Creating the Designing the Parks Principles

Carrying forward lessons learned from the scholarly papers presented in Designing the Parks Part 1: The History of Park Planning and Design, Designing the Parks Part II provided a lively and interactive forum for discussing the present and future of park planning and design. Moreover, it urged everyone to debate the role of professionals, civic leaders, teachers, and managers in creating and sustaining vital, high quality public parks in the 21st century.  Over three days, workshop participants listened to provocative presentations and case studies, then generated discussions in smaller work sessions.  The participants chose one of three tracks in which to participate:  Visitor Experience, Preservation and Environmental Stewardship, and Design Imperatives. A series of questions framed and focused each track theme and participants took part in several small table facilitated discussions to tackle challenging issues.  Each day, participants changed tables several times; tables could either build on the ideas generated by the previous discussion group or could build a whole new approach and direction.  Day 1 began with a broad discussion about the ideals of public parks; each day got progressively more focused and the thinking more directed.  By Day 3, a essence of design principles was emerging.  Day 4 was structured by a smaller invited "Design Congress," who synthesized the rich and varied thinking from the previous three days and proposed what we now know as the six fundamental principles of park planning and design for the 21st century. The six principles are:

Park planning and design must demonstrate:

• Reverence for place
• Engagement of all people
• Expansion beyond traditional boundaries
• Advancement of sustainability
• Informed decision making
• Integrated research, planning, design and review processes

The principles are the culmination of this two-part conference that explored the past, present, and future of park planning and design. With a renewed commitment to the Designing the Parks goals and future plans, we are now ready to receive substantial input to refine the draft principles and release a working version that can be tested on real projects and guide future park planning and design.  To facilitate the online review and make sure the meaning of the principles is as clear as possible to every commenter, the team organized each principle on the online forum page with the following structure:

• Park planning and design will…..       
• This is important because….
• Key planning and design considerations are……
• Outstanding examples that illustrate this principle are…..

To capture some of the workshop richness, and make sure reviewers have a grasp of the discussion and debate that went into each idea, the team also sorted through the mass of conference material, pulled out the key ideas and arranged them  in bullets under the principle and category to which it most directly related. This is by no means exhaustive nor does it takes the place of the raw, transcribed notes, but we thought this would remind everyone of the essence of each principle and how  it emerged from the critical, recurring conversations that sustained the three conference days. We envision that a final report will be generated as a simple pamphlet or web-based design that succinctly describes the six design principles and  offers illustrations of superior park design that captures that principle’s essential qualities.  Before we create a final draft of a report, we ask that you look over the principles and associated bullets. Did we capture all the key concepts?  If we missed anything, please let us know.  We will refine the principles based on the feedback we receive, then unveil the revised principles online. Simultaneously, we will launch the first Designing the Parks Annual Awards sponsored by the National Park Service, Denver Service Center in partnership with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The first award cycle will accomplish two important things: 1) recognize outstanding examples of park design that embody the design principles, and 2) provide illustrations for the Designing the Parks report.