Shared description
Public open spaces
Since the dawn of time young people have always found a space to play a game and older ones a pleasant spot to sit and natter. But it was the industrial revolution that necessitated a more structured approach to recreational spaces, the idea that those who could do so should provide positive leisure experiences for the less well off. One of the by-products of the great Public Health Act of 1848 was the purposely built park. In 1847, Birkenhead opened a facility designed by the noted landscape architect Joseph Paxton. By 1870 the Mayor of Manchester, John Grave, could say of a new facility: “It is a park of the people. The people have made it; the people have paid for it; and the people will use it.” Thus, such places became focal points for space starved communities. The paintings of LS Lowry spring to mind.
Progress in this area ebbs and flows. In 1936 the King George V Playing Fields Scheme to create new sites got under way, but by the 1980s schools were being encouraged to sell their fields to pay for refurbishments. Fast forward another generation and the collective anxiety about child and adult obesity has seen the pendulum swing again. As Nick Piercey of Manchester Metropolitan University observes: space for recreation is not neutral but shaped by our past, present and future concerns.
Progress in this area ebbs and flows. In 1936 the King George V Playing Fields Scheme to create new sites got under way, but by the 1980s schools were being encouraged to sell their fields to pay for refurbishments. Fast forward another generation and the collective anxiety about child and adult obesity has seen the pendulum swing again. As Nick Piercey of Manchester Metropolitan University observes: space for recreation is not neutral but shaped by our past, present and future concerns.
by Basher Eyre
Created: Sat, 18 Dec 2021, Updated: Sat, 18 Dec 2021
234 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:
... and 209 more images.
Shared descriptions
This shared description
The 'Shared Description' text on this page is © copyright 2021 Basher Eyre.
Shared descriptions are specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse them on their own images, without restriction.
About shared descriptions
These Shared Descriptions are common to multiple images.
For example, you can create a generic description for an object shown in a photo, and reuse the description on all photos of the object. All descriptions are public and shared between contributors, i.e. you can reuse a description created by others, just as they can use yours.
Explore images
View images using this "Public open spaces" Shared Description
View images mentioning the words [Public open spaces] anywhere in text
Other shared descriptions
Related descriptions
- Abbey Fields, Kenilworth
By John Brightley. Used on 63 images
- St John's
By N Chadwick. Used on 15 images
- Kidney Wood Play Trail
By Thomas Nugent. Used on 17 images
- Engine Fields, Yeadon
By Stephen Craven. Used on 11 images
- St John's Lye
By N Chadwick. Used on 14 images
- King George's Fields
By Robin Stott. Used on 126 images
- Queen Elizabeth II Fields
By Alan Murray-Rust. Used on 105 images
The above selections are automatic and approximate, it might not always select closely matching descriptions
