)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/07/31/close-roads-children-can-play-street-like-parents-did-say-public/

http://www.streetsalive.org.uk/my-street/play.aspx

Contact : info@londonplay.org.uk

“A Big Lunch can be anything from a small gathering in a garden, park or driveway, to a larger party with trestle tables down the middle of your street.

(…)The idea is that by starting simple, all sorts of friendships, ideas and projects can come out of a Big Lunch. It gets people together and talking — and with a few inspired folk, it can lead to people doing more within their community, and tackling the issues that matter to them most.”

(https://www.edenprojectcommunities.com/stuff-to-do/organise-big-lunch)

Contact : boxoffice@edenproject.com

Unsatisfied with these situations neighbors organized themselves in an interdisciplinary skilled group for a hands-on regeneration of underused public spaces, local shops and the street itself. The methodology used was that of Tactical Urbanism, based on three steps: Build, Test, and Learn.

The regeneration took place over a weekend, with social life being brought back into the block through different initiatives (thus requiring little material and time).

The initiative developed into a business with people working full-time on the collective regeneration of different urban blocks worldwide.

Build a Better Block is now an open source project, “developed to provide help for communities that wish to build their own Better Blocks complete with news, tools, and other resources they may need to help rapidly revitalize neighborhoods. Our consulting firm, Team Better Block, assists cities with planning, designing, and measuring the impacts of Better Block as an alternative to the typical urban planning process. “ (http://betterblock.org/how-to-build-a-better-block/)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HTkBTnZ9D4

http://www.archdaily.com/218310/tedx-how-to-build-a-better-block-jason-roberts

Contact : Krista Nightengale, Managing Director, krista@betterblock.org

and Info@betterblock.org