Old Parking Lot in Montreal by Benson Kua
Last week, we reimagined the world as half natural habitat through E.O Wilson’s Half-Earth project. Instead of keeping natural habitats separate from humans, we imagined how we could incorporate it into our daily lives and homes and work. Back in August, we talked about the public spaces of your place, or where people gather. Usually, this includes parks and other common areas, as well as public festivals.
This week, we’ll combine the two to reimagine public spaces, including overlooked or abandoned ones. I learned about the inspiring examples I’ll share below from the book, From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins, which I’ll refer to again next week.
National Park Cities
National Parks were initially established as a way of preserving wilderness or places set apart from human influence. They are good for animals, including humans. However, these parks, as wonderful as they are, aren’t accessible to everyone and, even if you are lucky enough to visit one, it’s probably not something you can do very often.
How could we bring the feeling of being in a National Park to the places where we live every day, which for most people is in a city? This is the question that was posed by Daniel Raven-Ellison, who lives in London, England. He wondered why London couldn’t be a National Park City.
It may seem like an oxymoron but Raven-Ellison made it happen. London was declared a National Park City in July 2019. This is not just a proposal to create natural habitats. It’s about getting people outdoors and moving around together. They involve artists and poets and musicians into the mix.
‘We want more bird song, ultimate frisbee, hill-rolling, tree climbing, cycling, hedgehogs, volunteering, sharing, outdoor play, kayaking, clean air, otters, greener streets, outdoor learning, ball games, outdoor art and hilltop dancing in the city. Why not?’
No matter where you live, you can extrapolate this idea to other possibilities. Hopkins considers other questions, like ‘What if your school were a national park?’ or ‘What if you turned your paved front yard into a wildflower meadow?’
Park(ing) Day
In 2005 in downtown San Francisco, an art collective named Rebar took over a metered parking space and created a pocket park for two hours. In response, the City of San Francisco asked the group to create the city’s first “parklet.” By 2020, there were 70 in the city. This article explains the origin of this movement.
Now, there is an annual Park(ing) Day, where people all over the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces. They are advocating for safe, green streets for everyone.
When the pandemic hit, there was suddenly a need for more public, outdoor spaces and private, outdoor dining spaces suddenly proliferated. In some cities, even roads were closed off to traffic to create more pedestrian space. On a recent trip to Banff, Alberta we were thrilled to see the Main Street and a cross street closed to traffic and an abundance of outdoor dining spots.
People seemed to like it, so I’m sure this trend will continue. However, there needs to be a balance between public and private options. For those eating takeout or bringing their own food, or just needing to sit for a few minutes, comfortable public pocket parks should also be available. And, not just in the wealthier areas of town. Imagine the public health benefits.
Better Block
Jason Roberts is a force who started the Better Block concept in his own suburban Texas community. It has now become a nonprofit whose goal is to educate, equip, and empower communities to reshape and reactivate their built environments to create healthy and vibrant neighborhoods.
Watch this great, short video about a project in South Dallas called the MLK Food Park, which created a gathering space for four weeks for people of all ages on an empty, unused, concrete space. What I like about it is that it’s not a form of gentrification. Instead, they talked to residents in advance to find out what they wanted and needed and then built that.
Projects like this remind me that it takes imagination and “if you build it, they will come.” Like the Park(ing) Day project, what was done as a one-time radical act became something permanent, adopted by city leaders.
Practice
What do these examples spark in you? Have there been imaginative repurposing of overlooked spaces in your place?
How and where is your place like a National Park? How could it be?
How can you reimagine existing public spaces to enhance culture and impact public health? Where I live, a local arts organization converted the flat rooftop of their building into an outdoor movie theater in the summer. Restaurants are bringing other chefs in to introduce pop-up menus. Volunteers created a pollinator garden along a creek.