Park(ing) Day

Abstract

Park(ing) Day has become an international phenomenom since its inception in 2005. Gretchen Coombs explains how this urban intervention questions the use of public space and reimagines how urban public spaces can be repurposed to benefit local communities.

From Tactical Urbanism Action to Institutionalised Urban Planning and Educational Tool: The Evolution of Park(ing) Day

“…Land 2020, 9, 217 2 of 19 Carless days were introduced in New Zealand in July 1979 but did little to reduce fuel consumption and were abolished in May 1980 [8]. In a presentation delivered at the International to the Ciudades Accesibles Congress in 1994, Eric Britton of EcoPlan noted: "There is nothing, of course, that is new about a proposal for a car-free day.…”

“…Activists from Rebar group tackled one parking spot at a time, but "the combination of the iconic image of parking-space-as-park and its accompanying descriptive name created a 'sticky' idea that transmitted readily across electronic media" [18]. In 2006 this ephemeral installation grew into a movement named "Park(ing) Day" (PD) which was aimed specifically at drawing attention to the lack of green space in the downtown area of San Francisco [19], and with a wider scope, debating the appropriation of urban space. The event quickly became an officially supported endeavor; San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed activists to take over his private parking space [19].…”

Opening neighbourhood streets for community-building and children's outdoor free play

“…Where broader policies do not support such opportunities for play, citizens may mobilize in reimagining, reclaiming and reprogramming public spaces and demonstrating the effects of short term actions on long term changes in improving livability and building social capital (Lydon & Garcia, 2015). Citizen-initiated interventions at the neighbourhood level such as park(ing) daytemporarily turning parking spaces into independent parks for a day, open streets and cicloviasclosing streets to vehicles and transforming them into open spaces for play and active transportation (D'Haese et al, 2015), engage citizens as active players in planning their urban environments, rather than as passive consumers (Coombs, 2012). They incite citizens in a form of community-centric, collaborative planning to help reframe common conceptions of public space, its users and how it can be used (Coombs, 2012).…”

“…Citizen-initiated interventions at the neighbourhood level such as park(ing) daytemporarily turning parking spaces into independent parks for a day, open streets and cicloviasclosing streets to vehicles and transforming them into open spaces for play and active transportation (D'Haese et al, 2015), engage citizens as active players in planning their urban environments, rather than as passive consumers (Coombs, 2012). They incite citizens in a form of community-centric, collaborative planning to help reframe common conceptions of public space, its users and how it can be used (Coombs, 2012). From the get-go the aim of these tactics and short term interventions is to bring attention to the benefits of them to citizens and garner wider popular and municipal policy support.…”

Alternativni pristupi i alati u preobrazbi prostora ulice

“…7 In their recent contributions, Jan Gehl, Vikas Mehta, Zavestoski and Agyeman, or Lydon and Garcia 8 analyzed, influenced and supported several concrete transformations of city streets and city centers with the aim to create better conditions for quality public life in cities, especially by improving conditions for pedestrians in accordance with the mantra of spatial planning for a human scale 9 , resulting also in symbolic reconstructions and city marketing in global competition. 10 The change in street uses, mobility patterns, and the design of numerous city streetscapes with a primarily traffic function can be observed in many examples. 11 Influential examples of the transformation of renowned or major city streets are also broadening the appeal of this topic.…”