Scheme

Make Space York invited us to host a stall at their summer event, taking over Rowntree Park and encouraging girls to take up space. We went armed with the simple question - what would happen if we gave teenage girls the keys to designing their dream city?  

Strategy

The first thing that was added to our page was “places where you can go to do the things you love”, followed by the construction of a creativity centre, a library, a swimming pool and a park. Soon visitors designed a coffee shop next to the ice cream parlour, pizza restaurant and gym.  

Thinking outside the box, the city also had a castle, a garden centre, zoo and four pet shops. There was also a focus on physical connection and travel, building in cycle routes, a tram and a green link from the park to the houses.

Outcome

The final design was a city centred around green spaces, close to water, with spaces for being active, having fun and living all woven together in a walkable neighbourhood. We have run similar activities with children of all ages, and each brings their own creativity and ideas as to what makes the dream city.

Meeting Place facilitated and ran this session as part of its business-wide commitment to increasing visibility of the industry and supporting grass roots organisations in delivering community focused initiatives.