Design your park: exploring park value in the UK

The "Design your park" map and sticker pack offers a creative way for people to explore how they experience and value parks.

This resource was developed as part of the (De)constructing health and wellbeing research project. It uses three age‑appropriate illustrated maps and thematic stickers to prompt discussion about park design, use, and meaning. It has been created by the project's research team, in collaboration with an illustrator, to communicate urban research in an accessible and engaging way, particularly for children aged six and above, while supporting wider conversations with families, educators, and communities.

(De)constructing health and wellbeing through data

(De)constructing health and wellbeing is an analytical research project which explores data interdependencies and socio-spatial connections to understand how the physical environment impacts health and wellbeing.

The second year of the project focused on three parks in the London Borough of Haringey. The relationship between parks, health, and wellbeing is often framed primarily through environmental and economic data, while overlooking the subjective and emotional experiences of those who use and value these spaces.

To help identify the multiple factors that influence park use and their potential contribution to health and wellbeing, the research team conducted surveys and interviews with Haringey residents which sought to answer two key questions: What do people value in parks? And what makes someone choose one park over another?

The result of this analysis was highlighted in the LSE British Politics Blog and later inspired the creation of the "Design your park" resource.

Design your park | Sticker pack

The "Design your park" resource includes three maps, capturing a range of landscapes, geographies, and seasonal variations. Although they do not depict real locations, they are inspired by existing parks. Each map will come with stickers which include designed elements, and characteristics that emerged from the second year of the research.

Design your own park | Urban park map showing a cartoon park in a city setting, with a pond and roads surrounding the park. — 1/4 Design your own park | Urban park map

Design your own park | Rural park map showing a cartoon park in a city setting, with a pond and cows in a field near the park.

Design your own park | Seaside park map showing a cartoon park in a seaside setting, with a fountain and a beach near the park.

The stickers that can be used to customise each map

Participants can use the stickers to add features to any of the parks, and blank stickers are included to allow space for creative input. Some sticker features are intentionally left empty or unused – such as a vacant bench, a stationary bicycle, or an unused zip wire – to encourage participants to draw themselves or imagine characters of their choice within the space.

A key aspect of the exercise is exploring how people respond to empty or open spaces within parks: whether they feel comfortable or uncomfortable with them, and if they choose to fill or adapt these spaces using the stickers.

By recognising that individuals and communities perceive and use spaces differently, this approach helps reveal the importance of different features in park value and how diverse factors can shape placemaking. Aiming at highlighting their impact on health and wellbeing outcomes and disparities.

A selection of stickers from the sticker pack

The "Design your park" resource was designed by Vickysworld Illustrations in collaboration with the research team, and is designed to be both playful and analytical, enabling participants to express preferences and values in an accessible way. All materials are intended for use by children and their parents, or in educational contexts to support learning about sustainability, health, and wellbeing while helping to identify changes needed in parks policies and management, and interventions that may contribute to reducing local inequalities.

Overall, these maps and stickers offer a versatile tool for further research, public participation, and policy engagement.

Using this resource

The full pack includes three maps and three sticker sheets containing 27 stickers. Either the entire pack or a single map and sticker sheet can be requested for use. You can find out more and request use of the pack by emailing the project's research lead, Alexandra Gomes

The pack was developed as part of a pilot research project led by the LSE Data Science Institute, with the Ordnance Survey and NHS England, in collaboration with Vickysworld Illustrations – funded by the Ordnance Survey (OS) as part of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement.

The maps and stickers are shared under the following Creative Commons licence:

Design your park project team

Find more details on the research project and full research team here