Grad School Reflections: Public Parks, The Key to Livable Communities Book Talk

At the AIA Book Talk at the Center for Architecture in NYC on November 30, 2010, Professor Alex Garvin from Yale discusses his book, Public Parks, The Key to Livable Communities. The book focuses on the important role that public parks play in the daily lives of citizens. To Garvin public parks come in many forms, are constantly changing and are usually manmade. He sites the conventional Central Park and Prospect Park Olmstead models, the greened boulevards in Paris and in San Antonio’s Riverwalk and in traffic islands, beaches as great models, but stresses that there is not a one-size fits all model. He argues that there are six key roles that parks play in urban society: (1) enhancing personal well-being and public health, (2) incubating a civil society, (3) sustaining a livable environment, (4) providing a public realm framework for private development, (5) evolving interaction between people and nature and park stewardship. Parks train citizens to coexist without conflict, lower crime rates, and prevent stormwater run-off pollution. Lastly, for Garvin proper park maintenance is just as important as a convenient location and good design.