Rather than inviting people to spend time in them, public spaces in London are frequently intimidating and inaccessible. Jon Bootland finds that 'quick win' solutions to these problems can be highlighted through a US evaluation tool.

Think, for a moment or two, about public spaces-either in your projects or in your local area. Are they places where people spend time, eat lunch with their workmates and nod hello to the other locals? Or do people stop for a second or so, thinking perhaps subconsciously that it might be okay if only there were somewhere to sit... and then just keep hurrying through? These are questions we should be asking about all our public spaces, because for a space to work, surely the main consideration has to be what people do in it. In some cases, the features actually seem to discourage people from spending time in these areas-for example, high walls that make buildings intimidating and inaccessible, spaces devoid of anything to see, do or sit on, and spikes where one might otherwise be able to perch. Forget anti-car, when did we become anti-people?

We have so many areas which are currently okay, but which could and should be wonderful places to be.

Vibrant public spaces are a vital part of creating great neighbourhoods and must be considered as part of top-down masterplans alongside road-layouts, block plans, architecture, etc. The focus must also be on people who use the space-those who live, work or visit the area. This bottom-up approach ensures not only that people want what's created, but that they'll look after it and help it evolve into a vibrant local asset that reflects the neighbourhood's character.

The Prince's Foundation has been exploring this theme over the last few weeks with some leading US practitioners, including Project for Public Spaces, whose president, Fred Kent, has worked on thousands of public spaces around the world and is currently developing plans for a market on part of the site of the former World Trade Centre. Kent pulled no punches while he was here on what he thought of London's open areas. He wasn't being downbeat. Merely asking why London, one of the world's great cities, has so many areas that do not live up to their potential.

When you ask his key question - "what do people do there?" - it becomes hard not to agree with him. We have so many areas which are currently okay, but which could and should be wonderful places to be: sit, chat, maybe have a coffee or play games. Far from being negative, PPS were convinced that we can transform many of our open spaces in just a few years and that there are some improvements that can be made very cheaply - the trick is being able to see what they are.

To explore tools which show how to deliver these improvements, the Prince's Foundation ran a two-day training course with PPS, which included analysing a number of local sites using the PPS 'place performance evaluation game.' The idea was to get people asking questions that identify specific actions - such as improving access, adding signage or providing facilities for different age groups - that can lead to immediate as well as long-term improvements.

The PPS techniques offer powerful tools that help you see an area through new eyes and identify what needs doing.

Mark Hutton, conservation and urban design team leader at Tower Hamlets council, says what he found most useful on the course were the techniques for assessing an area and getting local people involved. And he already has Arnold Circus - a century-old public garden in Shoreditch, a short walk from Liverpool Street station - in his sights.

"I learnt some more valuable ways to look at what you might do to an area to improve it and how to get the public to assess it for themselves," Hutton says. "Arnold Circus has some fundamental design problems - it is not a safe space and people are nervous entering the park at the moment. However, I'm optimistic we can turn it around. How quickly depends on finance, but we may be able to get some quick wins - perhaps cutting back the undergrowth and putting in some extra lighting."

The PPS techniques offer powerful tools that help you see an area through new eyes and identify what needs doing. The results are as inspiring as they are simple, and show that while some bigger structural changes may be needed, there may be a few straightforward and cheap 'quick wins' that can make an immediate difference.

Jon Bootland is director of regeneration and policy at the Prince's Foundation

For further information contact the Prince's Foundation (www.princes-foundation.org), or Project for Public Spaces (www.pps.org).