Does Your City Have Enough Parks?
video description
I grew up in Hong Kong, while it is a concrete jungle with heat island effects, there are many public parks and private own public parks and public spaces. While the number isn't high and most parks are very much a 'museum' where you can't touch anything, there are still much more easily accessible park space in walking distance than many major cities in the US. Sure US cities have are larger area of parks, but they are larger and harder to get to. Many places in Hong Kong while not considered parks, serves as park with tiny greenspace such as public plaza-like sitting area between residential buildings, roof top amenities, and private gardens on top of shopping mall blocks under residential condos. There are enough space even in poorer area with old people for them to get their morning calisthenics workout compared to what's available for similar age and income demographic in the US with more park area.
Date: 2023-01-13
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Comments and reviews: 13
sickofthewest
From what I've seen of parks in various countries, one thing that looks to be a nice idea in theory, but not really in practice, is the provision of playground/exercise equipment for kids, in most places where this is provided. In a tough neighbourhood the gangs just vandalize it, and in a city rated as one of the world's ten most liveable, most such facilities look unused. Smaller public parks seem to not draw many people for some reason, too. There seems to be some optimal size as far as attracting use goes, and that size is quite big. There are parks where the toys and the obstacle course equipment do get used, but it looks like that goes with park popularity, so people seem to prefer to go a bit further away with the kids to some bigger, more popular park, and let them play there. (A childhood like the one I had, where you were sent off to go and play - basically anywhere you like - with instructions to be back before sunset seems to have become a rarity)
One thing that does seem to work quite well in Germany (and I've seen videos of something similar in the UK) is Kleingaerten - small gardens - basically allotments) Someone living in a flat can join one of these societies, and get the use of an allotment, so have probably as much garden as most small houses have. There's some inconvenience in getting and keeping them (if you're scruffy you get kicked out) so what happens is that only the real gardeners get gardens, and those gardens tend to be beautiful. They're also semi-public in many cases. You can walk past them through a fairly small park, and visually the allotments make the park feel bigger. Sometimes they're hidden behind hedges or hoardings, but often the gardens are on display for all to see, so give some visual variety to a walk.
Visually, a cemetery does pretty much the same thing. It creates more green space, more bird trees and bird noise, for instance.
I reckon you could make a relatively small piece of public land go a long way by keeping it down to just a long strip in places, running through places like allotments designed to be part of the visual park-space. So you could have your cake and eat it, having both public and private land that share common purposes, at least in places.
Maybe the way to go with play parks is to design them as essentially private, rather than public spaces, at least in some cases. Like you have a gardening society in which gardeners arrange for there to be pleasant gardening experiences with their member, you could have a play parks club with a collection of parks members can book for their exclusive use for a fixed time. (And let the clubs figure out what rules make sense for this) Instead of installing stuff that just gets rained on in every little park, try to figure out what mothers and children want at the present time, and offer the option of temporary ownership in addition to well provisioned parks where experience shows that the equipment does get used)
I think that especially in these times, where it's possible to have bookings by app, geolocation, and that kind of thing, we've reached a stage where it's become possible to have an additional category of public-private facility (in addition to the purely private ones, and the purely public ones) This could apply to parks as well as to gardens. (There are some private parks in London, for instance, so a parks shared among some landowners is a viable option - and doesn't really deprive anyone else, since smaller parks tend to be underutilized - well it appears so - when public.
With a small parks club you could have barbecue facilities in there, for instance. And you could do things like bring back medieaval walled gardens. There are various ways in which park space can be private or exclusive, and yet still contribute to the public open space, just by looking nice and being on the walk. Some of these are also ways that could be developed to make leasing or owning a small place into something bigger - in practical terms. If your flat has 100 park hours in a nice selection of parks, that might make it almost as good or better than having a detached house with a lawn you have to mow, and neighbours who judge you whenever you get creative.
