Table of Contents

Part 1: Policy Issues: What are the Current Challenges in Planning for Inclusive Access? 1. Public Spaces for a Changing Public Life 2. 'The Health of the People is the Highest Law': Public Health, Public Policy and Green Space 3. Playful Nature: What Makes the Difference Between Some People Going Outside and Others Not? Part 2: The Nature of Exclusion: What is the Experience of Exclusion in Different Contexts? 4. Culture, Heritage and Access to Open Spaces 5. Landscape Perception as a Reflection of Quality of Life and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas: What Does it Mean in an Expanded Europe? 6. Mapping Youth Spaces in the Public Realm: Identity, Space and Social Exclusion Part 3: Design Issues: Where are the Design Challenges and What Does Inclusive Design Mean in Practice? 7. What Makes a Park Inclusive and Universally Designed?: A Multi-Method Approach 8. 'You Just Follow the Signs': Understanding Visitor Wayfinding Problems in the Countryside 9. Developing Evidence-Based Design: Environmental Interventions for Healthy Development of Young Children in the Outdoors 10. Healing Gardens for People Living with Alzheimer’s: Challenges to Creating an Evidence Base for Treatment Outcomes Part 4: Research Issues: Where are the Research Challenges and Which Theories and Methods Offer Most Promise? 11. Measuring the Quality of the Outdoor Environment Relevant to Older People’s Lives 12. Three Steps to Understanding Restorative Environments as Health Resources 13. On Quality of life, Analysis and Evidence Based Belief

About the Author

Catharine Ward Thompson is Research Professor of Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art. She is Director of OPENspace based at Edinburgh College of Art and Heriot-Watt University. Her award-winning research on historic urban parks and contemporary needs has led to projects exploring children's and young people's landscapes, the importance of outdoor access for older people and salutogenic environments for all. Penny Travlou is Research Fellow at OPENspace and Lecturer in Cultural Geography and Visual Culture at the Centre for Visual and Cultural Studies at Edinburgh College of Art. Her work includes, among other themes, research on young people's perceptions and use of public open space in Edinburgh, supported by the Carnegie Trust and the British Academy, as well as broader explorations of young people's engagement with outdoor places.