Rob Cowan shows how the liveability of our cities is contingent on all those
responsible for designing and managing our cities working with the landscape rather than against it.
Front gardens help to make towns and cities worth living in. They can make walking a pleasure,
promote sociability, contribute to biodiversity, reduce the danger of flooding and make streets safer.
But too many are neglected, contributing nothing to the quality of the place. Every year thousands of
front gardens are paved over. How can this be avoided? Where there is damage,
how can these vital spaces be improved?