Roles and responsibility for maintaining public space

At a governance level, it is the responsibility of local authorities to maintain and deliver improvements to public spaces on the ground. Their role includes developing a strategic approach across their area to establish standards, find efficient and effective ways of spending money and to manage performance.

WoodsTo be most effective they will need to work with a range of partners, including housing associations, who will both advise local government and take on responsibilities for certain activities and areas. Where stewardship organisationsGlossary: are organisations, sometime charitable, that have a specific role to manage community assets into the long-term for the benefit of the local population as a whole are created they may be a key partner for local authorities to work with, and may be an appropriate organisation to take responsibility for such things as maintaining parks or providing recycling services.

Some communities in the future may use new form of infrastructure to collect waste, such as the EnvacGlossary: a proprietary system for underground waste collection system used in Hammarby Sjöstad in Sweden. Such systems do not rely on traditional door-to-door waste collection and local authorities may find stewardship organisationsGlossary: are organisations, sometime charitable, that have a specific role to manage community assets into the long-term for the benefit of the local population as a whole best placed to manage these new forms of infrastructure.