See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/250231365

Defining the Sustainable Park: A Fifth Model for Urban Parks

Article in Landscape Journal · January 2004

DOI: 10.3368/lj.23.2.102

CITATIONS READS

186 11,822

2 authors, including:

Galen Cranz
University of California, Berkeley
30 PUBLICATIONS 853 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Galen Cranz on 07 September 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 102

Defining the Sustainable Park: A Fifth Model

for Urban Parks
Galen Cranz and Michael Boland

Galen Cranz has a Masters and PhD Abstract: How can parks contribute to the overarching project of helping cities become
in sociology from University of more ecologically sustainable? The history of urban parks in America reveals more
Chicago, where she specialized in the concern with social problems than with ecological sustainability. Four types of city parks
“social use of space.” Since then have been identified—the Pleasure Ground, the Reform Park, the Recreation Facility,
she has taught architecture from and the Open Space System—and each of them respond to social issues, not ecological
a social and cultural point of view ones. Yet today, ecological problems are becoming one of our biggest social concerns,
at Princeton University and the so a new urban park type focused on social solutions to ecological problems would be
University of California at Berkeley. consistent with this pattern. Using the same social and physical criteria that described the
The author of The Politics of Park previous four models, Part I describes a fifth model, the Sustainable Park, which began to
Design (1982), she became interested emerge in the late 1990s. Part II postulates three general attributes of this new kind of
in the problems of sustainable park: (1) self-sufficiency in regard to material resources and maintenance, (2) solving
development in 1991 as a reviewer larger urban problems outside of park boundaries, and (3) creating new standards for
for the Riverside South Planning aesthetics and landscape management in parks and other urban landscapes. It also
Development Corp. in Manhattan. explores policy implications of these attributes regarding park design and management,
Other research interests include body- the practice of landscape architecture, citizen participation, and ecological education.
conscious design and the sociology of
taste in interior design.
Michael Boland, both a practicing
professional and an academic, seeks
to integrate human and ecological
systems in public open space.
Currently a doctoral student in
Environmental Planning at the
University of California at Berkeley,
he has Masters degrees in Landscape
Architecture and in City and Regional
Planning, and an AB in Architecture.

lems are now conflated, a new Space System (1965–?). This typol-
I n the past, citizens saw
parks as an antidote to
cities, which they perceived as stress-
urban park type that focuses on solu-
tions to ecological problems and
expresses new ideas about nature
ogy includes both the shifting social
purposes that parks served and
the corresponding variations in
ful, dangerous, and unhealthy places can build upon the traditional social designed form. Each park type
to live. Once a contradiction in genesis of urban parks in the United evolved to address what were consid-
terms, the sustainable city is now an States to help improve the quality of ered to be pressing urban social
intellectually and socially recognized life in American cities. problems at that time. Table 1 sum-
goal. Within this framework, we now marizes the social goals, social
ask what contribution parks can actors, and formal characteristics for
make to the project of making cities Part I: A New Type Of Park? each of the four types. The Pleasure
more ecologically balanced and sus- Ground was typically large and
tainable. Historically, urban parks A Park Typology. A classic study of located on the edge of the city
responded to social problems and urban parks (Cranz 1982) described (Figure 1). Frederick Law Olmsted,
expressed various ideas about four types: the Pleasure Ground the father of landscape architecture
nature, but they showed little con- (1850–1900), the Reform Park in America, designed many of them.
cern for actual ecological fitness. (1900–1930), the Recreation He favored a pastoral style, neither
Today, in contrast, ecological Facility (1930–1965), and the Open wild nor urban, with curvilinear cir-
problems may be counted among culation and naturalistic use of trees
our most pressing social problems. and water. Mental appreciation of
Because ecological and social prob- the landscape was important, but

Landscape Journal 23:2–04 ISSN 0277-2426

102 Landscape Journal 23:2–04 © 2004 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 103

Table 1. A Comparison of the Sustainable Park to Prior Park Types after Cranz (1982).

Pleasure Ground Reform Park Recreation Facility Open Space System Sustainable Park
1850–1900 1900–1930 1930–1965 1965–? 1990–present

Social Goal Public health & Social reform; Recreation service Participation; Human health;
social reform children’s play; revitalize city; ecological health
assimilation stop riots
Activities Strolling, carriage Supervised play, Active recreation: Psychic relief, Strolling, hiking,
racing, bike gymnastics, crafts, basketball, tennis, free-form play, biking, passive &
riding, picnics, Americanization team sports, pop music, active recreation,
rowing, clas- classes, dancing, spectator sports, participatory bird watching,
sical music, plays & pageants swimming arts education,
non-didactic stewardship
education
Size Very Large, Small, city blocks Small to medium, Varied, often small, Varied, emphasis on
1000+ acres follow formulae irregular sites corridors
Relation to Set in contrast Accepts urban Suburban City is a work of art; Art-nature
City patterns network continuum; part
of larger urban
system; model
for others
Order Curvilinear Rectilinear Rectilinear Both Evolutionary
aesthetic
Elements Woodland & Sandlots, Asphalt or grass Trees, grass, shrubs, Native plants,
meadow, playgrounds, play area, pools, curving & permeable
curving paths, rectilinear paths, rectilinear paths, rectilinear paths, surfaces,
placid water swimming pools, standard play water features for ecological
bodies, rustic field houses equipment view, free-form restoration
structures, play equipment green infra-
limited floral structure,
displays resource
self-sufficiency
Promoters Health reformers, Social reformers, Politicians, Politicians, Environmentalists,
transcenden- social workers, bureaucrats, environmentalists, local commu-
talists, real recreation planners artists, designers nities, volunteer
estate interests workers groups, land-
scape architects
Beneficiaries All city dwellers Children, Suburban families Residents, workers, Residents, wildlife,
(intended), immigrants, poor urban youth, cities, planet
upper middle working class middle class
class (reality)

these parks were actively pro- or nature. Their principal architec- claimed in 1930 when Robert Moses
grammed and sports were popular, tural innovation was the field house, was appointed commissioner of New
so they were not merely “passive.” envisioned as a clubhouse for the York City’s Park Department. For
The working class seldom used working class (Figure 2a). him, parks had become a recognized
these parks because they were far To justify their expenditures, governmental service requiring no
from the tenements. Consequently, park commissioners during the first justification (Moses 1940, 3).
small park advocates wanted the city two eras enumerated all the social Instead, he and park departments
to establish parks on a few square goals that parks served: to reduce nationwide established uniform stan-
blocks in the inner city. Eventually class conflict, to reinforce the family dards and extended service to the
this movement merged with those unit, to socialize immigrants to the suburbs and urban areas that had
advocating playgrounds for children, American way of life, to stop the not yet received parks or play-
resulting in the Reform Park with spe- spread of disease, and to educate cit- grounds. The major innovations
cial play equipment for children. izens. In contrast, a new era was were the stadium, parking lot, and
These parks were small and symmet- asphalt ball courts—hence the term
rical, with no illusion of countryside Recreation Facility (Figure 2b).

