Public Spaces
Park(ing) Day reminds us how society shapes public space
"Environments change...in the midst of these events, people remember the past and imagine the future."
Photo by the author.
On Friday, September 18th, the international event known as Park(ing) Day took place here in Washington, D.C. The annual event, which transforms metered parking spaces into mini parks, began in San Francisco in 2005 and has since spread to other cities around the globe, including spaces in New York, Denver, Rome, and Berlin.
Park(ing) Day's purpose is "to bring awareness to how we use public space in our cities and how to use it to make our urban neighborhoods more livable, environmentally sustainable and beautiful."
While this was not the first time the event was attempted here, it was the first time the event ran successfully through the course of a full day (some activists and planners tried to host the event in a parking space a couple of years ago, but they didn't have permits and the authorities shut them down within an hour). This year's Park(ing) Day wasn't free of planning troubles: as discussed on GGW last week, the organizers (Justin Young, Brandon Schmittling, and Chris Loos) had difficulty obtaining permits from DDOT for the four planned locations. At the last minute, they were forced to alter plans.
The event's location was moved to one large space, a vacant parking lot along 14th and S Streets, NW owned owned by Garden District, a local urban garden center, who stepped up just in the nick of time and saved the day so that the demonstration wasn't turned into a larger act of civil disobedience. (Another backup plan was to just pack up and move park(ing) locations every time authorities shut down the event.) The lot of impervious surface was transformed into a beautiful park, with real green grass and potted flowers, garden furniture, and lots of happy people playing board games and badminton, eating cupcakes and apples, and discussing life's pleasures. Some passersby heard about the event online, others just happened to walk by and were invited to partake. The scene was beautiful.
Park(ing) Day in D.C. reminded me of a lesson I learned in an urban planning course on behavior in the physical environment. In that course, University of Maryland Professor Sidney Brower described how behavior settings—a combination of both the physical and human components in any given space—provide the conventions in the environment that define what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. While the designers of the physical setting obviously play an important role in the formation of the behavior setting, the space's users can, do, and should alter it according to their needs.
In his book, Design in Familiar Places, Brower wrote: "Successful spaces and facilities conform to the conventions of the particular society to which the users belong; they owe their success not simply to the way they look, but to the way they are used, managed, presented, and interpreted, and to the goodness of fit between their physical and behavioral components" (page 57). In essence, Brower argues that public space isn't a static physical entity; it is thoroughly a social entity, too. We are not just stuck with whatever physical space is provided for us. A little programming, such as an event like Park(ing) Day, can go a long way toward inexpensively transforming mundane spaces into greater spaces.
There are plenty of opportunities for taking action in spaces around D.C. In fact, this isn't the first time you have heard the suggestion that what is needed is more programming in public spaces. Alex Block recently pointed to all the "odd-shaped public spaces" scattered around D.C. that result from the diagonal avenues crossing through the rectilinear grid. Many simply need re-programming to make them functional. Of course, there are many other spaces where a little more programming could go a long way toward making "our urban neighborhoods more livable, environmentally sustainable and beautiful." Go out and find those spaces! On next year's Park(ing) Day, hopefully D.C. will transform many more spaces for the day. Perhaps even, between now and then, some spaces ripe for transformation will already have been changed.
Park(ing) Day spawned many videos of the festivities in cities around the county and the world, including Charlottesville, San Francisco, , and New York.
Pete Witte is an urban planner and researcher. Born, raised, and grown in middle-America, Pete currently lives in Arlington, Virginia and works as a researcher for the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C.   |
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In all seriousness, I'm plenty supportive of most new urbanism and 'outside the box' events like this, but I can definitely see why sometimes it seems as if everyone involved in these projects are talking to themselves. If I was slogging into the city on a work day, I probably wouldn't look at a park(ing) spot and be all like "oh, how awesome that these people are rethinking public space!" I'd be more like "motherf*cker, I'm late for work and you are relaxing in my parking spot."
I know, I know, a lot of you will probably be like, "well, that wouldn't be an issue if you lived in the city or if you used transit." And you're absolutely right. But it's unfortunately not that simple for everyone and these types of ideas probably do not come off the way they are intended to. I get it, GGW readers get it. But I would venture to guess that were this held the way it was intended (i.e., on parking spaces in commercial/office areas) the average DC commuter would most likely miss the point as s/he was rushing to make that 8:30 AM meeting after dropping the kids off at day care and would view it as a major waste of space, if not blatantly self-righteous. Just throwing it out there for discussion.
by JTS on Sep 22, 2009 3:01 pm • link • report
urban hipsters on trust funds do not have to think/act like the rest of us real human beings.
