Liverpool Green Lanes

Liverpool Green Lanes is a proposition to catalyse, connect, green and grow Liverpool, addressing health and economic inequality, improving connectivity and engaging the city’s communities.

Liverpool, United Kingdom

Place Shaping

In many cities, large parts of the built environment are comprised of outdated urban infrastructure that is not future ready. The challenge is to make these existing urban neighbourhoods more liveable, resilient and healthy. Major regeneration projects focus on specific urban districts and neighbourhoods as a key mechanism to deliver urban change. They have the potential to attract inward investment and bring multiple agencies and communities together to deliver transformation at scale. Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) is a great example of this type of transformation. KQ Liverpool continues to bring significant regeneration, attracting investment and global innovation leaders across health, science, culture and technology.

Building on our extensive knowledge of the city and detailed project experience within KQ Liverpool, Okana’s Liverpool Green Lanes proposition explores how the influence of urban regeneration projects like KQ Liverpool can be extended beyond their boundaries. We propose that by defining critical paths across cities we can connect areas of need, interest and potential. These critical paths can amplify and accelerate positive transformation, providing many communities with access to a greener, healthier, more liveable and better connected urban environment.

Two individuals are standing at a table, engaged in writing or signing documents.

More about Place Shaping

Liverpool Green Lanes aims to promote city living, health and wellbeing, cultural and civic life, sustainable and maker retail, transit and gateway, learning and knowledge, urban food and ecology.

Starting with the KQ Liverpool urban framework, backed by state of the art urban analytics from Yeme Tech and the University of Liverpool’s GroundsWell team, the proposition explores the potential of an urban critical path – a ‘Green Lane’ of transformation – connecting Liverpool’s Waterfront to KQ Liverpool, integrating everything in between.

In doing so, Liverpool Green Lanes connects and catalyses urban transformation along and adjacent to the ‘Green Lane’ and into the wider city. It creates active and productive urban greening and green corridors, while focusing on quality of life indices through place innovations. The proposition supports emergent shifts in urban transportation modalities and integrates KQ Liverpool as a catalyst for broader city and urban community renewal. It takes the city’s communities on the journey ensuring they are engaged and able to contribute to a project that reignites the ambitions of the grand urban project.

Liverpool Green Lanes was a centrepiece for the 2023 Healthy City Design Congress held in KQ Liverpool. Alongside an interactive exhibit which generated significant interest and feedback, the proposition was presented to congress and enthusiastically debated in a panel discussion with representatives from the World Health Organisation, University of Liverpool, Liverpool City Council and subject matter experts. The level of interest generated by the proposition throughout the congress was recognised with the award for the Most Innovative Idea.

We continue to engage with a broad range of interested community, business and academic partners to develop the proposition and its potential impacts on Liverpool’s economic, health, wellbeing and mobility. We also continue to engage with the World Health Organisation to explore how Liverpool Green Lanes can become a live test case for their emerging Strategic Guide for Urban Health.