Reimagining Parking Spaces: Global & Local Parking Days from San Francisco to Birmingham and beyond.

17/03/2026

00:00:00 – Introduction: Reimagining parking spaces. Parking Days.
00:02:38 – The team
00:03:21 – Global Parking Day explained. San Francisco / Birmingham
00:07:27 – The Jewellery Quarter, history
00:09:52 – The Concrete Collar
00:11:39 – The Golden Square
00:13:05 – Ludgate Hill
00:14:05 – Advocacy
00:15:53 – Caroline Street
00:17:32 – Facilitating – those involved.
00:19:14 – Business involvement
00:21:03 – Compliance with rules / regulations / finance
00:24:35 – Discussion
Hosted by Hannah Smart, Chair, Urban Design Group and Founding Director, edge Urban Design.
Presenting:
Jessica Shearman, Urban Designer, Define.
Charlie Loveluck-Edwards, Graduate Urban Designer, Define.
Matthew Alexander, Operations and Engagement Manager, The Jewellery Quarter Business Improvement District.
Tonia Clark, Principal Finance and Bids Officer, Birmingham City Council.
Inspired by the global initiative, Park(ing) Day, a team from the Birmingham-based design firm Define Planning & Design launched Brum Park(ing) Day, to explore the role of the car in our urban environments. They collaborated with other organisations and firms to temporarily transform car parking spaces into people-focused spaces. The discussion reflects on the installations and how other communities might replicate the concept. In a city that has experienced repeated cycles of large-scale development over the past century, often, smaller incremental, low-cost urban interventions can be overlooked. With a public realm that has been dominated by the private vehicle and highway infrastructure, there is an abundance of space that offers clear opportunities to reclaim small pockets for people, biodiversity and community connection. © Urban Design Group.

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