Stories of Good Public Spaces: #9 Lying Down
- nuria086
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
With spring just around the corner, perhaps you can already picture yourself on a warm, sunny day—lying on a blanket in a park, stretching out on a patch of sunlit grass. Or maybe it’s a bench that invites you to recline, or a quiet corner where you can pause and let the world pass by. There’s something deeply human about lying down—a moment of surrender to rest, to be at ease, to feel safe enough to let go. However, how many public spaces do you know designed specifically for lying down? Or designed in a way that invites to lie down?
A public space that welcomes lying down is a space that signals comfort, trust, and belonging. It offers not just a bench to stretch out, a grassy area that’s clean and shaded, or a low, sloped surface that naturally invites reclining- these elements make a difference. A good public space offers variety: the choice to rest in the sun or shade, to be part of the social flow or slightly removed from it, to lie down without feeling overly exposed.
There’s also the element of design that subtly dictates who gets to rest and where. Hostile architecture –benches with armrests that prevent reclining, spikes placed on ledges, or uneven surfaces that discourage lingering– is a reminder that not all public spaces are designed for everyone. While this topic deserves its own discussion, what’s important here is to recognize that when we create spaces that invite lying down, we are making a statement. We are saying that people belong and that public space should support them.
In the right setting lying down becomes a form of freedom. It does not always have to be about a grand park with perfect lawns, but every city should have places that let people rest in a way that feels natural. For example, in Wrocław, Poland, a small intervention on stairs leaning towards the water completely transformed the space from a neglected location to a place that invites and makes people feel welcome. And that with just a simple solution that lets people lie down, rest and relax by the water.
This is the last chapter of Stories of Good Public Space, our series explaining the activities behind our Good Public Space model.
The core of Good Public Space is understanding that public space design shapes urban life. We like to believe that by designing public spaces in the right way we can truly shape at least a part of the health and well-being of urban dwellers. While we certainly do not have a say in how individuals' personal lives happen and what takes place behind closed doors, as planners and designers we have the opportunity and responsibility to create public spaces that allow for rest, connection, joy, a feeling of safety, comfort and letting oneself express freely.
The nine activities listed in our model are based on observations in the Dutch context. Those activities may differ in different contexts worldwide, and that’s important since the context is inseparable from making a good plan for public space. As designers and planners we have the responsibility to plan for places that truly support the needs and wishes of communities that inhabit them. By understanding what they’d like to be able to do in a public space we increase the chances that we design for relevant activities to take place in public.
No single public space can meet the need for all activities to take place, and perhaps it shouldn’t. But the more a space can offer the more people it can make happy.
What are the activities taking place in public spaces where you’re from? Do they have a positive impact on the health and well-being of citizens?
