Photo Credit: Virginia Small
Cities across North America are focusing more than ever on expanding and improving parks infrastructure and doing so equitably and inclusively. Adequately funded public parks and trails are considered essential investments in community health, economic development and climate resilience. Below are some of the abundant resources available.
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy equity statement affirms that "every person—regardless of race, gender, geography, income, age, ability, sexual orientation or expression, or other minority status—deserves access to free, accessible and safe places where they can walk, bike and be active. We believe trails have the power to transform communities and create joyful, vibrant public spaces that are equitable and inclusive.” Here’s information about how trails can help achieve positive community outcomes.
The Project for Public Spaces has been helping cities to foster vital public spaces that are equitable and inclusive since 1975. Their website, “a town square for placemaking,” includes many articles focused on why such spaces matter and how to achieve them. “Equity and Inclusion: Getting Down to the Heart of Placemaking” describes a guiding goal: “While some developments are built around and profit from the idea of exclusivity, placemaking is about increasing ‘quality of life’ and economic opportunity for everyone, not just a privileged few.” PPS’s Walk/Bike/Places conference, founded in 1980, will feature a hybrid of virtual and in-person events based in Indianapolis this June, on the theme “The Route to Recovery.”
City Parks: America's New Infrastructure, a five-part series of short videos, documents the multi-functional benefits of urban parks. With growing urban populations and aging infrastructure, local governments and their city planners are taking a fresh look at parks as a wise investment of municipal resources to address major urban challenges—from stormwater management and flood prevention to reducing public health costs to economic revitalization and job growth.
The National Recreation and Parks Association launched the Parks for Inclusion initiative in September 2017. Parks for Inclusion’s goal is to “ensure that everyone has access to the benefits of parks and recreation, especially historically marginalized groups, including those with physical and cognitive disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and refugees and immigrants or New Americans.”
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According to the City Parks Alliance (CPA) website, “Parks, trails, and nature support public health, workforce development, local economies, the environment, and community cohesion.” CPA is leading a national initiative to research, curate, and disseminate innovative strategies and models for funding parks and green infrastructure in low-income communities. Studies showcase seven cities—Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco—that are leading in using data-driven approaches to ensure more equitable distribution of funding.
CPA also recently launched an Equitable Park Funding Hub, a new tool for park professionals to explore more than 50 federal, state, and local funding strategies for vital public spaces city parks and public spaces. A free January 27 webinar will introduce equitable funding resources.
CPA’s Mayors for Parks Coalition also recently helped secure the “Great American Outdoors Act,” a historic win for city parks, providing $900 million in permanent and dedicated annual funding for the Land & Water Conservation Fund. As a result, federal funding for city parks in low-income communities is expected to increase substantially.