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From what I've seen of parks in various countries, one thing that looks to be a nice idea in theory, but not really in practice, is the provision of playground/exercise equipment for kids, in most places where this is provided. In a tough neighbourhood the gangs just vandalize it, and in a city rated as one of the world's ten most liveable, most such facilities look unused. Smaller public parks seem to not draw many people for some reason, too. There seems to be some optimal size as far as attracting use goes, and that size is quite big. There are parks where the toys and the obstacle course equipment do get used, but it looks like that goes with park popularity, so people seem to prefer to go a bit further away with the kids to some bigger, more popular park, and let them play there. (A childhood like the one I had, where you were sent off to go and play - basically anywhere you like - with instructions to be back before sunset seems to have become a rarity)
One thing that does seem to work quite well in Germany (and I've seen videos of something similar in the UK) is Kleingaerten - small gardens - basically allotments) Someone living in a flat can join one of these societies, and get the use of an allotment, so have probably as much garden as most small houses have. There's some inconvenience in getting and keeping them (if you're scruffy you get kicked out) so what happens is that only the real gardeners get gardens, and those gardens tend to be beautiful. They're also semi-public in many cases. You can walk past them through a fairly small park, and visually the allotments make the park feel bigger. Sometimes they're hidden behind hedges or hoardings, but often the gardens are on display for all to see, so give some visual variety to a walk.
Visually, a cemetery does pretty much the same thing. It creates more green space, more bird trees and bird noise, for instance.
I reckon you could make a relatively small piece of public land go a long way by keeping it down to just a long strip in places, running through places like allotments designed to be part of the visual park-space. So you could have your cake and eat it, having both public and private land that share common purposes, at least in places.
Maybe the way to go with play parks is to design them as essentially private, rather than public spaces, at least in some cases. Like you have a gardening society in which gardeners arrange for there to be pleasant gardening experiences with their member, you could have a play parks club with a collection of parks members can book for their exclusive use for a fixed time. (And let the clubs figure out what rules make sense for this) Instead of installing stuff that just gets rained on in every little park, try to figure out what mothers and children want at the present time, and offer the option of temporary ownership in addition to well provisioned parks where experience shows that the equipment does get used)
I think that especially in these times, where it's possible to have bookings by app, geolocation, and that kind of thing, we've reached a stage where it's become possible to have an additional category of public-private facility (in addition to the purely private ones, and the purely public ones) This could apply to parks as well as to gardens. (There are some private parks in London, for instance, so a parks shared among some landowners is a viable option - and doesn't really deprive anyone else, since smaller parks tend to be underutilized - well it appears so - when public.
With a small parks club you could have barbecue facilities in there, for instance. And you could do things like bring back medieaval walled gardens. There are various ways in which park space can be private or exclusive, and yet still contribute to the public open space, just by looking nice and being on the walk. Some of these are also ways that could be developed to make leasing or owning a small place into something bigger - in practical terms. If your flat has 100 park hours in a nice selection of parks, that might make it almost as good or better than having a detached house with a lawn you have to mow, and neighbours who judge you whenever you get creative.
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FluffyHaniiBear
Istanbul's population was only 1. 1 million in 1950. From 1950 to 2000s, a lot of people from rural parts of Turkey moved to Istanbul. Authorities didn't care about proper urban planning, and empty areas outside of the city are divided and sold to construction companies rapidly, without leaving much open space.
In 1980, Istanbul's population was 4. 7 million. Migration from rural areas increased in 80s and the population of Istanbul was 7. 3 million in 1990 and 11 million in 2000. In late 1990s, planned suburbs are constructed in the outskirts of the city with a lot of green space, instead of just dividing land and selling it to developers. After 2000s, the city didn't get much sprawl, and migration levels started going down. Population growth kept falling until in 2020, Istanbul actually had population decrease (57k people.
Because the land of Istanbul is now covered by apartments with lots of people living in, it's very hard to create green spaces in those places now, unfortunately.
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Istanbul's population was only 1. 1 million in 1950. From 1950 to 2000s, a lot of people from rural parts of Turkey moved to Istanbul. Authorities didn't care about proper urban planning, and empty areas outside of the city are divided and sold to construction companies rapidly, without leaving much open space.
In 1980, Istanbul's population was 4. 7 million. Migration from rural areas increased in 80s and the population of Istanbul was 7. 3 million in 1990 and 11 million in 2000. In late 1990s, planned suburbs are constructed in the outskirts of the city with a lot of green space, instead of just dividing land and selling it to developers. After 2000s, the city didn't get much sprawl, and migration levels started going down. Population growth kept falling until in 2020, Istanbul actually had population decrease (57k people.
