Design & Planning

What all is involved in creating a vision for a park's future - and seeing it through to implementation? Learn more with the features, guidelines and case studies in this section.

True community planning requires much more than passing a plan around at a few meetings to gain (or gauge) support. This section shows how to get the community involved in the planning process from the outset - ensuring that a park reflects the needs and desires of those who use it.

Recent trends show a strong new focus on parks as public places that enhance almost everything about their communities. At the same time, interest grows in parks that have been designed as aesthetic objects. Which represents the future?

PPS President Fred Kent frames the debate on contemporary park design and landscape architecture.

In the pursuit of great parks, here are six places with much to teach.

Observing the world's best parks is inspiring, but learning from the missed opportunities of underperforming parks can be more helpful in creating great public spaces.

Kathy Madden and Fred Kent of Project for Public Spaces explain how parks can play new roles as catalysts for both community and development, enriching cities in the process.

Transforming public spaces into true community places in 11 easy (and not-so-easy) steps. Adapted from Project for Public Spaces' How to Turn a Place Around.

An Urban Parks Institute article covering the four cornerstones of a good place: uses & activities, access & linkage, comfort & image - and perhaps most important - sociability.

Ellen Ruppel Shell argues that children's imaginations are more important than play equipment, and covers design trends such as the reintroducing of nature into play spaces. From Smithsonian Magazine

Extensive coverage on design and its influence on safety, including layout, "active edges," visibility, amenities and their coordination, and more. From Toronto Parks & Recreation's Planning, Designing and Maintaining Safer Parks.

A summary of factors involved in an integrated strategy to create safer parks, including design, access, user involvement and more. From Toronto Parks & Recreation's Planning, Designing and Maintaining Safer Parks.

A discussion on the state of play in the U.S., with Roger Hart and Selim Iltus of Children's Environments Research Group at City University of New York (CUNY).

Lessons in evaluating parks, observation, and making short and long-term recommendations.

Filmmaker Austin Allen looks at park design and park activities from the point of view of African-Americans.

The Rainier Community Center in Southeast Seattle bustles with programs, classes, counseling and games for all ages, from senior pickleball players to Internet web page designers.

A design process that gathered input from schools and in-kind donations from businesses and organizations turned a children's play area, and the environmental restoration project surrounding it, into a backyard, a schoolyard and a science classroom.

A New York City couple uses its deep roots in a community to cross ethnic divides and restore a drug haven into a flourishing and diverse gathering place.

A public square in downtown Ossining, New York, was created out of the momentum around a farmer's market - and helped change people's perceptions about downtown. A Success Story from the Urban Parks Institute.

How a park helped this once-faded industrial town become one of the most talked-about cities in the Southeast. A Success Story from the Urban Parks Institute.

With locally-inspired activities that fly in the face of traditional park programs, from bread-baking to puppet shows, Toronto residents created a community place out of a park neglected by locals and city officials alike.

An annotated bibliography (of print resources) on environmental design and security. Annotated and posted by Sean Michael of Washington State University.

This initiative from the Centers for Disease Control links neighborhood design with public health, promoting the development and use of close-to-home parks and many other planning changes to encourage physical activity. Includes a two-page downloadable information sheet.

A discussion of various city river reclamation projects in the U.S., from the Cityscape Institute.

A useful guide for administrators and planners, this twenty-seven-page booklet includes descriptions, color photos, and drawings of ten skateboard parks in British Columbia. Also included is a chart showing costs, location, construction materials, years in operation, maintenance requirements, and more.

Some helpful hints

A Success Story from the Urban Parks Institute.

If the majority of America's parks aren't going to stagnate, they're going to need to learn from those parks that are getting it right.