Cranz and Boland 103

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 104

Figure 1. Central Park, the first Pleasure Ground in the United States. (Photograph by M. Boland)

A generation later, a dialectic els. Accordingly, we expected that (2000) in their observations about
response against the perceived steril- our generation would formulate and the early stages of searching for a
ity of the Recreation Facility realize its own model. Given the definition of green buildings: we
emerged in 1965 when Lindsay ran current attention to ecological fit- might benefit by resisting the urge
for mayor of New York City. He pub- ness and sustainable development, to find one “true or incontestable,
lished a policy paper on parks that we expected that the fifth model consensual definition . . . [in order
reclaimed parks as a mechanism of would focus on solving ecological to remain] sensitive to the range of
social control and reform. In defi- problems. . . . innovations which may surface”
ance of previous notions of stan- (73–74).
dardization, he recruited landscape Postulating A Fifth Park Model: As a compromise between
architects to design site-specific Methods. How would we recognize being too broad or too specific, we
recreational settings. A more artistic, the fifth model if and when we saw started out with a loose working defi-
participatory sensibility flourished, it? General definitions may not be of nition of Sustainable Parks. A work-
part of a closer tie between park pro- much help. Sustainability and eco- ing definition would allow us to
gramming and popular culture. logical design have many different identify parks that we could re-
Accordingly, recreation came to be facets, so it is understandable that examine in order to come up with a
seen as something that could take most definitions are very broad, but progressively more refined under-
place anywhere—in the streets, on a such definitions run the danger of standing of what Sustainable Parks
rooftop, at the waterfront, along an becoming weak as guides to action. are or could be. To start, we knew
abandoned railway line, as well as in The commonly cited Brundtland that Sustainable Parks would have to
traditional plazas and parks. Paley definition of sustainability as meet- have traits generally thought to
Park, for example, is a tiny site, vio- ing “the needs of the present with- increase the ecological performance
lating the standards of the recre- out compromising the ability of of parks. To warrant being recog-
ation era, and emblematic of the future generations to meet their nized as a distinctive model, we
new ideology because it embraced own needs” emphasizes that aspect expected that at least some of these
the city. All parks came to be con- of sustainability having to do traits would not be found in any of
ceived as part of a network of dis- with justice within and between the other four prior park types.
parate open spaces linked together, generations (Thompson 2000, These new characteristics included
hence the term Open Space System 12–32). However, this definition is the use of native plants, restoration
(Figure 2c). too broad for most landscape archi- of streams or other natural systems,
Noting that park models tend tects, urban designers, and park wildlife habitat, integration of appro-
to dominate for 30 to 50 years, we planners who want to know how the priate technologies or infrastruc-
conclude that these models are general value of sustainability might ture, recycling, and sustainable
generational. That is, each genera- be recognized and realized in the construction and maintenance prac-
tion has its own set of ideas about specific context of urban parks. Yet tices. This working definition started
how parks can help cities, its own we agree with the British sociologists out emphasizing the ecological value
experience in putting these ideas Simon Guy and Graham Farmer of parks, but we knew it would also
into practice, and its own frustra- include social values. After all, sus-
tions and victories with those mod- tainability is ultimately a social con-

104 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 105

cept rather than a technical or bio- Program (designed purpose and

logical one because humans are unintended purposes); Promoters;
responsible for the ecological crisis Beneficiaries (intended and actual);
today. Fate of Model in Practice (imple-
We began the search for a new mentation, public reaction). Most
park model using a sociological parks received one number because
technique called content analysis. they fell clearly into one of the park
We analyzed parks published in five types, but some provisionally
prominent landscape journals over received two numbers because two
the previous 20 years from 1982 to types could be discerned. These
2002. We started in 1982 when The cases were analyzed by a group of
Politics of Park Design was published graduate student researchers led by
in order to pick up where it had left the senior author to decide which
off. (Only Landscape Architecture type was stronger.1
magazine was analyzed from years We could not determine
1998–2002 due to limits of the whether or not any of these parks
research budget and because the actually succeeded at reducing
vast majority of the articles about resource use or creating self-
parks published between 1982 and sustaining, healthy ecological
1997 had come from Landscape systems. Moreover, we did not
Architecture. See Appendix A for a distinguish between parks that
complete list of publications merely evoked ecological symbolism
reviewed.) In the publishing world, and those that actually restored
biases are inevitable regarding edito- functioning ecological systems. This
rial selection, but the bias would pre- is not an evaluation of specific parks
sumably work in favor of innovation or places. At this point in history,
and change—the very thing we were making philosophical and ideologi-
monitoring. Therefore, an analysis cal appeals to sustainability and ecol-
of parks featured in these publica- ogy is enough to mark a significant
tions was a useful way to detect change in thinking about the pur-
trends or shifts in emphasis. pose of urban parks.
We found 125 parks in our
analysis and have listed them in A New Park Type Is Emerging. Our
Appendix A. Each park was de- analysis found that all five park types
scribed based on the information were published during this 20-year
contained in the published text and period, but Open Space Systems
illustrations. We analyzed each park (46%) predominated (Table 2). The
on identical worksheets in terms of second largest category (23%) was
physical form, social program, pro- the new fifth category, tentatively
moters, intended and actual benefi- identified as sustainable. We
ciaries, and public reaction. On the conclude that a new model is
basis of this analysis, each park was emerging among landscape
coded as one or more of the park professionals.
types, using a simple coding system: Most (86%) of the parks
Pleasure Ground (I), Reform (II), exhibiting traits we had determined
Recreation Facility (III), Open to be sustainable were featured in
Space System (IV), and Sustainable articles published after 1990. This
Park (V). The physical and social change came 25 years after the shift
information gathered on each to open space ideology in 1965.
park included the following: Since American urban park models
Park Identifier (name, location, have typically lasted 30 to 50 years,
designer); Model (Pleasure Ground, and since historically park bureau-
Reform Park, Recreation Facility, cracies have institutionalized
Open Space System, Sustainable changes in thinking about parks
Figure 2. Examples of the (a) Reform
Park (courtesy of Chicago South Park Park); Physical Form (location, size, after landscape architects have begun
District), (b) Recreation Facility composition); Landscape Elements to advocate them, we predict that
(reprinted From New York City, (water, land, vegetation, other); the Sustainable Park will be adopted
Department of Parks, Report For 1967 ), Buildings; Construction Details; by municipal park departments
and (c) Open Space System (courtesy of between 1995 and 2015. We have
New York Public Library). already observed the number of

Cranz and Boland 105

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 106

disposed off-site at great cost or with

Table 2. Parks described in leading landscape architecture journals negative impacts. The heavy mainte-
analyzed by park type. nance and sustained government
funding required for most urban
1982–1990 1991–2002 Total parks has endangered their long-
term survival. For example, in New
Pleasure Ground 12 (23.5%) 12 (16%) 24 (19%)
York’s Central Park, Olmsted sought
Reform Park 0 (0%) 3 (4%) 3 (2%) to create a naturalistic landscape
Recreation Facility 12 (23.5%) 0 (0%) 12 (10%) that mimicked nature in aesthetic
terms but not in its species composi-
Open Space 23 (45%) 34 (46%) 57 (46%) tion or ecological function. In the
Sustainable Park 4 (8%) 25 (34%) 29 (23%) ensuing century, Central Park slowly
Total 51 (100%) 74 (100%) 125 (100%) fell into a state of disrepair, the vic-
tim of declining budgets, increasing
use, and the natural lifespan of non-
native, non-regenerating landscapes.
Pleasure Grounds drop significantly from those practitioners who will be The planted woodlands were among
from 1998 to 2002 while the number contributing to the continued evolu- the first landscapes abandoned in
of Open Space and Sustainable tion of these ideas on the ground. terms of maintenance and, as a
Parks have increased. result, have suffered from the spread
Table 1 summarizes all five Part II: Policy Implications of invasive species such as Norway
models so that the Sustainable Park Based on both inductive and maple and Japanese knotweed
can be understood within its histori- deductive approaches, we concluded (Cramer 1993, 106). City parks have
cal context. It shows that the fifth that sustainable urban parks differ been subject to the vagaries of the
park model is distinctive enough to from traditional parks in regard to municipal budgeting process and
merit being differentiated from the many details and at least three gen- vacillating attitudes about the role of
others. eral principles. First, Sustainable government. Short-term reductions
The characteristics of the Parks attempt to become self- in funding have often translated into
Sustainable Park are both induced sufficient with regards to material deferred maintenance, prompting a
from what we observed and deduced resources. Second, they can play a vicious cycle of abandonment
from theoretical writing about ecol- role in solving larger urban prob- whereby parks fall into a state of dis-
ogy and sustainability regarding lems outside their boundaries when repair and further abandonment by
what should be in such a park. they are integrated with the sur- the public, both in use and funding.
Working inductively from our con- rounding urban fabric. Third, new Sustainable Parks employ a
tent analysis, we were able to gener- aesthetic forms emerge for parks diverse array of strategies to reduce
alize new ecological traits appearing and other urban landscapes. As we the need for resources and to
in some urban parks. Working discuss these principles, we elaborate increase self-sufficiency. These strate-
deductively, we reviewed intellectual on their many policy implications, gies are woven into every aspect of
work about ecological design and especially those regarding the design park design, construction, and man-
the sustainable design movement to and management of city parks, the agement. Sustainable Parks manage
widen the range of our ideas about practice of landscape architecture, to increase their ecological health
how city parks might function eco- citizen participation, and ecological in the face of funding cuts and
logically. The new model is an “ideal education. changing recreational demands. We
type” in the sense of the classical identified recurring strategies for
sociologist Max Weber not necessar- Principle I: Resource Self-sufficiency. increasing resource self-sufficiency,
ily an ideal goal but rather a colla- The Sustainable Park differs from including sustainable design, con-
tion of all the ideas about different other urban park models by empha- struction and maintenance prac-
qualities and features of actual and sizing internal self-sufficiency in tices, plant choices, composting,
future sustainable parks. No one regard to material resources. Past water harvesting, public-private
park would have all of these fea- urban park models have not been partnerships, and community
tures. We have tried to be compre- self-sufficient, requiring instead stewardship.
hensive in our thinking, but we do large amounts of energy, fertilizers, Sustainable design practices
not presume to have created an plant material, labor, and water that reduce resource use and main-
exhaustive list of characteristics. If while producing noise, pesticide- tenance are increasingly employed
the new type is itself developmental, laced runoff, wastewater, lawn clip- in Sustainable Parks. A strong exam-
so too is our collective understand- pings, and garbage—all of which are ple of the benefits of recycling is
ing of it. We invite others to add to Crissy Field (Figure 3). The 230,000
our list of characteristics and reor- cubic yards of soil removed during
ganize them as inspired and com- construction of a tidal marsh were
pelled. We especially hope to hear used to elevate the historic airfield