Because the land of Istanbul is now covered by apartments with lots of people living in, it's very hard to create green spaces in those places now, unfortunately.
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Aaron
There are a lot of hidden benefits of parks:
- Less concrete means less runoff pollution/flooding
- Neighborhoods with nice local parks don't need huge yards/offsets for their kids to play in. instead they can share a neighborhood park which is more space efficient.
- The larger parks have long areas without driveways or road crossings. This can make them fantastic for biking. It's so nice when biking not have to watch out for cross traffic.
- Parks unlike buildings can be flooded without serious property damage, so area ideal for waterfronts. Public shoreline also is great for kayak access, swimming, tanning and other water activities
- Some northern cities do a good job of using parks to promote winter activities (skiing/skating/)
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There are a lot of hidden benefits of parks:
- Less concrete means less runoff pollution/flooding
- Neighborhoods with nice local parks don't need huge yards/offsets for their kids to play in. instead they can share a neighborhood park which is more space efficient.
- The larger parks have long areas without driveways or road crossings. This can make them fantastic for biking. It's so nice when biking not have to watch out for cross traffic.
- Parks unlike buildings can be flooded without serious property damage, so area ideal for waterfronts. Public shoreline also is great for kayak access, swimming, tanning and other water activities
- Some northern cities do a good job of using parks to promote winter activities (skiing/skating/)
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amcaff
As an Angeleno, LA definitely needs to improve on park density. LA has some great large parks, (e. g. Griffiths Park as well as various county and state parks in local mountains, but they aren't as accessible or tend to be on the fringes of the city. They serve their purpose, and Griffiths is still a great urban park with lots of amenities and is near to a lot of urban sites, but it's a bit mountainous which makes public transit access difficult. Meanwhile LA is generally not great at serving residents with your small-to-medium sized neighborhood park down the street.
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As an Angeleno, LA definitely needs to improve on park density. LA has some great large parks, (e. g. Griffiths Park as well as various county and state parks in local mountains, but they aren't as accessible or tend to be on the fringes of the city. They serve their purpose, and Griffiths is still a great urban park with lots of amenities and is near to a lot of urban sites, but it's a bit mountainous which makes public transit access difficult. Meanwhile LA is generally not great at serving residents with your small-to-medium sized neighborhood park down the street.
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Sebastian
I'm so glad you highlighted DC because I love the parks there. I'll take the train in from central Maryland sometimes just to bike through Rock Creek Park. A lot of parks like Rock Creek, Archibald Glover, Fort Circle, and Kenilworth are great because they're just preserved forest with trails through. But there are also the Aquatic Gardens, Arboretum, and Canalpath for sightseeing whilst in nature. And there are many local city parks. And of course, the Mall is great for sports and picnics.
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I'm so glad you highlighted DC because I love the parks there. I'll take the train in from central Maryland sometimes just to bike through Rock Creek Park. A lot of parks like Rock Creek, Archibald Glover, Fort Circle, and Kenilworth are great because they're just preserved forest with trails through. But there are also the Aquatic Gardens, Arboretum, and Canalpath for sightseeing whilst in nature. And there are many local city parks. And of course, the Mall is great for sports and picnics.
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ChemicalFrankie
This video could have been much more interesting if it compared different community needs competing one vs the other. Eg need of green spaces vs need of combating sprawl vs need for housing or public transportation. In nyc we have an abandoned train track passing through queens and Brooklyn: convert it to a park? Refurbish it to improve public service across the city? These are the issues, not the obvious point that parks are good and asphalt is not
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This video could have been much more interesting if it compared different community needs competing one vs the other. Eg need of green spaces vs need of combating sprawl vs need for housing or public transportation. In nyc we have an abandoned train track passing through queens and Brooklyn: convert it to a park? Refurbish it to improve public service across the city? These are the issues, not the obvious point that parks are good and asphalt is not
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Anthony
Parks that are just a grass field with no trees or paths and a ballpark are lame. I rather not have those, parks in other parks of the world are so much more welcoming than the North American kind. The length of a park is way more important than the area so people can actually walk or jog or walk their dog in the park. Active recreation should have dedicated facilities instead of being incorporated into parks.
