Urban Parks: Innovate Or Stagnate

"Massive budget cuts in U.S. cities, combined with a growing focus on urban revitalization and walkable cities, puts urban parks in the spotlight as never before. Effectiveness is the name of the game, and however you look at it, there's no doubt that the most effective parks are the ones that are best used... The problem is that there's an art to successful park design and management -- an art that we seem to be losing. Basic elements -- such as comfort, sociability, access and activities -- seem to have slipped through the cracks as more and more parks fail to meet the mixed and varied needs of their visitors.