106 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 107

Sustainable design practices

have been useful in the restoration
of historic Pleasure Grounds, such
as New York’s Central Park and
Brooklyn’s Prospect Park (Figure 5).
The historic North Woods and
Ramble in Central Park are slowly
being converted to self-regenerating
native woodland while preserving
historic and recreational values. For
example, invasive exotic Norway
maples that were originally planted
are being replaced by non-invasive
horticultural species. To reduce
maintenance and increase habitat
Figure 3. Crissy Field has many examples of resource self-sufficiency. (Photograph by values, park managers have
M. Boland)
adopted an attitude of letting “na-
ture do as much of the work as possi-
ble” (Cramer 1993, 110). Historic
and new group picnic area instead ing use. Buildings are solar-facing, paved edges around water features
of being dumped off-site or in the relying on natural lighting and venti- in Central Park such as the Turtle
Bay. The plan for the restoration of lation systems. They use recycled or Pond have been softened and
Crissy Field attempted to balance less energy-intensive construction replaced with plantings of bog and
natural and human history with a materials. One implication of the marginal wetland species that are
modern desire for active recreation concern for the ecological function not invasive (Figure 6). Similar
and ecological restoration. The proj- of materials is that park departments strategies have been employed in
ect included the restoration of work with materials experts to evalu- Prospect Park and other Olmsted
unique and ecologically valuable salt ate which materials—metals, post- parks.
marsh and dune habitats intermin- consumer plastics, bamboo, wood, Instituting these changes
gled with a heavily used promenade, porous concrete vs. asphalt, fly- requires re-educating park staffs and
a board-sailing facility, beach crete—have the least long-term developing new maintenance skills.
frontage used for off-leash dog use, environmental costs under various Landscape architect Rolf Sauer
and a 28-acre restored historic air- circumstances. Swimming pools use (1998) emphasized this while he was
field to be used for public events the latest non-toxic purification sys- working on Louisville’s landmark
and active recreation. The 15,000 tems. In practice we found examples park system restoration. After 20
tons of rubble removed from the that emphasize one feature or years of training maintenance staff
beach were ground and re-used in another. The Spring Lake Park to “sweep concrete,” they were
landscape features (Figure 4). Over Visitor Center in Santa Rosa, instead trained to restore and sus-
45 acres of asphalt were removed, California, minimizes both con- tain landscape as a living system.
crushed, and used beneath pathways struction and operating costs Additional management changes will
and parking lots as road base and (Henderson 1993). The simple be required in order to recruit scien-
structural fill. pyramidal structure was carefully tifically trained staff, coordinate vol-
Structures built within inserted into the wooded site, so unteers, and develop the reporting
Sustainable Parks are sited and that only three trees had to be mechanisms and responsiveness
designed to minimize the ecological removed. The pyramid form was expected for privately funded proj-
costs of their construction and ongo- easy to frame and was angled to ects. For example, the Central Park
maximize the efficiency of solar pan-
els. The structure was partially set
into the earth to minimize its visual
impact and increase energy effi-
ciency. The structure is largely
heated using the sun and cooled
using simple, natural systems. Only
on the coldest winter days is a wood-
burning stove fired up to take off
the chill.
Figure 4. The West Bluff picnic area at Figure 5. This sign identifies nature as a
Crissy Field was built with earth exca- partner in the management of historic
vated to restore wetlands. (Photograph Prospect Park. (Photograph by
by M. Boland) M. Boland)

Cranz and Boland 107

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 108

Conservancy, working with the City

of New York, has developed a zone-
gardener program in which respon-
sibility for a section of a park and
coordination of volunteers for that
section is assigned to an individual
gardener. This allows for staff and
volunteer training related to the spe-
cific requirements of each landscape
type, whether a restored woodland,
lake, meadow, or manicured historic
site.
Sustainable Parks depend on
native, or non-invasive, environ-
mentally appropriate plant choices.
Although many parks have been
designed in the image of nature,
they were rarely designed to pre- Figure 7. In non-turf areas at Crissy Field, only native foredune, back dune and dune
serve or restore ecological function. scrub species were planted. (Photograph by M. Boland)
Instead, their designers often used
exotic species to create the desired, acknowledge that some native The resulting regional variation in
naturalistic effect. Some of these species can take considerably more the palette of plant materials is a
exotic species, like Norway maple, effort than a more conventional welcome change from the homoge-
Scotch broom, and water hyacinth, landscape to establish, particularly in neous look of most municipal parks
have invaded adjacent natural areas. formerly weedy areas or areas adja- nationwide. Planting decisions made
Mass plantings of regularly discarded cent to degraded sites.) at Crissy Field have produced a sus-
annual exotic plants were used at Sustainable Parks not only use tainable, self-regenerating landscape
points of interest. Where designers ecologically suitable plants (native, that requires establishment irriga-
did use native species, their natural appropriate exotics), but plantings tion and weeding only for the first
succession was arrested at a particu- are done in such a way that second- few years and does not require the
lar point for aesthetic effect. By ary plant succession can proceed. application of polluting pesticides,
working against rather than with Planting schemes use drought- herbicides, or fertilizers (Figure 7).
ecological processes, the resources resistant plants in dry climates and With the exception of two tree
(fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, use water-loving plants in wet ones. species, all of the plant species are
and labor) required to maintain Correspondingly appropriate animal native to the Presidio and were
even naturalistic landscapes are life—lizards and frogs, for example, propagated from locally collected
greater than if native trees and whose future might otherwise be seeds and cuttings.
plants were used. (However, we endangered—are able to live here. Flowers still have a place in the
Sustainable Park. The United States
could follow the example of
Chinese parks where flowers are
harvested as medicinal herbs. Even
when strictly ornamental, flowers
are also home to birds, bees, and
insects. Designers can still dazzle
visitors with native plants if they use
them in special plant combinations
and planting schemes. For example,
the senior author remembers as a
teenager at the Seattle World’s Fair
of 1962 that onions planted
formally were more distinctive and
special than a hothouse of exotic
orchids.
New attitudes about mown turf
were observed in Sustainable Parks.
For recreational uses, we did not see
substitutes for mown, irrigated turf,
Figure 6. The “softened” edge of Central Park’s Turtle Pond but we observed some experiments
provides improved wildlife habitat. (Photograph by M. Boland)

