Urban Parks
Five Ways to Measure the Need for City Parks
While standardized metrics for determining the number of and place for city parks cannot replace more fine grain analysis, they can be useful tools. Park planner Clement Lau writes about five park-need metrics, including a couple of the newest.
Planning Roundtable: What Makes a Good Urban Park?
Are there too many urban parks and plazas? If not, why do some fail? In this collaborative article, several urban planning gurus from different cities respond to these questions. They provide both shared and unique perspectives.
Pavement Parks: a Better Parklet Alternative
Too often, street-side parklets become little more than semi-private patios for the businesses that sponsor them. Pavement parks, replacing dangerous intersections, may be a more worthwhile option.
Visiting Urban Parks Makes People Healthier...but Wealthier?
Recent studies show that urban parks are healthy in surprising ways in addition to physical and emotional health, writes Jeff Caldwell of Litchfield Landscape Elements.
Improving Mental Health May Be As Easy As a Walk in the Park
A new study offers evidence that walking in a natural setting is more beneficial to mental health than walking in an urban setting.
Maryland Parking Lots Go Underground
For a long time, surface parking lots blanketed Maryland's Montgomery County. Developers and county officials now prioritize mixed-use infill with parking concealed underground.
An In-Depth Look at One of America's Preeminent Landscape Architects
The Atlantic's Eric Jaffe centers on James Corner's latest work in Cleveland's Public Square, and goes to describe his other well-known projects, including the High Line, and transformations of public parks and urban spaces throughout the country.
Proposed Boulder Food Park Faces Zoning Challenges
The proposed Boulder Food Park repurposes a decrepit site into usable space for food truck patrons. Since the site is adjacent to a brick-and-mortar restaurant, a zoning exemption may be required.
Los Angeles Searches for Improvements to the Much-Maligned Pershing Square
A series of public outreach events are being held in Pershing Square to determine how to make the park more engaging. Live music and fewer physical barriers to entry are among the ideas suggested.
Parsing the Urban Landscape
A lot of people think exclusively of plants when they hear the term landscape. Without a common language to effectively describe it, the role landscape plays in the urban realm will remain undervalued.
Big Park, Great City?
The urban landscape has become increasingly important for cities striving to be taken seriously on the world stage. And while creating big parks is an obvious trend, getting the small moves right can be just as important.
The ULI Urban Open Space Award Goes to Klyde Warren Park in Dallas
The ULI has granted its annual award for the best new open space to Klyde Warren Park, a freeway cap park in Dallas.
Opportunities Found for Redesign of Philadelphia's Famed JFK Plaza/LOVE Park
As the redesign for LOVE Park begins, Ashley Hahn reminds us of the park's role in supporting and maintaining civic life in the city of brotherly love.
Skateboard Urbanism on the Rise
More cities around the country are embracing skateparks as a vital part of park design, leading to a new wave of urban design standards tailored for skateboarders.
Neuroscience and Landscape Architecture
Two new studies use EEG and fMRI to pinpoint which elements of urban parks and gardens induce brain activity associated with meditative states.
Athens Plans Massive City Park in Derelict Olympic Footprint
With an ailing economy and soaring unemployment, the city of Athens, Greece is planning on selling 6.2 million square meters to Lamda Development SA.
Kids vs Dogs in Park Design Debate
West Hollywood, California Mayor John D'Amico is leading calls to add more dog-friendly amenities to designs for Phase 2 of the city's civic park.
Infographic Compares How Cities Prioritize Urban Parks
The latest installment of the GOOD Cities Project has produced an infographic that provides a look at the "ever-vital urban park" by comparing the park efforts of cities around the country.
Olmsted Redux
Adrian Benepe was recently announced as the recipient of the 2014 Olmsted Medal. Like it or not, the well-deserved and appropriate recognition is one more in the seemingly endless list of honors for the transformation of New York's urban parks.
Does Beauty Still Matter?
The design of urban landscapes has become dominated by a growing call for them to be ecologically resilient. But isn't it important what they look like?
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
