CHESS
Common-space Health, Equity & Social Simulation
Making everyday green spaces work for everyone
The alley behind a row of houses, the pocket park on the corner, the shortcut path between two estates: these small, everyday spaces are easy to overlook, yet they’re where much of neighbourhood life happens. Children play there, neighbours bump into each other, and people decide whether they feel safe walking home.
CHESS is a European research and innovation project exploring what makes these common spaces truly work for the people who use them, and for those who currently don’t. It looks at how design, maintenance, care and participation shape whether a space is healthy, inclusive and welcoming.
The project brings evidence together in several ways:
Learning from existing spaces across Europe to understand what has already been tried
Field missions where research teams observe how spaces are used across seasons and times of day
Pilots in three cities, working directly with residents and local organisations to test real changes and track what happens
Simulation tools that model how a space might be used in future, for example as the climate changes or the population ages
Everything CHESS produces, including data, tools and recommendations, will be shared openly so that cities across Europe can benefit.
A Playful City brings creative placemaking, play and participatory design to CHESS. We focus especially on children, young people, families and other groups who are often left out of conventional planning processes.
Within the project, we:
Make community engagement more welcoming, creative and accessible
Contribute to research on existing common spaces
Support co-creation with residents in the pilot cities
Develop playful ways for people to express what they need from their neighbourhoods
Share our experience through case studies and learning materials for cities
Pilot locations
Dublin, Ireland: Led with Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, the pilot looks at a suburban network of connected green, play and movement spaces, testing how they can work better together.
Zagreb, Croatia: Focused on inner courtyards and other shared spaces within the city’s historic urban blocks.
Leuven, Belgium: Building on the city’s strong track record in citizen participation, neighbourhood initiatives and greener public spaces.
Partners
CHESS brings together 12 partners from six countries, combining expertise in research, urban design, public health, social science and local government:
Th!nk E (Belgium), project coordinator
National Research Council of Italy (Italy)
PosadMaxwan (Netherlands)
iVOX (Belgium)
University College Dublin (Ireland)
Erasmus MC (Netherlands)
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland)
A Playful City (Ireland)
North-West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA) (Croatia)
City of Leuven (Belgium)
Institute for Physical Planning of the City of Zagreb (Croatia)
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council (Ireland)
Find out more: chess.innovation-project.eu
Funded by the European Union under grant agreement No 101307553. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.