by Will Gleason, AICP, LEED AP and Jitka Dekojova, ASLA, SITES AP

This article first appeared on the Dekker Perich Sabatini blog, dpsdesign.org

Now more than ever, public spaces like parks and plazas provide a valuable resource for urban communities and local economies. The global pandemic underlined the integral role public space plays in the collective well-being of a city and its inhabitants. It also highlighted the problematic connection between public space and social divides. Landscape architects, urban planners, and community leaders are beginning to reexamine public spaces to ensure equitable access.

Urban parks, as green spaces, have positive economic and environmental impacts on surrounding neighborhoods by increasing property values, mitigating heat island effects, and alleviating stormwater runoff. Public spaces offer opportunities for shared experience, safe social interaction, and personal respite. They serve as much needed hubs of civic engagement, accommodating an array of experiences that support and strengthen surrounding communities.

Despite the proven benefit of open, green spaces and places, The Trust for Public Land reports that the share of city land devoted to parks and recreation in the U.S. ranges from 12% in high density cities to an average of 8% in lower density cities 1. While Albuquerque, New Mexico boasts one of the highest percentages of area devoted to parks (23%), opportunities to leverage the potential of existing public spaces are often overlooked. As these older spaces shrink, are built over, or fall into disrepair, land values and costs continue to rise, making it more challenging to re-invest in existing park spaces.

Most municipalities have minimum standards for parks and open spaces that are required for new development - typically as a percentage of the overall acreage of a new subdivision or community. But maintaining and updating parks within the existing urban fabric is a challenge due to shrinking budgets, aging facilities, and general competition for public funds. It also points to a larger obstacle: the lack of “ownership” in certain parks that are perceived as being dangerous, dilapidated, or lack certain amenities.

How can we make better use of existing public spaces to satisfy emerging needs and demand while simultaneously ensuring equitable access across all socio-demographics? A sense of ownership is a good place to start.

Community Driven Partnerships

Rehabilitating public space is an opportunity for local government, business, and community partners to work together in reimagining the outdated civic spaces of a city while building community ownership in the process. Community driven partnerships ensure a project’s long-term success while building community capacity through collaboration and networking.

A community partnership transformed Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza from a large expanse of empty, paved space into an activity hub and downtown destination. Civic Plaza was created in 1974 to host large-scale outdoor events in downtown Albuquerque. It was designed for a capacity of 20,000 people and was, at that time, the largest public space in the center of the city. Like many public plazas designed in the 70’s, it worked well for the infrequent large-scale concerts and other gatherings - but on a day-to-day basis, it was deserted. It had little to no shade, contained vast expanses of paving, dated landscape, and no scale transition to make people feel comfortable in the space. By the early 2000’s, Civic Plaza had fallen into general disrepair and needed an extreme makeover.

When the City of Albuquerque received a grant from Southwest Airlines to modernize its plaza, they collaborated with Project for Public Spaces, the Downtown ABQ MainStreet Initiative, the Albuquerque Convention Center, local residents, artists, and students from the University of New Mexico. These grassroots community-driven efforts set the stage for a major renovation led by the city leaders.

An example of momentum vs perfection, the various stakeholders worked together to identify what they wanted the new space to contain without getting too attached to specific features. Architecture and design firm, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini (DPS), worked with the city to further articulate that vision. The design, done in collaboration with the community partnerships, created spaces of varying scales including space for spontaneous play and areas for more structured, planned entertainment. The new design also includes an interactive water feature, a new playground, a stage, and a video wall complete with shade structures.

After the renovation, Civic Plaza quickly filled the void for a family-friendly public space for play. The area was surrounded by multi-family housing but had been essentially a ‘playground desert’. Now, visitors gather at the improved Civic Plaza for community celebrations, art and food markets, movie nights, performances, political marches, and more. The plaza's new amenities and programming improve the area’s livability and contribute downtown Albuquerque’s economic health.

The power of community driven partnerships, many times led by neighborhood leaders, can blend community values, government subsidies, and private investment to create jobs and secure funding. By involving local communities in the rehabilitation process, a sense of ownership ensures that the places will be well used, loved, and cared for.

Multifunctional Public Spaces

Urban parks are increasingly being asked to provide more functions than “greenery.” They also need to manage stormwater, accommodate unhoused populations, and function as informal gathering spaces even while their operational budgets shrink. Designing parks and green spaces to perform multiple functions reduces overall cost and maximizes the value of a community’s open space. To address today’s complex urban issues our public spaces and urban infrastructure must solve more than one issue at a time.

Quality Public Spaces Elevate Our Communities

Resilient and sustainable cities of the future value creativity, innovation, collaboration, flexibility, and a commitment to well-being and health. Engaging community driven partnerships and designing multifunctional public spaces support cities to meet a growing demand for quality public space.

References

1 - 2020 City Park Facts. The Trust for Public Land. https://www.tpl.org/2020-city-park-facts

About the Authors

Will Gleason, AICP, LEED AP

As Principal in Charge of Planning at DPS, Will focuses on large scale planning, from master plans to corridor studies to zoning. He takes a range of projects through city approval processes, including rezoning requests, large-scale land use plans, and individual project entitlements. With more than 20 years of experience, Will is a seasoned project manager adept at completing complex projects.

Jitka Dekojova, ASLA, SITES AP

Trained as a landscape architect and an environmental planner, Jitka Dekojova balances both aesthetics and ecology in landscape design. While emphasizing adaptive reuse, urban food production, and the use of grey water systems in landscapes, Jitka also takes into account the ephemeral phenomenological aspects of the urban environment: the need for visually pleasing elements and details, the joy of unexpected discovery in everyday urbanism, and the vibrancy a diverse mix of people bring to urban spaces.

The Promise of Quality Public Space