They have time for this kind of activity/activism.
by w on Sep 22, 2009 3:26 pm • link • report
I sympathize with your POV, while at the same time, wishing for a more relaxed attitude like in San Francisco or just about any other place!
These are good events to hold, I guess. But what dismays me is that there is such a lack of emphasis on good management from our government agencies, and recruitment of volunteers to actually work. We always expect someone else to take care of our public places (research and manual labor), and then complain when either something is not taken care of or a really horrendous decision is made. We need to be more involved both in the actual work and in staying on top of those who are responsible for the actual work. Shouldn't be that way, but it is.
For me, it's not just about neat behavioral theories and studies, but more about the actual work.
by Jazzy on Sep 22, 2009 6:55 pm • link • report
Actually, I had to take the day off to help organize the event, and then come in to the office all Sunday to make up for it. I'm in the middle of a mission critical project you see, and I seem to have misplaced my trust fund.
However, your crass and hasty judgment is duly noted, as is your use of the meaningless and catch-all phrase "hipster."
by Chris Loos on Sep 22, 2009 9:44 pm • link • report
Maybe I did just move from a studio in Columbia Heights to a 1 bedroom in Logan, and I've sipped a PBR or two, but I didn't know I was an "urban hipster on a trust fund". Neat!
But seriously it took a LOT of late nights and then taking a day off of work to pull this thing together. And everyone who walked by couldn't help but either smile or be curious.
"If I was slogging into the city on a work day, I probably wouldn't look at a park(ing) spot and be all like "oh, how awesome that these people are rethinking public space!" I'd be more like "motherf*cker, I'm late for work and you are relaxing in my parking spot.""
But they wouldn't see the thousands of other cars as in their parking spot? Also, the purpose of this is NOT a protest against parking spaces, it is an exercise that gets people to think creatively about how we use our public space. How can we make it better for those who LIVE here?
w:
So people that decide to work on something that doesn't directly put money into their pockets aren't real human beings? It's a little unreal that you'd put down those that want to promote making your city more livable and beautiful (although I don't know you, and maybe you don't live in the city, or you just view DC as a stepping stone until something "better" comes along?).
Please be on the look out for more "urban hipsters on trust funds" next year...
by Justin from ReadysetDC on Sep 22, 2009 10:53 pm • link • report
I'm not going to defend w.'s comments (I believe he's made rather inflammatory comments in the past).
I do want to comment a little more about where I'm coming from, though. I hope what I said didn't come off as snide or condescending, because it's the last thing I want. I really liked this idea, and I definitely sent some of my more idle (but less civically engaged) friends to stop by and check it out so I could live vicariously through them (all thought it was great). You guys deserve enormous credit for putting something like this together, and my comment had nothing to do with how w. framed it for me. What I said (and the only point w. attached to) can be read "he's jealous of free time," because I am :)
My concern, I guess, lies in the perception. Perhaps this is because this was DC's first park(ing) day (seriously, great job getting this off the ground, seriously), but I don't think the average DC resident or commuter put two and two together. To touch on your comment, yes, they would see the thousands of other cars in their parking spot if you guys weren't there. But as anyone who bikes the city regularly can tell you, windshield perspective mandates that it's rarely the fault of another car when human beings are present :) So, yes, this was an exercise in rethinking public space, but Washington, DC is more than the city proper. And like it or not much of its suburbs are a vital part of the fabric of the city (screw you, Loudon County!). Therefore, when you ask that ever-important question "How can we make it better for those who LIVE here?" it is important to remember that point. The 'commuter class,' if you will, missed your point entirely.
Bottom Line: Better public awareness and advertising next year would probably increase the impact of the project. I say this as a 20ish year native Washingtonian who, like everyone, lived in the suburbs through the 90s and moved back around 2002. I say this as someone who works with people who bike to work like me and others who drive hyper commutes from W.Va or the DelMarva Peninsula. Most of the people who had heard of this heard of this from WTOP, which painted it inappropriately, but the general consensus was "who the hell has all this free time to sit around on a friday?"
Am I making any sense? It's early.
by JTS on Sep 23, 2009 5:25 am • link • report
by Carol on Aug 30, 2010 2:00 pm • link • report
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