BENCH RESEARCH
The focus of ‘The Bench Project’ is on locations where people often 'hang out', the act of everyday sitting on a bench or low wall, near a takeaway, a park entrance or in an urban square. The research has explored the stories, memories and activities of people using these places and questions how they provide places for social interaction. We were keen to find out how different aspects of people’s identity (age, ethnicity, gender, life situation) shape how people see and are seen when they sit outside.
Though the bench is often seen as a delightful, sometimes even romantic place, the research also investigated aspects of confrontation and control. In particular, we note a context of increasing concern about gathering in public places (such as use of dispersal orders) and how places are often made cleaner but also more boring. This impacts on design: making sitting uncomfortable, or removing of benches, with the aim of deterring longer-stay use of the public realm. The research sits within the Arts and Humanities Research Council Connected Communities programme. It is conducted in two different London neighbourhoods, Woolwich and Sutton, working with community organisations in each place. The findings show that policies and actions that respond to certain groups of public space users as problematic (for example, young people, drinkers) is at odds with understandings of mental, physical and social wellbeing, which often show many benefits to being outdoors and spending time with friends. We found a general openness to diverse ways of being outside, and that siting on benches enables a flexible and undemanding way to enjoy public life. We have summarised our findings in the Manifesto of the Good Bench. We have produced a report "Benches for Everyone. Solitude in public, sociability for free' , which includes findings supporting the development of the Manifesto, and ‘Making Benches Better: Points for Action’. (see report below). Policy impacts include influencing agendas regarding public health, social experiences of living in city neighbourhoods, combating loneliness and isolation, design of public spaces, community safety and policing, supporting participation of elderly and young residents, and addressing hate crime and harassment. Download the report from The Young Foundation website. An integral part of the process of the research has been the making of a 18 minute film by documentary filmmaker Esther Johnson: ‘Alone Together, the Social Life of Benches’ which gave bench users the chance to share their stories of using benches and captures the rhythm of daily life in these two locations. |
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The Young Foundation Research Report 2015
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This is a co-produced project. The partners are:
Principal investigator · Clare Rishbeth · Lecturer in Landscape Architecture · The University of Sheffield Co-investigator · Esther Johnson · Reader in Media Arts · Sheffield Hallam University Co-investigator · Prof. Ben Rogaly · Professor of Human Geography · University of Sussex Community Co-investigator · Radhika Bynon · The Young Foundation / The U Community Co-investigator · Dr Jasber Singh · GRIP, Greenwich Inclusion Project Community Fieldworker for The U · Diana Coman Community Fieldworker for GRIP · Samprada Mukhia This project is supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council
Connected Communities Programme 2015 |
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