parks and open spaces

Parks and Open Spaces

James Gesumwa Parmanand Sinha Srijana Shakya

• As a city grows, new places are needed where residents can play, relax, meet their neighbors and enjoy the natural environment .

• Parks and open spaces provide personal, social, environment and economic benefits and are important to our quality of life.

History

• The public realm consisted of unpaved streets, squares, marketplaces or vast tracts of wilderness outside the city

• No parks created for public recreation no public gymnasium and no public libraries

Parks and Open Spaces James Gesumwa, Parmanand Sinha, Srijana Shakya

Frederick Law Olmsted was the first person to give form to an agenda that included public parks, playgrounds, boulevards and parkways, park systems, conservation and suburban subdivisions


Neighborhood Parks

• A neighborhood Park can range in size from 1 to 15 acres.

• Include spaces for passive and active uses.

• Picnic areas, playgrounds, areas for games such as basketball , football, baseball.


Community Parks

• A Community Park can range in size from 16 to 99 acres typically will serve several neighborhoods.

• parking facilities• Passive and active facilities. • Include biking and walking

trails, picnic areas, playgrounds, athletic fields, and court areas.


Special Use Parks

• Special Use Parks are parks which have been designed for a single special purpose.

• Variable in size. • Examples: zoos, arboretums,

plazas, or memorials.


Linear Parks

• These are developed to accommodate walking or bicycle trails.

• Usually, these parks are developed along a natural or utility corridor; often serve the secondary purpose of linking two or more parks together.


Common Open Space

• It is a territory that is jointly used by a group of people.

• It is not a public because those who not hold it common can be excluded. It is not a private either because it has to be shared with others.


Plaza Bonuses

• It is generally intended to improve the quality of contiguous streets and sidewalks and to give space between the buildings and crowded sites.


Natural Parks

• Locations that are virtually free of man-made structures

• Used for passive, low impact activities such as trail walking, wildlife watching, and controlled primitive camping.


NRPA Parks Acreage per 1,000 population

Park Category Standard Park Size NRPA Standard (Acres/1,000 residents)

Neighborhood Parks 1 – 15 Acres 1-2 Acres/1,000 pop.

Community Parks 16 – 99 Acres 5-8 Acres/1,000 pop.

Special Use Parks Variable 3 Acres/1,000 pop.

Linear Parks Variable 5 Acres/1,000 pop.

Nature Parks Variable Standard Set by City


Merits

• There are about four broad categories of the uses of parks and open spaces.1. Aesthetic2. Barrier3. Substitution 4. Safety


Growing Smart

• Open space preservation helps communities grow smart, preventing the higher costs of unplanned development.


Attracting Investment

• Parks and open space create a high quality of life that attracts tax-paying businesses and residents to communities.


Revitalizing Cities

• Urban parks, gardens, and recreational open space stimulate commercial growth and promote inner-city revitalization.


Boosting Tourism

• Open space boosts local economies by attracting tourists and supporting outdoor recreation.


Protecting Farms and Ranches

• Protecting agricultural lands safeguards the future of farming economies and communities.


Safeguarding the Environment

• Open space conservation is often the cheapest way to safeguard drinking water, clean the air, and achieve other environmental goals.


• Anti-social activities seen in the parks like drug abuse, smuggling, robbery and vandalism

• Isolation of activities and lack of connection with other spaces reduce social interactions and thus more vulnerable to drug users and dealers


Issues

Solutions

• Increasing activities that attract different people

• Avoiding isolated activities that create a basis for vulnerability

• Increasing and widening access points

Issues

• Low-income neighborhoods populated by minorities and recent immigrants are especially short of park space.

• From an equity standpoint, there is a strong need to redress this imbalance.


Park-Poor Cities

In Los Angeles, white neighborhoods enjoy 31.8 acres of park space for every 1,000 people, compared with 1.7 acres in African American neighborhoods and 0.6 acres in Latino neighborhoods.


Reducing Crime

• Reduces juvenile delinquency.• Fort Worth, Texas, crime dropped 28

percent within a one-mile radius of community centers where midnight basketball was offered.

• In the areas around five other Fort Worth community centers where the programs were not offered, crime rose an average of 39 percent during the same period.


• Urban policies should give more attention to urban green spaces so that more money can be budgeted for green spaces

• Money may be generated from private financing like business and foundations, giving donations, by public-private partnerships and from tourists and visitors


Finance

THANK YOU

parks and open spaces

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