108 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 109

regarding grass type and mainte- In Sustainable Parks where scape, these pathways allow users to
nance. Conventional turf can be lawns were not used recreationally, appreciate that the natural strands
replaced with less resource-intensive native meadows have replaced con- of grasses represent a desired effect
native grass species. At Crissy Field, ventional turf. Rolf Sauer of and not a lack of maintenance
conventional turf grasses could not Andropogon calls turf “green or care.
be used because of the danger that asphalt” because it is mowed so Composting is an increasingly
they might spread into the adjacent closely and uniformly that water important practice because it recy-
restored tidal marsh. Consequently, runs off of it—like asphalt. As part cles resources in a way that simulta-
planners chose a mix of native of the restoration of the historic neously improves the health of the
grasses, the species varying depend- Louisville park system, mown mead- landscape and lowers the cost of
ing on the conditions and expected ows and savannas of heterogeneous, maintaining urban parks. For exam-
level of use (Figure 8). Salt tolerant indigenous grasses have replaced ple, New York’s Central Park com-
native rye grass and salt grass were closely mowed lawns (Figure 9). posts its green waste and debris at a
used for turf near the shore where Meadows are allowed to grow 1-3 composting facility on Manhattan’s
board sailors bring their salt-covered feet high, and even pathways and Upper East Side, using its waste to
boards for rigging. Planners chose heavily used fields are mowed to improve soil quality rather than
native red fescue and Pacific hair 5–7 inches rather than 3–4 inches. paying to have it shipped off
grass for the 28-acre historic airfield Mowing was significantly reduced, Manhattan Island. Compost can be
and dune-like landforms because thereby saving resources and pro- generated on-site from leaves,
they require little irrigation and tol- tecting ecological processes. Today pruned branches, and from animal
erate foot traffic. Although mown mowing is used in only two condi- waste (Figure 10). San Francisco’s
like conventional turf, these native tions: to maintain herbaceous mead- Presidio annually composts 1500
species have flourished under harsh ows (to keep them from eventually cubic yards of green waste and
conditions with less water and no reverting to woodlands), and in forestry debris, which is used to
pesticides. The tradeoff is a some- pathways around or through mead- improve moisture retention in the
what less uniform turf with more ows. These mowed pathways play an Presidio’s sandy soil. The compost is
seasonal color variation than a con- important role. By defining the produced for less than it would cost
ventional lawn. edges of meadows and making them to purchase it commercially. Sheep
perceivable as an intentional land- and other ruminants could be re-
introduced to eliminate mechanical
lawn mowing, produce natural fertil-
izer, and educate children. (One of
the aesthetic implications is that
compost could be elevated to the
status of an art form, an idea devel-
oped further below.) On-site restau-
rants should also collect compost.
Sustainable Parks treat
stormwater and greywater as aes-
thetic and ecological resources, as
food rather than waste to be dis-
posed. On-site water management
includes the use of natural systems
to clean stormwater and greywater,
while also creating habitat for
wildlife. Water runoff has been a
problem in conventional parks
because they have a great deal of
asphalt, hard-packed soil, and mown
turf. Because rainfall cannot pene-
trate the ground, it runs off into
city sewers and causes erosion.
Sustainable design practices such as
on-site stormwater retention basins
and permeable asphalt do double
duty by accommodating visitor use
and reducing runoff. At the DuPont
Figure 8. Planners chose native red fescue and Pacific hair grass for the 28-acre historic headquarters in the Brandywine
airfield because they require little irrigation and tolerate foot traffic. (Photograph by Valley, the firm Andropogon
M. Boland) Associates installed a porous asphalt

Cranz and Boland 109

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:08 PM Page 110

Tennessee Hollow watershed will

bring three buried streams back into
the open. (In regard to wildlife, the
marsh fills a gap in the Pacific
Flyway; prior to its construction,
migrating birds had no stopping
places in San Francisco. The marsh
restoration was also used as an
opportunity to re-establish a locally
limited native plant community, the
back dune swale.) The Sustainable
Park uses water efficiently, so sprin-
klers do not waste water through
evaporation by shooting it into the
air, but occasionally fountains might
express the joyful final stages of
water purification.
Sustainability refers not only to
tangible resources, but also to social
and cultural viability. Public-private
partnerships are one kind of new
social structure whereby the commu-
nity may directly support urban
parks. Organizations like the Central
Park Conservancy, the Golden Gate
National Parks Conservancy, and the
Yosemite Fund were created in the
last twenty years to compensate for
the steady decrease in the amount
of public funding allocated to parks.
The non-profit Central Park
Conservancy was created in 1980
to raise private funds to supple-
ment public funding used by the
New York Parks and Recreation
Department to rebuild and maintain
Central Park. Over the past two
decades, the Conservancy has played
an increasingly large role in the
reconstruction of Central Park, both
raising funds and implementing
the restoration of the park. The
Conservancy has raised nearly $300
Figure 9. Turf at Louisville’s Summit Field (above) was replaced with native prairie grass
million to fund the reconstruction
to reduce runoff and increase ecological value (below). (Courtesy of Andropogon of Central Park and endow ongoing
Associates) maintenance and operation of the
park. The San Francisco-based
Golden Gate National Parks Con-
parking lot for cars that absorbs tem that originally spanned the servancy raised over $32 million in
water on site. By combining these north shore of San Francisco. In private philanthropic dollars to fund
functions, woodland that was to be order to increase groundwater infil- the transformation of Crissy Field
cut to build an on-site stormwater tration and reduce off-site storm- and proceeded to manage every ele-
retention basin was preserved. With water flows into the bay, 70 acres of ment of its implementation, includ-
the money saved by not cutting the asphalt and hard-packed dirt were ing planning, design, construction,
forest, nature trails were built and removed (Figure 11). Eventually, and stewardship programs.
the woodland was restored (Hiss the complete restoration of the Community stewardship pro-
1991). grams bring human resources to
The 20-acre tidal marsh at parks that governmental entities
Crissy Field was built to restore a are unwilling or unable to access
fragment of the large salt marsh sys- (Figure 12). Volunteer programs at

110 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 111

Figure 10. Compost is a subject “ripe” for collaboration between environmental artists and maintenance crews. (Photograph by
M. Boland)

the Golden Gate National tions implemented the vision.

Recreation Area in San Francisco Ongoing community-based steward-
annually provide over 100,000 hours ship programs still guide the res-
of support to the restoration and toration and engage the local
stewardship of native plant commu- community in the maintenance and
nities and several endangered rejuvenation of the woodlands.
species in the park (Farrell 2001). While such programs clearly rely on
The restoration of Central Park’s help from outside their borders,
North Woods started with a commu- they are self-sufficient in the sense
nity advisory board that crafted a that they rely so little on govern-
vision for the north woods and ment funding. This raises a larger
guided the planning process. issue about the role of human labor,
Volunteer groups and the educa- whether paid or volunteered. Strictly
tional programs of nearby institu- speaking, an ecologically self-
Figure 11. The Crissy Field tidal marsh sufficient park might not require
filters storm water that formerly flowed human labor, but a Sustainable
untreated into San Francisco Bay. Park that is both ecologically self-
(Photograph by M. Boland) sufficient and culturally satisfying

