Govanhill GreenMap now live

In 2001 I was briefly involved (via the University of Sheffield School of Architecture) in a project relating to the design and promotion of one of the first evolutions of the Sheffield GreenMap. Seven years later, I’ve been honoured to have a small hand in the Govanhill GreenMap, one of a new generation of user-generated Green Maps that uses the Opengreenmap platform.

Quite simply, a green map is an environmentally themed map that uses a standard legend of symbols to plot the locations of a community’s natural, cultural and sustainable resources such as recycling centres, heritage sites, community gardens, toxic waste sites and ethical or social enterprises. They’re particularly useful in urban areas because city dwellers can find it pretty difficult to locate these resources. At the time of writing the half dozen or so volunteers who have contributed to the Green Map have plotted almost fifty sites in our small district of Govanhill. The map is now live and there for you to explore, comment on and contribute to.