Haig Park in Braddon is probably the last place you'd let your kids run free in, but for one day in October it will become abuzz with kids, colour and activities.
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The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), in partnership with the ACT Government, will be holding Kidscape on October 29 – a series of 14 workshops to get people re-looking at the space and how it's used.
AILA CEO Shahana Mckenzie said that while the Haig Park, "is a bit spooky, it's got such massive potential".
"We've got an urban forest which is right at the edge of the city that is effectively the largest green space for all of these major residential redevelopments that are taking place in Braddon and the whole corridor," she said.
"With the development that's taking place, there's going to be much larger numbers of people living here and they have this fantastic space running the whole length of this corridor which is not used. We want the community to start looking at Haig Park differently … [and at] what sort of things do they need to do for the community to make this a space that they want to be in."
Workshops on mountain biking, parkour, clay painting, Lego city building and city planning for kids will fill the park from 10am - 4pm. Workshops are free, but kids must be registered at aila.org.au/kidscape.
There will also be 200 deck chairs and coffee and ice cream carts for anyone just wanting to enjoy the park.
The event is part of larger festival Not In My Backyard, with events running October 22-30.
"The whole purpose of the festival really is to be getting people thinking about the outside environment, getting governments thinking about investing in open space, making sure that we're creating cities that are resilient and liveable that are going to be able to tackle the challenges of the future," Mckenzie said.
Also in their targets during the festival is another prominent yet under-utilised space – Garema Place.
Over the 10-day festival, the central space will be transformed for a pop-up experiment looking at how the central space could be used.
Timelapse cameras have been recording Garema Place, looking at how people currently use the area. The space will be given a temporary facelift with colourful painted pavement, moveable chairs, a snack cart and pop-up outdoor cinema.
The additions will then be removed, and the final camera footage will be used to shape future thinking about how the space could be used.
