7 Lessons in Park Planning from the APA National Conference

The recent American Planning Association's National Planning Conference in Seattle gave planners a chance to share lessons learned in the field.

For Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau, those lessons were many, including what's new in environmental planning, the value of multi-functional urban parks, and the importance of providing open spaces for an aging population.

"This year’s conference has both energized me and challenged me to carefully consider how I plan with the communities served by my department."

Strategies for using streets for recreational purposes also appealed to Lau.

"Streets should be designed with recreation in mind and should not just be used for vehicular circulation.  I thought it was very clever and thought-provoking when one of the presenters asked this question: what if we started to think of the street right-of-way as parkland that happens to have a path for vehicles?  I was glad to learn that a growing number of cities are hosting events like 'Play Streets,' 'Festival Streets,' 'Open Streets,' or 'Summer Streets,' which close streets off to vehicles and open them up for people to play and recreate.”