Internationally we are seeing cities like Bogotá, Paris, Vancouver and more, using temporary interventions to support communities during COVID-19. In the short term these interventions support people to exercise and undertake essential travel by creating more public space to walk and cycle. In the longer term they focus on helping people traveling back to work, to stay healthy, and move around safely.

We want to hear your great ideas for temporary interventions that make it safer and/or easier for people to move around or access community spaces by re-purposing streets. Ideas could be for either during the COVID-19 safety orders, or to help communities safely transition back once restrictions are eased. Projects could be anything from piloting a new walking or cycling path to pop-up community-led street events, trialling a low-traffic neighbourhood or reallocating more space as parks for people. We would like to hear from councils of all sizes and across NSW.

What are temporary interventions? A temporary intervention is an approach to neighbourhood building and activation, using short-term tactical methods to test projects quickly. These projects use techniques such as pilots, pop-ups, short-term treatments and semi-permanent changes to try ideas. These temporary projects can respond to an immediate need, as well as create an evidence-base of benefits to help build the case for longer-term change. Typically, tactical demonstration projects are short-term and run for up to one month or on regular days, and pilots can be semi-permanent up to a year.

Response to COVID-19COVID-19 is changing the way communities use transport systems and services. Internationally and locally, we are seeing temporary interventions can be used to take a place-led approach to:

– support physical distancing requirements

– help the community see potential opportunities for public space and encourage safe social connectedness

– contribute to NSW’s economic recovery in our local centres by creating vibrant streets and additional safe space

– supporting our communities wellbeing and ability to exercise

– increasing the amount of public space.

There has been a huge uptake in walking and cycling as a way of exercising or taking essential trips. Cities are introducing measures and initiatives not only to encourage this, but to ensure it is done safely with projects that increase the amount and quality of public space available to people to help make it easier to exercise, take essential travel and access the services they need. Locally we have seen Transport for NSW provide support through a temporary increase in pedestrian space around some Centrelink Service Centres and other busy areas.

Benefits Temporary interventions provide an opportunity to innovate our streets and spaces to support active and safe travel needs and exercise during COVID-19. This will also help ensure our centres and key points of interest will encourage people back into public space in the future and support local businesses.

Temporary interventions provide a quick, low-cost method to demonstrate the value of a concept and test future permanent change. By starting small, piloting and demonstration projects help gather data and observe impacts without needing to put in place permanent changes. Testing projects allows the community to physically experience alternative options, and gain their input and feedback. The project can then be refined based on experience before significant investment is made.

Source for banner image: Auckland City Council

Streets as Shared SpacesA fund for ideas and interventions

Project ideas We are looking for projects that reallocate streets and spaces for people, whether piloting a walking or cycling path, turning pavement into plazas or asphalt to art, providing pop-up parklets, or trialling a street closure to make more room for safe play streets.

Examples of temporary interventions include:

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1 Surface treatments like bollards, paint or planter boxes to reallocate vehicle space and widen or extend paths for pedestrians or cyclists, or provide extra space outside businesses for customers to physically distance.Source: Heart of the City Auckland

2 Additional open space like parklets, squares or plazas created by widening the footpath into parking spaces, narrowing a carriageway or temporarily closing a street Source: New York City Department of Transportation

3 Temporary street closures to promote active modes of travel, or once COVID-19 orders are lifted, hold one off pop-up community led events or a regular playstreet to support transition back into public spaceSource: Place Management NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

4 Street and intersection safety improvements, such as kerb buildouts, barrier elements, narrowing a carriageway to slow traffic or create a cycle path, rephasing traffic lights, making crossings automatic, setting lower speeds or trialling neighbourhoods with low- traffic volumes Source: Transport for NSW

5 Walkability improvements created by cooling and beautifying streets with landscaping (such as potted trees or flowers) and other temporary place infrastructure Source: Place Management NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

6 Once COVID-19 orders are lifted, placemaking through programming (busking, dance or exercise classes, intergenerational play areas), and public or community art, seating, wayfinding signage, bike racks and other street furnitureSource: Destination NSW

How to get involvedWe invite councils across NSW to contact us to discuss ideas for temporary intervention projects that we could fund and partner on to support our communities in the urban areas of our towns and cities.

Visit the website: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.nsw.gov.au/our-premiers-priorities/great-public-spaces

For more information, please contact: PublicSpace@planning.nsw.gov.au

© State of New South Wales through Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2020. The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (May 2020). However, because of advances in knowledge, users should ensure that any information upon which they rely is up to date and to check the currency of the information with the appropriate departmental officer or the user’s independent adviser.