Great Parks/Great Cities Award Winners

August 1, 2001 - Yesterday the Urban Parks Institute at Project for Public Spaces recognized three parks, two park organizations, and a mayor for their role in revitalizing North American cities through parks and green space. The inaugural Great Parks/Great Cities Awards, to be presented annually, were announced in New York during the closing day of the Institute's sixth annual conference on urban parks, Great Parks/Great Cities. Award winners received certificates - as well as a pair of moveable "cafe" chairs, endowed with a brass plaque, suitable for use in any great public place.

Great Park Place Award - for a major park or square in North America that that has added significantly to the social, economic and environmental health and well-being of that city.

Winner: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, Oregon
This place was selected primarily because it not only expands the notion of what a "park" is (there is not a blade of grass here), but also because it represents the commitment of the City of Portland to take land in the city center to create, with community input, a major gathering place.

Great Community Place Award - for a smaller park that, although not necessarily well-known nationally, has become a nucleus of social activity and revitalization in its community or neighborhood.
Winner: Dufferin Grove Park, Toronto, ON
Dufferin Grove Park represents a true community effort in the best sense. It was "built" from a neglected, under-used park solely by local residents, following in the strong tradition of Jane Jacobs, as well as Jody Kretzman and John McKnight, who view a community's assets as its greatest strength.

Catalyst Award for Urban Park Leadership - for a person or organization that has successfully evolved a park or other public space to meet the needs of today's users, by involving the community, building stewardship and making a park the setting for diverse community activities.
Winners: Mayor Richard Daley, City of Chicago
and
The Philadelphia Horticultural Society's Philadelphia Green program, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Our Awards Committee felt strongly that the Catalyst award must go to both a public-sector representative and a nonprofit organization. Mayor Daley has made an incredible commitment to improving all sorts of parks and open spaces throughout Chicago in a way that no other mayor has. And Philadelphia Green has evolved from a community organization based around tree-planting into one that has spread its knowledge, experience, and resources to countless people through its training programs and other activities.

Holly Whyte Overall Achievement Award
Winners: Prospect Park and Prospect Park Alliance, Brooklyn, New York
We considered the former as a winner for the Great Park Place Award and the latter for the Catalyst Award - and so we created a new category to honor both aspects. Prospect Park and the Alliance set the standard for a special Award that will be presented only when organizations, people and places come together in such an amazing way.

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