Cranz and Boland 111

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 112

strategy has valuable secondary ben-

efits, including the creation of
wildlife habitat as well as recre-
ational and scenic settings. We noted
different approaches to incorporat-
ing wastewater infrastructure into
parks. Some utilize existing riparian
systems for the treatment of urban
wastewater or stormwater. Jackson
Bottom Park in Hillsboro, Oregon,
incorporates an existing riparian sys-
tem and uses a system of ponds to
retain and treat effluent, stormwater,
and other types of urban runoff
(ALSA Merit Award 1992, 75).
At historic Xochimilco Park
outside of Mexico City, work to pro-
tect the ancient system of chinampas
or floating farms not only protected
an endangered historic landscape,
but it also addressed water quality
concerns in the area and improved
wildlife habitat. (Additionally, the
scheme preserved threatened farm-
land by increasing farm profits, mak-
Figure 12. Presidio Stewardship Program volunteers planting a former U.S. Army ing it more lucrative to farm than to
landfill. (Photograph by M. Boland) sell the land for development).
In contrast, some theorists
have proposed synthetic ecological
still requires human care in planting The first of these problems, systems to address water quality
and maintenance. the integration of urban infrastruc- issues. The example we know the
ture (waterways and roads) into best is a 1991 proposal for New York
Principle II: An Integrated Part of the parks, is in some ways a very old City’s Riverside South. Donald
Larger Urban System. Insofar as Sus- idea. Pleasure Grounds often played Trump proposed this large develop-
tainable Parks are conceptualized as a key role in the city’s transportation ment for an abandoned rail yard on
part of the larger metropolis, they system by incorporating parkways Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The
can help resolve urban problems that provided relatively unfettered project had as its centerpiece a 23-
located outside park boundaries. routes for movement. Boston’s acre park, which a consultant (the
Pleasure Grounds like New York’s Emerald Necklace is a network of senior author) proposed should be
Central Park were conceived roadways and parklands that shaped used to address negative environ-
as an antidote to urban life, an a significant expansion of the urban mental impacts of the development
opportunity to address the poor air fabric. At the same time it was an (Figure 13). The proposal was to
quality, lack of access to sunlight, elaborate stormwater retention sys- construct wetlands to treat both
limited opportunities for exercise, tem designed to solve a major stormwater that might otherwise be
and other problems associated with drainage and water quality problem dumped untreated into the Hudson
close urban quarters. Ensuing park created by urbanization. However, River and sewage from 9000 new res-
models had equally well-developed the Emerald Necklace is the excep- idential units. Ornamental plantings
social agendas and problem-solving tion and not the rule; in many older of water hyacinths and bull rushes in
roles for the city as a whole. examples, the park is only a con- the park would have created a beau-
The Sustainable Park builds on tainer through which the infrastruc- tiful setting while quietly removing
this history. We identified several ture system passes. Rarely does the heavy metals and other toxics from
social and environmental urban park landscape itself function as a the water. Inside each apartment
problems that Sustainable Parks component of the larger infrastruc- building, biologist John Todd’s
have been designed to address. ture system. (1984) “living machines” would treat
These problems fall into four broad The Sustainable Park changes wastewater. These ideas were intro-
categories: infrastructure, reclama- this by using parklands to treat city duced and discussed by the public
tion, health, and social well-being. wastewater and stormwater. This and the Trump organization in
This list is not exhaustive, but it does 1991–1992, but they were ultimately
summarize those strategies and tac- rejected as “untested” at such a
tics we encountered most frequently. large-scale.

112 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 113

dams in swales control erosion: by

trapping water they also create
micro-environments for native plant
species. Yet fragments of industrial
culture along with methane extrac-
tors and other infrastructure related
to the decommissioning of the land-
fill remain visible, left as interpretive
and mnemonic devices (Rainey
1994). The Dyer Landfill goes a step
further by re-creating a wetland at a
former landfill. Native cypress, live
oak, Florida slash pine, and saw pal-
mettos were planted at the same ele-
vations one might find them in
nearby natural landscapes. Accord-
ing to landscape architect George
Gentile, native vegetation has be-
gun to reseed itself, and many native
wildlife species (the kite, ibis, rac-
coon, armadillo, and alligator) now
use the site (Hess, 1992).
Figure 13. The park was a central component of the Riverside South Development pro- A third urban problem that
posal. (Courtesy of Riverside South Development Corporation) Sustainable Parks address is health.
The idea of using parks for teaching
and maintaining public health is
A second urban problem that Florida, used a combination of eco- an old one. Medicinal gardens
Sustainable Parks tackle is urban logical process and technology in an have been identified with ancient
land reclamation.2 After a century of attempt to restore former landfill Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sites,
rapid industrialization and de- sites. At Bixby Park, landscape archi- and in America, the idea of the
industrialization, many cities contain tect George Hargreaves used native urban park as an asset to the overall
large derelict sites within their grasses to clothe a series of sculp- health of communities is deeply
boundaries, including former mili- tural landforms (Figure 14). Earthen embedded in our national culture.
tary bases, landfills, industrial yards,
and obsolete transportation systems.
The soil at these sites is often con-
taminated with heavy metals, lead
paint, petroleum products, pesti-
cides, and other toxic materials;
otherwise it is unconsolidated and
unstable. These conditions often
make these sites unsuitable for new
construction. Considering that they
are often the last undeveloped sites
within the urban environment, they
offer an excellent opportunity for
new parks. In this sense, park-
making itself becomes a form of
land reclamation.
Several Sustainable Parks ad-
dress problems of reclamation in
more specific ways. Mel Chin’s bio-
remediation art project outside of
Denver, Colorado, made art of sci-
ence. By using plants that extract
heavy metals from earth, he set an
example for park landscapes. The
designers of both Bixby Park in Palo
Alto, California, and Dyer Landfill Figure 14. Bixby Park landforms are representations of, but not the product of, natural
Restoration in Palm Beach County, process. (Photograph by M. Boland)

Cranz and Boland 113

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 114

Part of the program for each of the Creek Park, located in Berkeley, Sustainable Parks may deepen citi-
previous four models included an California, is based on this idea zens’ understanding of ecological
effort to improve the health of (Figure 15). processes. The Presidio Stewardship
urban residents.3 Advocates of the fifth model Program not only engages thousands
What is distinctive about the believe that this use of native plants of students in ecological restoration,
Sustainable Park is that it might be and the re-establishment of ecologi- but also educates them about eco-
used to improve and maintain physi- cal process in the urban environ- logical cycles and pre-Columbian
cal and psychological health even ment can generate a sense of landscapes in San Francisco neigh-
more directly than has been tradi- regional identity even in dense borhoods (Figure 16). As part of the
tional in the U.S. For example, sev- cities (Hough 1990). Community- construction of Crissy Field, over
eral parks in Germany, such as the based stewardship programs in 3000 volunteers collected seed for,
10-hectare health park near Bottrop, urban parks, such as the Presidio propagated, planted, and weeded
have been built specifically for Stewardship Program at GGNRA over 100,000 native plants represent-
patients from hospitals in nearby and the North Woods in New York’s ing 73 native species (Prince 2001).
communities. These parks facilitate Central Park, provide a vehicle for The staff has reported a demand
inpatient and outpatient rehabilita- urban residents to rediscover ecolog- for native plantings in nearby resi-
tion, support community self-help ical processes and wild places hid- dences and schools generated by
groups, and assist in the aftercare of den in the urban environment and this program (Farrell 2001). This in-
acutely ill hospital patients. In the to play a role in their preservation. volvement has also created more
United States, such specialized However, we presume that users feel responsible park users. Clearly,
grounds have been associated only less connected to the region, the engaging young people in the stew-
with hospitals or other medical facil- park, and nature when plant restora- ardship of native plantings in parks
ities. Physician (and architecture tion schemes like those in Prospect has the potential both to reduce
student) Scott Prysi proposed Park must rely on permanent fenc- intentional vandalism and to
integrating a health clinic into a ing to keep people off of the increase responsible use, thereby
neighborhood Park in South restored slopes (Taplin 2001). reducing unintentional damage as
Berkeley, claiming that this would Service learning programs, well. Reducing both types of damage
make the park more broadly eco- middle school and high-school stew- is essential to protect ecological
logical than it has ever been. ardship programs, and in-school processes in urban environments.
Cranz (1982) anticipated that park nursery programs affiliated with Education plays a big role in
programming might eventually improving the quality of life. Sus-
offer holistic health classes, for tainable Parks educate by exposing
example, yoga, tai chi, BodyMind the public directly to new ideas and
Centering, Alexander Technique, attitudes about nature and the
Feldenkrais, etc. urban landscape. They do this in a
A fourth problem is urban host of ways. At Crissy Field, signage
alienation, which Sustainable Parks and educational waysides that
address by seeking to increase social explain natural processes at work,
well-being. Many worry that urban environmental education programs
residents feel alienated from nature that interpret ecological and cultural
and natural processes—and from systems, and the Crissy Center build-
each other. Contemporary park ing itself have all been designed to
advocates believe that expanded citi- generate a greater level of under-
zen involvement in the stewardship standing, appreciation, and commit-
of urban parks and urban farming ment in visitors. Even the benches,
can generate a sense of belonging pathways, and promenade are ori-
and community (Franck and ented to give visitors a direct experi-
Schneekloth 1994, 361–362). ence of the natural forces at play.
Similarly, they claim that expanded Some educational strategies
awareness of and contact with eco- are self-consciously didactic. For
logical processes in the urban envi- example, Blueprint Farm in Laredo,
ronment increase one’s sense of Texas, designed by the Center for
connection to the local and regional Maximum Potential Building
environment. Sustainable Parks Systems, is conceived as an educa-
encourage reconnection of citizens tional landscape where technology
Figure 15. In Berkeley, most creeks have
to each other and to the land by been put under ground, veiling a critical integrates human and natural sys-
providing new vehicles for direct ecological process. Strawberry Creek tems into a “metabolic unit” (Hess
public participation in the concep- Park was organized around a newly 1992). The park includes organic
tion, creation, and stewardship of revealed stretch of Strawberry Creek. farmland, sediment ponds to clean
parks. The design of Strawberry (Photograph by M. Boland) stormwater, cisterns to gather water

