Rethinking & Revitalizing Urban Parks Post COVID-19 - Webinar

Parks and urban green spaces enrich people’s lives in many ways and are known to provide a range of physical and mental health benefits to communities within which they are located. In the past year, with the increasing number of restrictions and guidelines for social distancing due to the global pandemic, parks across the world have seen dramatic increase in use. They have become spaces of resilience, personal restoration, and social activity when the usual amenities were not available. Parks today provide access to  a range of activities such as  exercising, 

Urban designers and landscape architects have always played a prominent role in parks development and design. The popularity of parks today, however, has prompted city officials, planners and designers, and community activists to think even more creatively about the role of parks in urban life. It is sparking conversations about how these urban parks can be reimagined post pandemic. As society emerges from pandemic restrictions in the months ahead, how can we design our parks to nurture this new found appreciation for the outdoors and ensure parks and greenscapes remain a vital part of people’s daily lives? 

A recent study by “The Trust for Public Land” indicated that almost 100 million Americans - one in three people - do not have a park within a 10-minute walk from home. This, and a slowed pandemic economy,  prompts us to ask vital questions about the continuing role of parks in community health, budgeting and planning for their maintenance, and their newly appreciated role as critical infrastructure. As designers, what strategies can we employ to rethink and redesign parks for their continued resilience? How can we collaborate across professions to support and enhance their critical place in urban life?