Can Temporary Use of Urban Spaces Improve Urban Health and Well-being?

Contemporary cities are increasingly shaped by non-permanent spatial interventions—such as pop-up markets, green open spaces, mobile clinics, art installations, and event-based activities that offer flexible responses to evolving urban demands. These temporary spaces are frequently recognized for their adaptability and immediacy. At the same time, urban health and mental well-being have emerged as central concerns in planning, design, health and governance. Yet, the intersections between temporariness and urban health remain under-theorized and insufficiently explored.

This seminar, organised by GCHU Visiting Global Research Associate Dr Huiming Liu, invites open, interdisciplinary dialogue on the potential and limitations of temporary use of urban spaces in contributing to health outcomes and shaping users’ perceptual and emotional experiences. Rather than seeking definitive conclusions, the event aims to uncover shared conceptual frameworks, latent contradictions, and methodological opportunities for examining the spatial-temporal dimensions of health. Through cross-field exchange, the seminar seeks to identify both promising intersections and persistent gaps between temporary spatial practices and urban health agenda.

Confirmed Speakers:

1. Juliet Carpenter, Director of research, Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation, University of Oxford
2. Georgia Butina Watson, Professor in Urban Design, Oxford Brookes University
3. Ali Madanipour, Professor in Urban Design, University of Newcastle
4. Fei Chen, Reader in Architecture and Urban Design, University of Liverpool
5. Filipa Matos Wunderlich, Associate Professor in Urban Design, University College London
6. Avar Almukhtar, Senior Lecturer in Urban Design, Oxford Brookes University
7. Sheila Isabel Irigoyen Zozaya, Research Practitioner at Oxfordshire County Council & Lecturer in Planning and Urban Design, Oxford Brookes University

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Open to: Members of Kellogg College, the public,