114 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 115

tion of direct action followed by

interpretive exhibits (Andropogon
Associates 2003).
Sustainable Parks also improve
quality of life by mitigating conflicts
between adjacent land uses. For
example, Ecton Brook Linear Park
in Northampton, England, protects
a stream corridor and at the same
time functions as a buffer between
high-density housing and adjacent
agricultural land, deflecting poten-
tial conflicts regarding noise, foot
traffic, pesticides, and child safety.
Native plantings along the 2.5 km
park have increased the density of
the buffer between human uses and
have increased the park’s value to
wildlife, serving as conduits for the
movement of wildlife and the distri-
bution of native plant species. In
such instances, both homocentric
and ecocentric ideas about ecologi-
cal quality are fulfilled.
In the near future, community-
based urban farming efforts could
be instituted in parks to improve
social well-being in many different
ways. Right now, the San Francisco
League of Urban Gardeners and the
San Francisco Jail Garden Project
teach job skills and fight malnutri-
tion, thereby diminishing aspects of
urban poverty. Moreover, by creating
venues for collective neighborhood-
based activity, they build commu-
nity and fight crime. At the Edible
School Yard at Martin Luther King
Jr. High School in Berkeley, teachers
use gardening as part of the school
curriculum. The San Francisco
League of Urban Gardeners oper-
ates the St. Mary’s/Allemany youth
Figure 16. Presidio volunteer monitoring a Presidio pilot project testing the survival of garden in conjunction with the
native species growing under non-native eucalyptus. (Photograph by M. Boland) Allemany public housing project to
provide jobs and job training for
youth; they run a business that
for use, windmills and other appro- can also be educational. For exam- makes jelly, salsa, and vinegar, using
priate technology systems to gener- ple, prescribed burns simultaneously produce grown in the urban farm.
ate power, and structures built from create more vital natural systems and In Santa Cruz, the Homeless Garden
recycled oil rigs and other salvaged educate by virtue of their drama. At Project employs and feeds the home-
materials. the Crosby Arboretum in southern less, coordinating their efforts with
Other strategies are more pas- Mississippi, prescribed burns have social service agencies that provide
sive, operating as object lessons in been useful both to study the use of support to the homeless affiliated
how to manage the interface be- fire as a management tool and to with their farm (Lawson 2000). The
tween human culture and ecological educate the public using a combina- idea of putting agricultural pro-
process. Temporary barrier fencing grams into parks proper may be a
to protect ‘Mother Nature at work’ next step in the development of the
on restoration sites offers a simple Sustainable Park.
lesson. Seasonal maintenance events

Cranz and Boland 115

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 116

Principle III: New Modes of Aesthetic than hide, humans and buildings. tolerant, low-maintenance native
Expression. New types of aesthetic Both landscape architect Lyle (1994) species; recycled yard waste for
expression are emerging in Sustain- and landscape architect Thayer soil amendment; wood chips from
able Parks. The form of the park (1994) have emphasized that we debris for paths and mulch; recycled
itself and its relationship to the city, should not camouflage technology. plastic lumber for benches; low-
its style, and its management prac- A number of artists and landscape maintenance, local, or renewable
tices have moved in a more eco- architects have created landscapes materials. At the next stage, design-
logical direction, developing an that speak about ecological process ers manipulate plants and topogra-
evolutionary aesthetic, a new spatial (Figure 17). phy less as static materials and more
relationship to the city, and a new Yet process-oriented things as landscapes that emerge as the
role for designers. This new type often appear messy in our current byproduct of dynamic ecological
may serve as a model for other culture, so Joan Nassauer (1995) has systems. Taking a cue from resto-
urban landscapes, private gardens, described how designers can provide ration ecology, designers in a few
and ultimately, the city itself. cues that an apparently untidy land- Sustainable Parks have created
Some landscape critics suggest scape is part of a larger plan. The diverse plant communities that
that truly ecological parks must tran- importance of providing such cues emphasize both the ornamental and
scend the traditional notion of style became clear in a recent 2002 com- ecological value of plants. This is a
predicated on a fixed, static image petition for Railyard Park in Santa step beyond merely replacing orna-
of the landscape and develop an evo- Fe (where the senior author served mental exotics with native species.
lutionary aesthetic. Louise Mozingo as a juror). The program was explicit This way of managing vegetation
(1997) has argued that ecological in calling for sustainable designs, allows for evolutionary change in
landscapes should incorporate an requiring special attention to water structure and species diversity over
aesthetic of “temporality” that moves and drought-resistant native species. time as a result of either anthro-
beyond the fixed vision of the land- One of the five short-listed entries pogenic or biotic factors. Central
scape and incorporates change. followed an evolutionary aesthetic Park’s North Woods and Crissy Field
Similarly, Jusuck Koh (1988) has (Figure 18). It did not win in part are two park landscapes where this
advocated an evolutionary approach because the jury considered it hard shift from a focus on species to plant
to design that offers a “dynamic view to sell to the public. More deliberate assemblages has meant emphasizing
of aesthetics” and a shift in focus signs of intentional care would have the spatial qualities of different
“away from the traditional ordering tipped the balance in favor of this plant communities and has necessi-
of ‘form’ following positivistic aes- scheme. tated new approaches to planting
thetics toward an ordering of An evolutionary aesthetic itself and managing park landscapes
‘process’” (185, 186). His aesthetic may have to become accepted in (Figure 19). In 2002, park competi-
of “complementarity” lets the natu- stages or steps. The first step is a tions for Santa Fe and for Fresh Kills
ral landscape complement, rather simple change in materials: drought- on Staten Island have had winning

Figure 17. Alan Sonfist’s “Time Landscape” reconstructs a tiny Figure 18. For Railyard Park, Ruddick Associates proposed a
fragment of Manhattan’s pre-contact landscape and explores the series of swales to slow water down, creating micro-environments
aesthetic dimensions of secondary plant succession in the urban in which plant succession would occur. (Courtesy of Ruddick
landscape. (Photograph by M. Boland) Associates)