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Parks that are just a grass field with no trees or paths and a ballpark are lame. I rather not have those, parks in other parks of the world are so much more welcoming than the North American kind. The length of a park is way more important than the area so people can actually walk or jog or walk their dog in the park. Active recreation should have dedicated facilities instead of being incorporated into parks.
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Tkosamja
my hometown Osijek Croatia is known as the greenest city in Croatia and has been known as the greenest city in Yugoslavia as well. The city developers decades ago decided to develop parks and currently we have 17 with a total area of 394 000m2 in a city with less than 100 000 people.
In addition its known as a cyclists city and has been so even before all the bike lanes were built in the last 25 years
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my hometown Osijek Croatia is known as the greenest city in Croatia and has been known as the greenest city in Yugoslavia as well. The city developers decades ago decided to develop parks and currently we have 17 with a total area of 394 000m2 in a city with less than 100 000 people.
In addition its known as a cyclists city and has been so even before all the bike lanes were built in the last 25 years
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travel
My city has way too many parks but not enough parks.
Meaning - too much green space that acts as barriers that isn't really use. And not enough parks people want to use. The city I live in has wasted so much space in an effort to keep green wedges it's unbelievable. So much traffic and distance generated in a misguided attempt to eco friendly. Instead we could have had a walkable city but nope.
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My city has way too many parks but not enough parks.
Meaning - too much green space that acts as barriers that isn't really use. And not enough parks people want to use. The city I live in has wasted so much space in an effort to keep green wedges it's unbelievable. So much traffic and distance generated in a misguided attempt to eco friendly. Instead we could have had a walkable city but nope.
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Victor
I wonder how much green space percentage Edmonton has now.
We ha e the river valley and every suburb has a pond and walk paths.
They are trying to turn an underused parking lot on 106/105st &102ave into a park (warehouse park)
But people are pissed and say it will be a homeless camp, that it is a waste of taxpayer money and should be used to fix potholes and build more homeless centers.
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I wonder how much green space percentage Edmonton has now.
We ha e the river valley and every suburb has a pond and walk paths.
They are trying to turn an underused parking lot on 106/105st &102ave into a park (warehouse park)
But people are pissed and say it will be a homeless camp, that it is a waste of taxpayer money and should be used to fix potholes and build more homeless centers.
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Kipkirui
I live in Nairobi, Kenya, and we have too much park. Some of it you can't walk in because of lions and buffalos (I live in Ongata Rongai, right next to the Nairobi National Park) and nighttime is when they come out to play at our doorsteps.
We do have a bunch of nice ones, like Uhuru Park, Michuki Park, and some trails in Karura Forest and Oloolua Forest.
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I live in Nairobi, Kenya, and we have too much park. Some of it you can't walk in because of lions and buffalos (I live in Ongata Rongai, right next to the Nairobi National Park) and nighttime is when they come out to play at our doorsteps.
We do have a bunch of nice ones, like Uhuru Park, Michuki Park, and some trails in Karura Forest and Oloolua Forest.
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Cyrus992
Parks can be good buffer/transition zone away from industry, freeway interchanges, and other less attractive areas.
The issue is that they cannot be as common in dry areas like here in Las Vegas. The harsh truth is that many parks here are actually common HOA area since city and counties (we hardly have compact cities) do not want to pay for them.
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Parks can be good buffer/transition zone away from industry, freeway interchanges, and other less attractive areas.
The issue is that they cannot be as common in dry areas like here in Las Vegas. The harsh truth is that many parks here are actually common HOA area since city and counties (we hardly have compact cities) do not want to pay for them.
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ROBIN_GAMR
Love the video!
Whenever I go on vacation in a big city I always spend half my time in parks, Vienna was beautiful!
However I also believe it s important to consider how the park looks, when I was in Berlin, some parks were monoculture grass fields, which leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the positives of having parks in a city
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Love the video!
Whenever I go on vacation in a big city I always spend half my time in parks, Vienna was beautiful!
However I also believe it s important to consider how the park looks, when I was in Berlin, some parks were monoculture grass fields, which leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the positives of having parks in a city
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