March 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 12

P E R S P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R P A' S L E A D E R S

A Vision for Equity in Park Design
" Do the best you can until
you know better. Then
when you know better, do
better. " - Maya Angelou
Every day, park professionals live and
breathe those sentiments for the betterment of their cities and for every constituent they serve. They know that we
must always work to improve our parks,
our programs and the engagement of
our community members, incorporating best and next practices to ensure our
solutions are responsive to the changing
needs of our communities. Access to
well-planned parks and natural green
spaces brings community members together - no matter their race, gender, religion or income level. And, thoughtful park and program design
supports healthier lifestyles and a host of other benefits
for patrons of all ages.
At NRPA, we believe that " everyone deserves a great
park, " especially one that truly embodies equitable
design. In November 2019, as part of NRPA's Great
Urban Parks Campaign, I had the honor of attending
and speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Kathryn
Johnston Memorial Park in Atlanta, Georgia. This longanticipated project wouldn't have been possible without
extensive input and guidance from residents and grassroots organizations. Today, the former vacant lot not
only serves as a welcoming outdoor gathering place for
Atlanta residents, but also is helping to alleviate flooding
of neighboring homes through its green infrastructure
features. Designed and constructed to address both community member concerns and hopes, it represents one of
thousands of park projects throughout the United States
that puts social equity front and center.
This month's issue of Parks & Recreation magazine
takes a closer look at park design and what different
park agencies and nonprofits throughout the country
are doing to move the needle forward in equitable park
design. One such example is the article, " Designing
with Community in Mind " on page 40, in which the
architects share their perspectives on how the recent
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redesign of Louisiana's Greenwood Park and the
Baton Rouge Zoo has flipped the script on the conventional master planning process. As practitioners, they
fostered extensive community engagement, stating
that " the planning and design teams took a purposefully broad and blank-slate approach to the engagement process, focusing on education and listening
before offering any solutions. "
NRPA remains committed to raising awareness
about the importance of equitable design in parks and
providing the tools and resources to help our members
achieve community-centered park planning objectives. To support this, I highly recommend reviewing
our new resource guide, titled " Creating EquityBased System Master Plans " (nrpa.org/ParkMaster
Planning). The resource provides four key tips in creating a system-wide park master plan, namely: internal assessment; community engagement; resource and
data collection; and development of an implementation plan. It also includes helpful case studies for each
of those four phases to give readers practical examples.
The most important step to achieving equitable,
and therefore effective, park design is community
engagement. After all, you cannot make truly strategic
planning decisions if you don't fully understand your
community's needs and engage in dialogue to translate
those needs into solutions that will meet them. Recently,
NRPA launched our Community Needs Assessment
Resource (nrpa.org/CommunityNeedsAssessments),
a four-step guide that members can use to gauge the
public's perception of their park agency's service
offerings and identify gaps. These two resources -
Creating Equity-Based System Master Plans and
Community Needs Assessment Resource - can serve
as useful complements to one another.
Every day you dedicate your time to finding and
providing the best solutions for your communities.
NRPA stands with you, supplying the tools and
resources to help make that happen.

KRISTINE STR AT TON
President and CEO

March 2020 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2020 - Parks & Recreation