Urban Parks as Catalysts for Community Development


Urban Parks as Catalysts for Community Development	.
Kathy Madden	Author Info

Abstract

Parks have the potential to transform and enrich our cities. The key is getting urban leaders to think of parks and their surrounding as places for social and cultural exchange, entrepreneurial activities such as markets, for recreational activities for children, teens, adults and seniors, and as settings for art and community events. If we do not broaden the way that we think about our cities, we will have lost a great opportunity for parks to be catalysts for the future revitalization of cities.

Introduction

Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS) is a non-profit organization that is working in partnership with the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund (LWRDF) on an important pilot program entitled the Urban Parks Initiative. PPS directs the Urban Parks Institute as part of this program. The intent of the program is to educate leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors about innovative practices in urban park development. It is designed to promote interdisciplinary and collaborative problem solving and to facilitate sharing of successful strategies among experts and practitioners in the urban park field. The Urban Parks Institute plans, organizes and implements regional workshops for leaders involved in park development, develops and disseminates publications, proceedings and other materials, and provides targeted technical assistance to the grantees of the LWRD Urban Parks Initiative. The Fund's grantees are working on projects in 19 cities across the nation.

The initiative promotes a community-based, user-oriented planning approach to develop parks that are human scaled and which positively impact the surrounding community. However, in order for parks to become places that foster healthy public life and contribute to rebuilding communities, we have found that there is a need to change our approach to park planning. Not only do we need to tap into the strengths of the communities around parks but we also need to make people a more integral part of the process of planning them. In every neighborhood around a park there is a community that consists of associations such as churches, boys and girls clubs, card groups and garden clubs, and many others all of which have thousands of creative and active individuals that could participate in their parks in a more meaningful way. In planning our parks we need to find ways of tapping into the strengths and talents of these existing organizations. Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight, of the Asset Based Community Development Institute in Chicago, have researched and written extensively about this "asset-based" model and where it has been applied successfully all over the country. Jody Kretzmann, who was the keynote speaker at last year's meeting of the Urban Parks Institute, communicated this important message in saying that "no community on the face of the earth has ever been built except on the skills and resources and contributions of the gifts of the people who live there."

Developing a New Vision for Urban Parks

The first question we asked in structuring the activities of the Institute was "How do urban parks have to change to become important community places in addition to functioning as places for recreation?" We know that more and more people are feeling a loss of community and a lack of connection to the changes taking place in their public environments, and it is clear that parks have an important role to play in the discussion. At the same time, many city parks are losing their traditional identity as all-around centers for community interaction. Unfortunately many parks are simply a loose string of recreational facilities, such as ballfields, pools, playgrounds, and community centers, which serve the needs of specific users, but do not function as community places. Even community centers are often lost opportunities. For example, although they have hosts of programs for seniors and teens, they are generally are not designed or programmed to include the park area outside the building. Every park built this way misses an opportunity to capture the hearts of local residents. How much better parks could be if we designed them to combine a variety of different uses, to reinforce a sense of place, and provide comfortable, sociable spaces flexible enough to satisfy all kinds of people.

To get better urban parks we need not only vision and leadership, but also a new definition of what a park is today. This cannot be accomplished by gathering together a few "experts"; it needs to evolve from the ideas of the community.

What makes a successful park

There are two important steps that need to be followed in attempting to create parks that are successful as community places. First is understanding the components. A good place provides a range of things to do - there are a multitude of uses and activities for different age groups and types of people. It should also be easy to get to and well connected to the surrounding community. It should be safe, clean and attractive and there should be places to sit. Most important is sociability, a park should be a place to meet other people - it should be an integral part of community life.

Second is undertaking a process for park planning that grows out of the community. In order to begin this process, it is important to observe how a park is actually used and to measure people's perceptions and concerns along with the community's assets. This is the basis of a community vision for a park. We have found that it is essential to make short term changes in a park, and to experiment and evaluate how the changes affect the use. In short, the only way to evolve a park into a true community place is by turning the traditional design and planning process upside down.

Parks that are catalysts for community development

Today, some cities are beginning to see that parks can be important catalysts in improving urban life. By integrating parks into the cultural lives of neighborhoods, and through public private partnerships added responsibility for maintenance, for developing programs and in some cases, design, has been given to the community, we are seeing a renewal of parks in places some may have thought was impossible.

New York

The Urban Parks Initiative provides many examples of new ways of thinking about parks. In Central Park for example, the Central Park Conservancy is in the process of creating a community center in the recently renovated boathouse in the northern end of the park. In conjunction with the renovation, programs are being developed with the nearby Harlem community to increase both use and stewardship.

Another example is New York City's Union Square Park which has been at different times in history, a hub for hotels, theaters, fashion, and as a gathering place where labor unions, communists, anarchists, and socialists frequently met debated. However the park and the surrounding area became run-down and the park began to be perceived as a place for negative activities. Recently, the park was renovated. Using its historic design, the new park also incorporated a farmer's market and seasonal Christmas market in the parking lot on the north and west ends of the park.

The result is that the park, the market and the surrounding neighborhood have flourished. Retail activity is thriving, and corporate office space and rental apartments are full. The park and market attracts people, provides entrepreneurial opportunities, and gives the community a valuable connection to the farms and land surrounding the city.

San Bernardino

A different type of park was created in San Bernardino, California, where until recently, the heart of the city was a large parking lot in front of City Hall surrounded by streets with fast moving traffic. In an attempt to bring people back to downtown, a central square with a grassy lawn surrounded by a trellis, walkway and seating areas and a bus stop was built. By the addition of angled parking on the streets around the park, traffic was slowed down and the park was made more accessible to the surrounding area.

Unique to the creation of this park was the idea that the plan for the site, and the programming activities would come directly from the community. To accomplish this, the city and the downtown business association put out a call asking non-profit associations interested in using the park to contact them. They received many letters and calls of interest and today a performance tent is located at one end of the square in which weddings, holiday performances, and fashion shows are held. There are several different types of markets around the park's perimeter, and the park is functioning as a successful central square for the people of San Bernardino.

Boston

A final example is also from the Urban Parks Initiative. In Boston, a greenway is being developed in East Boston and along the Neponset River. The plans for the greenway are community driven and the results have been amazing.

Closing

To create great parks and great cities, we have to be willing to develop a new vision for parks, - as economic incubators, as environmental centers, as places to teach ecology and to learn about social interaction. Parks can be places where residents can share a common heritage and learn about each other or can simply be places where people can go and take a stroll, or a break, where a community's public life can be renewed and enhanced. Through vision, community interaction, good design, and leadership, we can create parks that belong to their communities, and work for their communities.

Kathy Madden
Vice President, Project for Public Spaces
Director, Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Urban Parks Institute