Feb 1, 2023
Parklets – What, Why, How?
Everyone is welcome to join our February meeting, where we will be having a talk and discussion about parklets, which are small green seating areas situated on or alongside a pavement where people can sit and relax. How can we apply this idea across Swansea? Join us at 7pm on Wednesday 1st February at Common Meeple Board Game Cafe for a free, informal discussion forum where we will be joined by Habib Khan, director at Meristem Design, an award-winning company creating bespoke green solutions for commercial, public realm and residential spaces.
Oct 13, 2022
Our first face-to-face meeting on Tuesday 22 September in BrewStone, Uplands was a great success! We welcomed both Uplands Living Streets members and people from all over Swansea, all united in their interest in making our communities more green and people-friendly.
Dr Ben Reynolds of Urban Foundry spoke about 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, giving us an insight into how good urban design can make all the difference in creating friendly, connected, and economically successful places where everyone enjoys living and working.
And none of this is new! The Victorians knew instinctively what makes a great place to live, and we can see this in the street layout and connectedness we all enjoy in Uplands.
The big takeaways from Dr Reynolds’ talk?
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- All the cities we love and enjoy visiting are designed around the same principles, which ensure that people have priority over cars.
- Mixed use is important – shops, mixed with housing, and short connected blocks of buildings with ‘active frontages’ make for places which are vibrant and safe, both during the day and at night.
- Well-designed cities are those that encourage people to linger – to sit and chat with friends, shop, eat, and socialise.
- Footfall in shops and businesses increases in urban spaces that prioritise pedestrians, whereas spaces designed for cars actually turn out to be business un-friendly.
Research from all over the world shows that great urban spaces aren’t difficult to create, it just needs the will of people to work together. And when they do, green urban spaces are great news for business, the environment and the community.
Join us for more interesting talks and activities in the months ahead; let us know if there’s a topic you’d like to discuss, or a speaker you’d like to hear!
Dates for your diary:
Saturday 22nd October, 11.00am, Uplands Living Streets Family Walk. Come along and find out more about the history of our great local parks.
December (date and venue to be announced), Christmas Living Streets meeting and social.
Contact us here: Uplandsswanseagroup@livingstreets.org.uk
Onwards and Uplands! Ymlaen Yplands!
Jul 13, 2022
Please click here to see the notes from our latest Uplands Living Streets meeting held on 2nd July.
Here are some highlights:
We’ve decided on a NEW LOOK for our future meetings and we need YOU to help us with it.
We’d like to start hosting discussions at the meetings on various themes of interest to all our members.
Please send us your ideas for speakers, or for any topic areas or subjects you’d be interested in finding out more about. If you’re interested in it, you can guarantee others will be too!
- St James’ Church is hosting a Bat Walk and Moth Trapping evening this Thursday 14th July (weather permitting) from 9.00pm-11.00pm. All adults and (accompanied) children welcome, and please advertise to all your friends. And don’t forget your torch!
- There’s a chance for you to find out more about the Pobl Beacon Hill housing development (on the old Teacher Training College site in Townhill) this Saturday 16th July from 11.00am-2.00pm in Cwmdonkin Park. Come along and see what it will look like, and share your ideas about how the site’s green space could be used!
- We’ll be at the next Uplands Market on Saturday 30th July—come and see us, and help us to develop our Walking Charter!
Our next meeting is on Saturday 3rd September at 10.30am, and here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82345556954
We look forward to seeing you.
Onwards & Uplands!
Mar 5, 2022
We’re really pleased to announce that our local Councillors have agreed to fund a second bench for the Uplands shopping area. This means that in the next few months there will be two new places for people to sit, rest and chat to each other in the heart of Uplands, making our community more people friendly and welcoming.
We already know that as social animals its good for humans to chat to others, and that such interactions are an integral part of maintaining good mental health and general wellbeing. Thanks to the generous donations of local people to our Onwards and Uplands Crowdfund, and now from our local Councillors, we will have more opportunity to slow down and appreciate our lovely Uplands.
You may be interested in this research from Sheffield University on the importance of benches in public spaces:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/landscape/news/positive-effects-benches-public-spaces
Feb 2, 2022
You will surely have seen that, as of Saturday (29 January), the updated Highway Code is now in effect on Britain’s roads.
Two things you can do now
Updating the Code is not a silver bullet. We need to ensure all road users understand the changes and abide by them. After all, they make us all safer.
So the first thing you can do is share the Living Streets webpage and their social media posts about the update.
