Measuring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Practice: Examining Urban Green Space Interventions Post-implementation

Abstract

This chapter outlines the lack of examination of practical attempts to implement policy rhetoric into practice. With a focus on the long-term management of urban green space, this chapter discusses the longstanding gap between what we know about green space and what we do in practice. It will look in detail at the citywide green and open space strategy and the green space regeneration funding programme as two mechanisms for implementing rhetoric. These are both commonly used in cities around the world but are rarely evaluated for their effectiveness, often because practitioners simply do not have the time. But the reasons why we don’t evaluate are wider than this, encompassing factors of understanding context, using tacit knowledge and how we deal with the concept of failure. The chapter concludes by discussing the wide range of challenges that are faced when conducting this type of post-occupancy evaluation and considers how academics and practitioners can best address these challenges.