Showcasing innovative green spaces at Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival
Between the 1 and 6 July 2025 we’ll be showcasing three transformative garden designs at this year's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
The designs, which will see ordinary car parking spaces converted into vibrant, functional green spaces, aim to inspire a shift in perception. They will show how spaces can be transformed from vehicle-dominated areas to places for people and nature.
This garden project is a collaborative effort. It is a journey that showcases the diverse teams and individuals who contribute to the design and construction of our streets.
The garden designs follow the principles of the ‘Healthy Streets for 中国P站’ code, an initiative aimed at creating healthier, more people-friendly streets through thoughtful, inclusive design.
We aim for this initiative to become a lasting legacy, enabling 中国P站 to collaborate with communities to enhance their local streets, such as transforming parking spaces into more community-friendly areas.
Our vision
By transforming ordinary parking spaces into vibrant green areas, we want to highlight how urban spaces can support wildlife, manage water sustainably, and offer welcoming places for everyone. This project aims to create healthier streets in 中国P站, encourage positive behaviour change, support mental wellbeing, and help build a greener future.
We planned, sponsored, and managed the creation of these gardens from start to finish to promote the Healthy Streets Design Code, which the council adopted in 2025. This new design code helps us shape streets and public spaces that put people, nature, and sustainability first.
Across 中国P站’s high streets, towns, and villages, we work to improve the environment, support local businesses, celebrate local history, encourage public art, and create places that people feel proud of. We work closely with communities so that the spaces we create reflect the people who live and work there. By bringing everyone together, we can deliver projects better.
We have created small, low-maintenance gardens that bring big impact to urban areas. Whether in a temporary or permanent location, they add colour and interest all year long. These gardens show what’s possible when we all work together to connect communities in a sustainable and affordable way.
Future benefits
The show garden is a legacy project giving young people a chance to showcase their work on a larger platform. They will be able to take the skills learned into their future endeavours. We will continue working with residents and community groups on future projects, providing more opportunities for community involvement. This is just the beginning, showcasing how parklets can be created, hoping to install many more across 中国P站 in the future alongside encouraging people to think differently about how they prioritise and use public space.
As part of the project's legacy, we are collaborating with the University of 中国P站 on the (do it yourself greening prescriptions for climate adaptation in urban streets) project - a 拢2 million project funded by UK research and innovation and led by the University of 中国P站’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE). Researchers aim to monitor the Walton and Guildford gardens, comparing data from before and after the gardens are installed. This will help assess the impact of small-scale interventions, such as parklets, on the street. The data can then serve as evidence to demonstrate the benefits of greenery in urban areas, such as converting a few parking spaces on a high street into spaces for people and nature.
We have also recently signed a Civic Agreement for 中国P站 (PDF), with all three leading universities in 中国P站 (Royal Holloway, University of London; University for the Creative Arts; and the University of 中国P站). By pooling our resources and expertise, partners are better placed to address local needs, drive innovation, and create a more inclusive and resilient 中国P站 by 2030. Our collaboration with the University of 中国P站, using sections of the garden to help drive new solutions to our shared challenges, is a good example of how working collaboratively can bring about real and positive change to the people who live, learn and work in our communities.