This chapter looks at assets that are used in common by local communities. These include open spaces used for leisure and/or contributing to the amenity of an area. They also include buildings that can host a variety of activities that meet a community's needs. These common assets can be important sources of support to communities, providing them with resources and benefits that they cannot otherwise find, either within their own homes or outside. If a family does not have a garden, then the local park is vital as somewhere to take the children to play. If membership of the private health club is too expensive, classes run at the community centre can support the health of local people. If an elderly single person finds it too expensive to go to a local cafe, then the coffee mornings held at the local church can provide a reason to get out and meet people. While higher-income households can afford to use the facilities that the market provides – at a price – to enhance their quality of life, these assets in the public realm are of vital significance to those who cannot. Similarly, higher-income households can afford to travel to localities where a wider range of services and amenities are available. Lower-income households are more dependent on what is offered by the immediate locality.

As Flint says:

So how can the planning system ensure the local public realm supports the needs of the local community, including the more vulnerable sectors within that community?

The limitations of private provision and management

At one time, the simple answer to ensuring that the public realm offered a range of communal facilities was direct provision by the public sector, often the local authority. This would extend both to services such as leisure services – the swimming pool, the bowling green, the tennis courts – as well as the provision and management of public spaces, both parks and urban squares and other spaces in the public realm.