Reimagining (Sub-) Urban Parks: The challenges of negotiating conflicting interests in a park system master planning process
Reimagining (Sub-) Urban Parks

The challenges of negotiating conflicting interests in a park system master planning process

Authors

  • Wolfram Hoefer The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers
  • Beth Ravit The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers

Downloads

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7480/spool.2018.2.3305

Keywords:

suburban parks, park politics, participatory planning, community outreach, environmental planning, park use

Abstract

The demand for green spaces in highly urbanised, metropolitan cities is well documented. However, adjacent to or surrounding these densely populated urban centres are extensive areas of newer suburbs, where land use and public space demands differ from those found in large urban cities. Though dependent on the age of a suburb and its associated societal changes, the demands made upon suburban green spaces are changing. However, little research has focused on ageing suburban park systems, which today may be managed by multiple administrative entities.

The development of a master plan for the seventy-year-old network of Bergen County parks, located in north-eastern New Jersey, approximately 30 km outside of New York City, is a case study that illustrates this environmental planning challenge. Competing user interests can be traced to conflicting demands and expectations for open space amenities, highlighting the difficulty of providing an equal voice to all park user populations.

A primary goal of this user-driven public process was to foster mutual respect and understanding between relevant groups, creating the possibility that these groups will become stewards of the county park system over the long-term under subsequently elected administrations. Having these public champions will be critical to successfully implementing and sustaining the proposed parks master plan concept. The following discussion describes a community engagement process that surfaced and negotiated user conflicts linked to New Jersey’s specific administrative and political environment.

How to Cite

Hoefer, W., & Ravit, B. (2018). Reimagining (Sub-) Urban Parks: The challenges of negotiating conflicting interests in a park system master planning process. SPOOL, 5(2), 37–54. https://doi.org/10.7480/spool.2018.2.3305

Published

2018-12-29

Plaudit

References

BCP Commission (1947). Bergen County’s Park Program First Annual Report of the Bergen County Park Commission 1947. Hackensack: Bergen County Document.

Carr, E. (1998). Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture & the National Park Service. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Currie M. A., (2017). A design framework for small parks in ultraurban, metropolitan, suburban and small town settings. Journal of Urban Design (22) 1, 76-95.

De la Peña, D., ‎ Jones Allen, D., Hester, R., ‎Hou, J, Lawson, L., & McNally, M. (2017). Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity. Washington DC: Island Press.

Duany, A., Plater-Zyberk, E., & Speck, J. (2010). Suburban Nation. The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York, NY: North Point Press.

Godbey, G., Caldwell, L., Floyd, M., & Payne, L. (2005). Contributions of Leisure Studies and Recreation and Park Management Research to the Active Living Agenda. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (28) 2S2, 150-158.

Hoefer, W. (2013). Landscape Urbanism/Landschaftsurbanismus. In Jirku, A. (Ed.), StadtGrün. (pp. 74-81). München: Frauenhofer IRB Verlag.

Hughes, J., & Seneca, J. (2015). New Jersey's Postsuburban Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Martin, D. M. (2001). Returning to Radburn. Landscape Journal 20(2) 156-175.

Olwig, K. (2005). The Landscape of ‘Customary’ Law versus that of ‘Natural’ Law. Landscape Research; (30) 3. (pp. 299-320).

Salmore, B. (2013) New Jersey Politics and Government. The Suburbs Com of Age. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Shirtcliff, B. (2016). "Big Data in the Big Easy." Landscape Journal 34(2), 49-64.


Steiner, F. (2008). The living landscape: An ecological approach to landscape planning (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Island Press.

Steiner, F. (2018). Making Plans. How to engage with landscape, design, and the urban environment. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Stilgoe, J. (1988). Borderland. Origins of the American suburb, 1820-1939. New Haven: Yale University Press.

TPL (2016): Trust for Public Land City Park Facts. https://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/2016%20City%20Park%20Facts_0.pdf. Last accessed 7/23/2018

Whyte, W. (1964). Cluster development. New York: American Conservation Association.