Pop-up mini park to take over Bank Junction

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An award-winning mini park will transform the City of London to mark International Car Free Day this weekend (Sunday 22 September 2019).

Bank Junction will be freed up for people to explore the city on foot and cycle as part of ‘Reimagine’ – a new event from the Mayor of London celebrating International Car Free Day.

Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking will be taking over Cornhill with a mini ‘parklet’. The charity will be joined by Brenda Puech, the Hackney resident responsible for a parklet revolution in London.

Brenda Puech transformed a parking space outside her home into a mini park – or ‘parklet’ – creating a game-changing innovative use of street space which was immensely popular and led to parklet permits being made legal in Hackney. Other London boroughs also started to look at their own schemes.

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One of the previous mini parks in Stoke Newington

Living Streets has worked with Brenda Puech to create a Parklets toolkit to help others follow in her footsteps and reclaim public spaces in their local areas to sit, spend time and watch the world go by. The toolkit has launched this week (16 September) and Brenda will be on hand at Car Free Day to give tips on how to replicate the success she had in East London.

Ruth Billingham, Head of Campaigns, Living Streets said:

“Car Free Day is a chance to reimagine our city as a place designed around people, not vehicles. Vast swathes of London are normally taken up with cars, congestion and exhaust fumes but we’ll swapping that for spaces to walk, rest and enjoy the city.

“We hope people leave the pop-up parklet feeling inspired to create their own small pocket of peace and tranquillity in their neighbourhood.”

Images by Living Streets