Kathryn Gustafson of the firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol says that urban parks are an antidote to sprawl because they give city dwellers the room to breathe that often drives them to the suburbs.
Gustafson says, "One of the reason people move out to the suburbs is to have some sort of space, some sort of breathing room. The interior spaces of landscape in the city can replace that. They're there to enable healthy living. Urban spaces allow you to take out your children, walk your dog, or exercise. Parks provide a place to just stop and rest for a moment, stop and think about where you're going and what you're doing. Those are the roles of urban space in the city.
I agree with Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia that urban parks can no longer be separated from broader urban revitalization efforts. That's absolutely correct. They are the effort - the central core of that effort."
The American Society of Landscape Architects interviewed Gustafson on a number of subjects, ranging from the idea of a national design policy to the growing role of landscape architects in American cities.
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