116 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 117

Just as the Sustainable Park

model suggests variety among the
parks themselves, the model also
suggests variety in the spatial rela-
tionship to the city between the park
and the surrounding urban fabric.
Instead of being conceived as an
antidote set in contrast to adjacent
urban life, the Sustainable Park
builds on the ideology of the Open
Space System by attempting to
integrate open space into the city.
However, it goes beyond the Open
Space System by not only preserving,
Figure 19. The form givers in this Crissy Field landscape are ecological variables like but also restoring open space for
wind and depth to ground water. (Photograph by M. Boland) human viewing and activity; more-
over, its ecological impulse goes
deeper than Open Space ideology
and short-listed entries that empha- very precise, highly controlled repre- because it serves other species in the
size evolutionary processes in their sentations or symbols of ecological urban environment. Creating an
planting schemes. The recentness of process. Although perhaps imperfect underpass for wildlife, for example,
such examples that demonstrate models for how landscapes might is a recent proposal to join two tracts
how an authentic evolutionary aes- incorporate ecological process, these of land for a new park in Baldwin
thetic might be integrated into evocative landscapes contain the first Hills, Los Angeles.
urban parks suggests that the profes- stirrings of an ecological (if not evo- Eventually, this emphasis on
sion of landscape architecture has lutionary) aesthetic and suggest that system could have a centripetal
just barely begun this particular aes- art can play a role in educating the effect on the form and distribution
thetic exploration. public about ecological process in of parks. Indeed, the very idea of
In contrast, some artists at- the urban environment. Moreover, the park as a discrete locus of nature
tempt to explore the idea of ecology formal designs have the potential to in the city may become obsolete in
in parks in primarily formalistic serve ecological purposes. Formal truly sustainable urban settlements.
terms. The Village of Yorkville Park gardens may be better than pastoral Instead of overall shapes predicated
in Toronto, Canada, is a downtown English gardens for some animal on aesthetic consideration or prop-
plaza organized into 17 sections, and plant life because humans erty ownership that has given rise to
each containing plants from a differ- are restricted to fixed pathways rectilinear or chunky parks, the con-
ent local plant community. By identi- (Figure 20). Birds, for example can figurations of Sustainable Parks will
fying and celebrating local plant nest and reproduce in the safety of vary as an expression of the role that
communities and local ecology, this hedges. Formally speaking, the the land, water, air, vegetation, and
park brings an awareness of the Sustainable Park is stylistically open; animals—including humans—play
regional landscape into downtown it can be either naturalistic or for- in the local ecological system.
Toronto. Yet these are disembodied malistic in appearance. Because Sustainable Parks
fragments of plant communities involve the community broadly and
without reference to the underlying
geomorphological, climatological,
and successional processes that cre-
ated them in the first place. This
design also gives the false impression
that these plant communities can be
easily replicated anywhere, can live
in close proximity to each other,
and are unchanging. Similarly,
Hargreaves Associates landforms
along the Guadeloupe River
Parkway, at Bixby Park and Crissy
Field—although inspired by the
movement of water, wind, and soil in
dynamic natural systems—are not
created as the byproduct of those Figure 20. Birds can nest and reproduce in the safety of hedges
systems, nor are they dynamic in any in formal landscapes like this at Parc de Sceaux. (Photograph by
ecological sense. Instead they are M. Boland)

Cranz and Boland 117

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 118

in myriad ways, they are no longer

the specialized domain of experts
and managers. Community involve-
ment necessarily brings a different set
of form-giving forces to bear on park
design and management, suggesting
that the idea of a developmental or
evolutionary aesthetic has enormous
social application (Figure 21). An
evolutionary aesthetic necessarily
shifts the purpose of design and the
role of the designer from artist-
visionary to a medium through
which the forces of nature and soci-
ety express themselves. If designers
see themselves as weaving new, unex-
pected developments into a pattern,
even shifting the pattern itself, they
would embrace a role that has been
likened to jazz and other improvisa-
tional performance arts. The park,
gardening, and landscape profes-
sions may attract those who are grati-
fied by working with laypeople and
other experts over time to create
urban harmonies on the spot.
The National AIDS Memorial Figure 21. Volunteers played a central role in defining the scope and design of the
Grove in San Francisco owes its exis- National AIDS Memorial Grove. (Photograph by M. Boland)
tence and its form to this new role
for designers and evolutionary aes-
thetic. A group of concerned citi-
zens who had lost many friends to
AIDS and at the same time were
keenly concerned about the sorry
state of parks in San Francisco con-
ceived of the project. For them the
Grove was both the restoration of a
derelict portion of Golden Gate
Park and a tribute to lost friends and
loved ones. Members of the commu-
nity, instead of municipal employees,
have coordinated all aspects of the
design and construction. The design
was evolutionary, unfolding slowly
over seven years. The overall appear- Figure 22. Stones in the dry stream, “bowls” carved in boulders and inscriptions encour-
ance and individual elements of the age direct manipulation of the National AIDS Memorial Grove landscape by visitors.
(Photograph by M. Boland)
Grove are not the product of a sin-
gle designer’s vision. Rather, the
Grove has evolved from the interac- these principles for Sustainable each bioregion, the standards will be
tion of community and site over Park design. With broad policy expressed in ecologically distinctive
time (Figure 22). Simultaneously, implementation, this new standard ways. Over time, the model can be
the Grove has brought AIDS educa- will move from the avant-garde and evaluated in each bioregion and
tion and awareness to the larger cutting edge to best practice. But continuously elaborated and refined
community in a non-threatening even as it becomes more broadly through practice on the ground.
way. This project exemplifies the disseminated, this new model will Since ecology and sustainability
developmental and emergent nature not produce uniformity because in are complex, people often ask where
of the Sustainable Park. to begin and how to intervene.
We recommend starting with the
Where to Begin? We encourage park biggest, most expensive, most trou-
departments everywhere to realize blesome problem as the starting

118 Landscape Journal

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 119

point. In many parks today, mainte- Reform Park (II) Haas, Sherover, & Trotner
nance is the biggest problem Allegheny Riverfront, Pittsburgh, PA Promenades, Jerusalem
because it is the biggest expense. Landscaftslehrpark, Erfurt, Germany Holyoke Heritage Park, Holyoke,
Therefore, we first recommend (IV) MA
improving maintenance practices, Princess of Wales Memorial Park, Imperial Beach Pier Plaza, Imperial
rethinking them radically. This United Kingdom Beach, CA
means focusing on resource self- Japanese-American Plaza, Portland,
sufficiency and developing a new Recreation Facility (III) OR
aesthetic from that focus. Does this Academy Courts, The Bronx, NY Jose Marti Riverfront Park, Miami,
priority mean that solving larger Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia FL
urban problems may have to wait? Burgess Park, London, England (IV) Lafayette Park, Oakland, CA
Not if we consider that modeling a Gin Drinkers Bay Park, Hong Kong, Landesgartenschau, Lunen,
new aesthetic that derives from self- China Germany
sufficiency would also solve prob- Lake Hico Park, Jackson, MI Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis,
lems for other urban landscapes. By Lastenlehto Park, Helsinki, Finland MO
getting started, eventually the entire Merrylands Park, Sydney, Australia Liverpool Garden, Liverpool,
urban system will be transformed for Midtown Park, Duluth, MN England
the better. Paloheinan Hippu Park, Helsinki, Lok Fu Park, Hong Kong, China
Finland Los Angeles River Park, Los Angeles,
Pearl Street Park, New York, NY CA
Richard Oastler Park, Leeds, Louisville Waterfront Park,
Appendix A: Parks by Park Type England Louisville, KY
(secondary rankings shown in Southwest Corridor Park, Boston, Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade,
parentheses) MA San Diego, CA
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the
Pleasure Ground (I) Open Space System (IV) Declaration of Independence,
Almada Park, Almada, Portugal 24th Street Park, Virginia Beach, VA Washington, DC
Andre Citröen, Paris, France (IV) All Peoples Trail, Shaker Height, New Kirkgate, Edinburgh, Scotland
Astoria Park Extension, Queens, NY OH Nordsternpark, Gelsenkirchen,
Battersea Park, London, England Bicentennial Plaza, San Jose, CA Germany
Bay Adelaide Park, Toronto, CA Bouthorpe Park, Norwich, England Post Office Square, Boston, MA
Biddy Mason Park, Los Angeles, CA BUGA, Magdeburg, Germany Promenade Plantee, Paris, France
Bryant Park, New York, NY (IV) Cambridge Center Garage Roof Pyrmont Point Park, Sydney,
Central Park, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, Garden, Cambridge, MA Australia
China (V) Candlestick Point Park, San Risley Moss, Warrington, England
Chase Palm Park, Santa Barbara, CA Francisco, CA (V)
Delamont Country Park, Strangford Charleston Waterfront Park, River Promenade, Indianapolis, IN
Lough, United Kingdom (IV) Charleston, SC Riverfront Plaza, Hartford, CT
Fair Park, Dallas, TX Children’s Park, San Diego, CA Royal Park, Melbourne, Australia
Forest Hill Park, Cleveland, OH (III) Cleveland Meadows, Cleveland, (V)
Glebe Park, Canberra, Australia OH S. Graham Brown Park, St. Mathews,
Great Park, Louisville, KY (IV) Columbia Union Marketplace, KY
Henry Moore Sculpture Garden, Brooklyn, NY San Antonio River Walk, San
Kansas City, MO Courthouse Square, Toronto, Antonio, TX
Hudson River Park, New York, NY Canada Skyline Park, Denver, CO
Lechmere Canal Park, East Docklands, London, England South Cove, Battery Park City, New
Cambridge, MA Dunbari Close Garden, Edinburgh, York, NY
Mile End Park, London, England Scotland South Waterfront Park, Hoboken,
North Point Park, Boston, MA (IV) Ecton Brook Linear Park, England NJ
Olympia Fields, Olympia Fields, IL (V) Thames Barrier Park, London,
Patriots Square, Phoenix, AZ Elcho Gardens, Calton, Scotland England
Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, First Interstate Plaza, Dallas, Tx The Belvedere, New York, NY
London, England (IV) Foothills Community Park, Boulder, Tiffany Plaza, The Bronx, NY
Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY CO Tom McCall Park, Portland, OR
Washington Market Park, New York, Freeway Park, Seattle, WA VOA Park, West Chester, OH
NY Gene Coulon Beach Park, Renton, Westlake Park, Seattle, WA
WA Westlands Park, Greenwood Village,
Gore Park, San Jose, CA CO
Wolden Berg Riverfront Park, New
Orleans, LA

