VIRTUAL London.

Abstract

This case-study presentation is about the participatory research project City Mill Skate London, UK, where public consultation has been used creatively to enhance equality in sport participation and in design of the public realm. Through a program of community engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, co-designed model ‘skate dots’ became full scale skateable architecture occupying meanwhile space, belonging to UCL, on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The City Mill Pool Street skate space opened in October 2022. This paper focusses on the material process of building this urban space and the far less material activation of it in ways that acknowledge: the need for safe public spaces for a diverse set of user groups, ensuring biodiversity, and also responding to the unique set of environmental concerns that govern the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park itself. The presentation draws from my ongoing research with Dr Sheryl Clark which explores how women and girls engage with the public space of the skatepark, how communities are formed, and how fostering ownership from women and girls of these historically cis-male oriented spaces affects the cultures that exists there. It relates to our article, Skateboarding the Lockdown: gendered bodies in crisis, health and recovery in publication for the Journal of Pedagogy, Culture and Society. Designing spaces for skateboarding opens up a paradox between the disruptive and the institutional as many facilities are ‘DIY’ – built by skateboarders. This paper explores how ownership effects belonging in relation to user-centred design in urban spaces. It offers important insights into relations of culture, place and learning can inform our understanding of future users.