We have a rule, some decades old, that all new development in the city has to include some open park or public space. Sometimes this seems to be useful, sometimes not.
The little pocket in front of one building has a fountain and a few dozen bench seats installed along the paths. Maybe 60 foot on a side, but dozens of people come out in good weather to read the paper or read the paper. They put bars across the seats at night so nobody sleeps there.
Another is maybe ten times that size, but it’s on a roof. While there is public access via elevator during the day, nobody is there. It has some paths between dense ivy groundcover mounds, and a few potted trees. But no place to sit except right on the path. I have seen one or two people a day wander around while they smoke a cigarette, then go back to work. Clearly this was what the builder intended to meet the letter but not the spirit of the law.
Sounds like the latter is a roof top garden, not an urban park, and has other advantages then a park on the ground. But aside from that fact, The ability to see the trees and greenery is just as important as the opportunity to walk among them. I don’t have any cites at the moment, but studies have shown that the dynamic appearance of nature (trees, flowers, etc.) is psychologically important. In a dense urban environment, the scenery never changes, and that leads to a depressing attitude about one’s surroundings. Trees and plant life change with the seasons, blow in the wind, and provide a habitat for urban wildlife. If you can see this change, then the park is meeting your need for a dynamic environment in a static urban setting.
Lessee. The parks in my neighbourhood:[ul][li]Keep the buildings apart? Check.[]Are coated with newly-growing grass that isn’t dead yet in the droughts of summer? Check.[]Provide play areas for the gangs of kindergarten kids so that they can beat each other up at recess? Check.[]Are refuges to duck out of the way of oncoming SUVs and moms with strollers? Check.[]Provide tree cover for the squirrels that have us all under surveillance? Check.[]Have crumbling paved paths that provide a shortcut to get to the train station? Check.[]Generate oxugen to offset the diesel fumes from the bus I ride to work? Check.Host the occasional picnic? Check.[/ul]:: scans list ::[/li]Yeah, I’d say the local neighbourhood parks are meeting our needs.