"To this day creating a contemporary kind of park remains one of the most difficult tasks for our profession". Gunter Vogt

The great urban parks of the 19th and 20thC had their roots in a desire to positively affect public health through civic provision of access to open space and fresh air, combined with the promotion of an idealised vision of ‘nature’. The MA4 studio this year again asked how the urban park for the 21stC and beyond should be conceptualised and designed in the current context of climate breakdown, health inequalities and biodiversity loss.

The student work developed in the Edinburgh Urban Parks studio demonstrated the vital role that landscape architects can play in re-imagining both tired and often under used local spaces that nonetheless remain full of potential as well as some iconic city parks. In each case the projects sought to positively contribute to climate resilience and the physical and mental health of citizens.