September 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 69

A Cornerstone for Future Research
As the first study of its kind to empirically
investigate the impacts of design on civic
life, ACES represents a major contribution
to the field. The full report is available for
free download from the Center for Active
Design (https://centerforactivedesign.org/
assembly-civic-engagement-survey). Results
point to practical opportunities for building
on and enhancing community assets, often
through relatively low-cost interventions to
improve maintenance conditions and make

" How proud are you to live in this community? "
" How well do you think the city cares for people in this park? "

Positive Park
Signs Increase
Civic Trust
ACES included a photo experiment to investigate
whether the messages on park signs can be used
to boost civic trust. The idea came from the City
of Charlotte, where the local Parks Department
was considering replacing restrictive, rulesbased signs (such as " No loud music " or " No
alcoholic beverages " ) with positive, inviting,
" Can-Do " signs. To test this theory, ACES
randomly assigned each respondent only one of
the following photos, and asked them to imagine
this was a park near their home. They were
then asked, " How proud are you to live in this
community? " and " How well do you think the
city cares for people in this park? "

RESULTS

Traditional Sign
with Rules
N = 1,841

Sign with Positive
Photo Messaging
N = 1,898

Sign with Positive
High-Five Messaging
N = 1,760

61%

Analysis of the photo experiment reveals that
TSWMXMZIQIWWEKMRKWMKRMƊGERXP]MRGVIEWIW

measures of civic trust. In fact, respondents

57%

WLS[R4LSXSŪ=SYGERKMZIELMKLƊZIūEVI

55%

more likely to say they are " really proud to live

MRXLMWGSQQYRMX]ūERH QSVIPMOIP]XS
believe " the city really cares about people in this

park, " compared to respondents shown Photo

50%

1 with a more typical, rules-based sign. This
experiment validates Charlotte's approach to
developing new park signs, and will be used to
inform future installations.

51%
+3

48%

EÄ÷ñçãÀÄãü÷÷ÐçđãBÐçüçƼđÄôÄ
ƺƺʙâçôÄÝÑÜÄÝēüç÷°ēüÐÄē°ôÄɝôÄ°ÝÝē
ñôçþÀüçÝÑĐÄÑãüÐÑ÷¼çââþãÑüēɞ
¼çâñ°ôÄÀüçüÐç÷Ä÷ÐçđãBÐçüçƺȮ

* N refers to the number of respondents who were randomly
assigned each image

PHOTO 1

public spaces more welcoming and accessible. In conjunction with a range of research
efforts, ACES will inform the development
of a set of Assembly design guidelines,
scheduled for publication in 2018.
There is still much more to learn about the
relationship between place-based design and
civic engagement. Assembly is drawing the
road map - defining metrics for civic life,
identifying research questions for future experiments, and engaging practitioners who
design and manage parks and public spaces.
This work has tremendous potential for impacting communities across the country. In
Miami-Dade, Nardi reports that the parks
department is " focused on design strategies
that maximize park access and visibility,
provide spaces for social interaction, and incorporate things like shade, water, walkways
and signage in a meaningful way. Most importantly, we want to create beautiful spaces
that move people and inspire them to share
ideas and build community. Our parks serve
as the stage for people to come together and
live happier, healthier lives. "
Note: Detailed references can be found
at
www.parksandrecreation.org/2017/
September/place-based-design-and-civichealth.

PHOTO 2

PHOTO 3

Courtesy of City of Charlotte

Inviting Participation
ACES found that simple changes in
messaging can make people feel more
welcomed at parks. One experimental
survey question was inspired by Charlotte, North Carolina, where the city is
augmenting traditional signs about park
rules (such as " no loud music " or " no alcoholic beverages " ), with positive, inviting " Can Do " signage (such as " You can
give a high five! " or " You can take a photo! " ). According to Monica Holmes, an
urban designer for the city, " Rather than
telling people what not to do, we wanted to rethink the role of municipal signs
- what if we could use them to spark a
sense of fun and positivity? "
Analysis reveals that positive messaging can significantly boost civic trust. For
example, ACES respondents who were
randomly assigned photos that included
" You can give a high five! " signs were 11
percent more likely to say they would be
" really proud to live in this community " and 9 percent more likely to believe
" the city really cares about the people in
this park, " compared to those who were
shown a traditional, rules-based sign.
Such findings resonate with other practitioners seeking to cultivate a sense of
welcome. Mark Wallace posits, " Why
should signs always emphasize a park's
closing hours, the time you're not supposed to be there? In Detroit, we're looking at ways to reframe the same message
positively to emphasize open hours and
make people feel more welcome. "

PHOTO
EXPERIMENT

ACES incorporated a series
of photo experiments
to delve into the causal
impacts of design on
civic perceptions. For
each photo experiment,
respondents were
randomly assigned one
photo from a set of
images that were identical,
save for modification to a
particular design element.
After respondents viewed
their assigned photo,
they were asked a series
of questions about their
perceptions regarding
civic life. Since the photo
treatments were randomly
assigned, any difference
in civic engagement
measures can be
directly attributed to the
differences in design.

Suzanne Nienaber is Partnerships Director for
the Center for Active Design (suzanne@
centerforactivedesign.org).

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 |

Parks & Recreation

September 2017 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2017 - Parks & Recreation