Cranz and Boland 119

04402-Ch02.qxd 10/5/04 1:09 PM Page 120

Sustainable Park (V) Rosa Lane, Lothar Maier, Jay Rambo, Nicola Franck, Karen, and Lynda Schneekloth. 1994.
Alex Wilson Garden, Toronto, CA Probst, Scott Prysi, and Steve Middleton–- Ordering Space: Types in Architecture and
students in two graduate seminars held by Design. New York: Van Nostrand
Baldwin Hills Park, Los Angeles, CA Dr. Galen Cranz in the Department of Reinhold.
Blueprint Farm, Laredo, TX Architecture at the University of California at Guy, Simon, and Graham Farmer. 2000.
Byxbee Park, Palo Alto, CA Berkeley in the fall of 1997 and spring of Contested constructions: The com-
Cherokee, Iroquois & Shawnee 1998. Additionally, graduate student Renu peting logics of green buildings
Desi worked with Dr. Cranz in the summer of and ethics. In Ethics and the Built
Parks, Louisville, KY 2002 to conduct the analysis for the years Environment, edited by Warwick Fox.
Denver Botanic Garden, Denver, CO 1998–2002. London: Routledge.
Dyer Landfill, Palm Beach County, 2. The most widely-known precedent for the Henderson, Justin. 1993. Pyramids of the sun.
FL transformation of industrial land into park- Architecture (6): 82–85.
Fishtrap Creek Park, Abbotsford, land is Rich Haag’s Gasworks Park in Seattle, Hess, Allan. 1992. Technology exposed. Land-
but it exemplifies Open Space ideology more scape Architecture Magazine 82(5): 38–48.
Canada than Sustainable ideology. This project trans- Hiss, Tony. 1991 Guardians of the green.
Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA formed a dangerous, derelict industrial land- Countryside (Spring): 41–43.
Freshkills Landfill Park, Staten scape into a socially useful park, emphasizing Hough, Michael. 1990. Out of Place: Restoring
Island, NY the Open Space idea that recreation could be Identity to the Regional Landscape. New
anywhere. It did not claim ecological restora- Haven: Yale University Press.
Gesundheitspark, Buttrop, Germany tion, nor was it entirely successful as a recla- Johnson, Jory. 1996. Updating Olmsted.
Guadelupe Riverfront Park, San mation project in that portions of the park Landscape Architecture Magazine 86(3):
Jose, CA were closed due to residual high levels of 80–98.
Horseshoe Park, Aurora, CO chemical contamination. Koh, Jusuck. 1988. An ecological aesthetic.
Jackson Bottom, Hillsboro, Oregon 3. Pleasure Grounds were conceived as the Landscape Journal 7(2): 177–191.
“lungs of the city,” facilitating the movement Lawson, Laura. 2000. The community-garden
(IV) and purification of dirty urban air. The movement, 1970s to present. PhD
Landscaftspark Duisburg-Nord, Reform Era introduced public bathing via the Dissertation, Department of Landscape
Germany enticement of swimming as a public health Architecture, University of California,
Liberty State Park, Ellis Island, NY measure. Reform parks provided opportuni- Berkeley.
ties for active recreation and exercise to Lyle, J. T. 1994. Regenerative Design for Sus-
Long Nose Point Park, Sydney, ensure the health of urban dwellers, particu- tainable Development. New York: Wiley.
Australia larly children, while Recreation Era empha- Moses, Robert. 1940. Six Years of Park Progress.
North York Moors Park, England sized exercise for the entire family. Open New York City: Department of Parks.
Northside Park, Denver, CO Space Systems are reminiscent of Pleasure Mozingo, Louise. 1997 The aesthetics of eco-
Old School Forest Preserve, Grounds in their devotion to providing fresh logical design: Seeing science as
air into the heart of cities, but their planners culture. Landscape Journal 16(2): 46–59.
Libertyville, IL showed more interest in mental and social Nassauer, Joan. 1995. Messy ecosystems, or-
Presidio of San Francisco, San health. They emphasized re-creation, balance, derly frames. Landscape Journal 14
Francisco, CA and “keeping cool.” The extensive open space (2):161–170.
River Torrens Linear Park, Adelaide, system developed in post-war Stuttgart is a Prince, Carol. 2001. Personal communication
literal example of this, using convection cur- at Golden Gate National Parks Con-
Australia rents to bring cool air from surrounding servancy, 3 March.
Ross Landing Public Plaza, ridges down into the hot, dense core of cen- Rainey, Ruben. 1994. Environmental ethics
Chattanooga, TN (IV) tral Stuttgart (Cranz 1982, Spirn 1984). and park design: A case study of
Samuel Love Greenway, Englewood, Bixby Park. Journal of Garden History
CO 14 (3): 171–178.
Sauer, Rolf. 1996. Master plan for renewing
St. Louis Forest Park Restoration, St. Louisville Kentucky’s Olmsted parks
Louis, MO and parkways: A guide to sustain-
Stadtpark West, Bochum, Germany References able landscape management. Forum
Strawberry Creek Park, Berkeley, CA Andropogon Associates, Ltd. 2003. Promo- 13(1): 64–75.
Spirn, Ann. 1984. The Granite Garden: Urban
Village of Yorkville Park, Toronto, tional materials. Philadelphia:
Nature and Human Design. New York:
Canada Andropogon Associates, Ltd.
ASLA Merit Award. 1992. Landscape Basic Books.
West Point Park, Seattle, WA Architecture Magazine 82(11): 75. Taplin, Dana. 2001. Art, nature, and people:
Cramer, Marianne. 1993. Urban renewal: Landscape values of an urban park.
Restoring the vision of Olmsted and Ph.D. Dissertation, Environmental
Vaux in Central Park’s woodlands. Psychology, City University of
Restoration and Management Notes 11(2): New York.
106–116. Thayer, R. Gray. 1994. World, Green Heart:
Acknowledgments Technology, Nature and the Sustainable
Cranz, Galen. 1982. The Politics of Park Design:
A major portion of this study was funded by a A History of Urban Parks in America. Landscape. New York: Wiley.
grant from The Graham Foundation for Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Thompson, Ian. 2000. The ethics of sustain-
Advanced Study in Architecture. Farrell, Sharon. 2001. Personal communica- ability. In Landscape and Sustainability,
tion with plant ecologist at the Golden edited by John Benson and Maggie
Gate National Recreation Area Roe, London and New York: Spon
(GGNRA), 5 August. Press.
Todd, Nancy, and John Todd. 1984. From Eco-
Cities to Living Machines: Principles of
Notes Ecological Design Berkeley: North
Atlantic Books.
1. Members of the research team were
Michael Boland, Erika Conkling, Chris Heath,

120 Landscape Journal

View publication stats