On behalf of the Central Park Conservancy, Project for Public Spaces, and City of New York/Parks & Recreation, welcome to the upcoming conference "Great Parks/Great Cities: Celebrating 150 Years of Central Park." More than 450 representatives from over 110 cities and 14 countries will attend. We hope you will also be able to join us in New York City this June.

Great parks are the key to great cities - today, the success of both lies in the ability to work with local and national partners around common goals: healthy citizens, strong economies, and vibrant, livable neighborhoods.

In June 2003, New York City will host Great Parks/Great Cities: Celebrating 150 Years of Central Park, an international conference for anyone who cares about parks and their role in making cities more livable. Central Park's immense achievements and influential history will serve as a starting point for exchanging vital lessons throughout the conference.

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This eighth parks conference will convene people from around the world to explore the past, present and future of great parks. Most important, participants will bring home tools, techniques and the collective know-how from 100 cities to boost their efforts at home.

The 150th Anniversary of Central Park comes at an opportune moment. A hundred and fifty years ago, the mere idea of Central Park was derided as a boondoggle. Through the civic leadership of William Cullen Bryant and Andrew Jackson Downing, and Olmsted and Vaux's holistic vision, Central Park became one of the most renowned urban parks in the world. Central Park inspired the creation of hundreds, if not thousands, of other parks around the turn of the 20th century. Today, parks are again rising to the forefront of a movement to build livable cities.

• Hear from parks departments around the world, conservancies and friends groups who are tackling the same challenges you face at home. Join leaders and innovators to discuss how to work together on critical issues parks and cities face today.


• Explore the role of parks in revitalizing downtowns and neighborhoods and learn how to argue on behalf of your city's parks with respect to health, livability and economy.


• Spend a day with the Central Park Conservancy and learn about the management philosophy and cutting edge practices that have made it the most sophisticated park conservancy in the United States. Central Park's dramatic turn-around, which emerged from New York's last major fiscal crisis, offers lessons for parks around the world.


• Meet your peers from other cities in New York's most charming and challenged parks, in workshops, tours, picnics, and receptions.

A team approach – This conference is a forum to meet with a variety of parks partners and prospective partners. We strongly encourage you to organize a team of three or more people who are key to parks and park projects in your city, including the public sector, non-profit sector, design professionals, and the community.