Pocket parks in city centres is the right approach to planning - Yorkshire Post Letters

It is encouraging to read in the Yorkshire Post that forward thinking chief executive officers of councils like Kingston upon Hull and Bradford are requesting that developers of large shopping malls, with up market apartments in city centres, incorporate ''pocket Parks'' which helps to clean up the air in these new areas.

This is great news, as going forward with climate change, people will be able to sit outside more often and enjoy alfresco dining.

This is in contrast to new shopping developments in city centres, built 50 to 60 years ago in the 1960s and 1970s, when town and city developments consisted of boring mono concrete buildings, with shops beneath flats with a few street trees planted to make some attempt at softening the 'concrete jungle landscape'.

The sad thing is that the buildings that were demolished to make way for these monstrosity developments, which were constructed by Victorian builders, had architectural detail and character, which the newer buildings were lacking and many city developments built during these decades won architect awards from the town planners.

The good news is that these are gradually being demolished and replaced by more thoughtful environmentally sustainable buildings, which enhance town and city centres, due to the choice of building materials like bricks and wood rather than concrete.