By Neal Gorenflo
Nowadays, childhood is increasingly defined by sedentary screen time indoors and scheduled activities. This sedentary lifestyle is causing serious emotional problems to our children such as anxiety and mood disorders. This problem is the reason that brought Mike Lanza, author of Playborhoods and tech entrepreneur, to create “Playborhoods” for kids. Mike turned his home into a quasi-piblic space for free play specially designed for the children in the neighborhood. The article explores how this great idea came to be and the ways in which it creates a space for children and for community involvement.

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By Enrique Penalosa
In the next 40 years 2.7 billion people will be living in world cities. The United States alone will grow by 36% to 438 million people. The way the United States has developed has been a model for the rest of the world as it has promoted low-density suburban development. In this article Enrique Peñalosa discusses what persuaded Americans to leave traditional cities originally and explores what could an urban environment could look like in the future; a necessary exercise as we think about the world’s expected population growth.

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Published in the Urban Observer
Since the 1970s urban planners in Copenhagen have been working to reclaim public space to make the city one of the world’s most bikeable and livable cities. Although there was initial resistance, today the city boasts 18 public spaces that used to be parking lots as well as streets with low speed limits and barriers for the protection of cyclists and pedestrians. These public spaces are enjoyed all year round and appreciated by local business owners who benefit from the pedestrian activity.

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By Caitlin Blanchfield in Urban Omnibus
This article profiles Corona, Queens, where a network of local groups combine public art, performance, cultural preservation, and social justice activism. The author details the story of reclaiming Corona Plaza for public use. The plaza is the result of many years of collaborations between different community groups in Corona, the City of New York, and the Queens Museum of Art (QMA). The Department of Transportation has given the plaza a revamp transforming a once parking lot into a pop-up public space but according to the author the design process won’t be stopping there. With such an engaged community activating and improving this space for many years, they have been able to leverage more direct influence and create a public space that truly addresses the needs of its users.

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By Peter Harnick
Healthy public parks can do wonders to support mental health, reduce stress levels, and foster community engagement. However, the opposite is also true for parks that are deserted, overcrowded, or riddled with inappropriate behaviour. This article explores various factors that contribute to both safe and dangerous park environments, and offers examples on how park spaces can be improved. Automobile traffic is one factor that can increase stress levels and ultimately discourage park use for adults and children. In contrast, community gardens and community programming (i.e. events or festivals) can invigorate public parks and promote health and wellness for park users.

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By Marisa Novara
According to Marissa Novara, placemaking is the art of developing a public space that attracts people. In the first segment of her placemaking blog series, Novara looks at placemaking through an economic perspective. High-profile public spaces such as Chicago’s Millennium Park and New York’s Times Square show us that city investments in public spaces can lead to high economic returns. But effective placemaking can also occur at smaller-scales that are able to thrive through creativity and good design. Novara also points out that placemaking can lead to economic prosperity by attracting talented professionals, increasing property values, and boosting the arts and culture sector.

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By 8-80 Cities
The health crisis that places like Edinburg, Texas and beyond are facing with rising rates of obesity, a car-dependent population, and low-income residents is alarming. In this report, 8-80 Cities in partnership with International Valley Health Institute focus on the opportunity of using public access to schoolyards as an inexpensive way of improving community health. The health benefits of parks can then serve the local population by improving overall mental and physical health, reducing the costs of healthcare, improving economic vitality of the region, and establishing the community as a leader in health promotion.

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By Project for Public Spaces, Inc.
Project for Public Spaces, experts in transforming public spaces, has released a draft handbook of best practices in placemaking. Highlighted in the report are international case studies as well as 10 ways to improve your city through public space, which include: 1) improve streets as public spaces, 2) create squares and parks as multi-use destinations, 3) build local economies through markets, 4) design buildings to support places, 5) link a public health agenda to a public space agenda, 6) reinvent community planning, 7) Power of 10, 8) create a comprehensive public space aganda, 9) lighter,quicker,cheaper: start small, experiment, and 10) restructure government to support public spaces.”

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By Caroline Flower
In this article, the author emphasizes that, one size does not fit all when it comes to your city’s transit oriented development (TOD) plans. Flower provides a thorough description of three TOD schemes at different developmental stages (San Francisco’s already established BART, Denver’s plans of implementation in the City’s Strategic Plan, and Santa Fe’s Railyard) in order to exemplify the uniqueness of each project respective to each city. In order to establish fantastic transit systems that are usable, efficient and suitable for all, we must remember it is not a simple copy-paste procedure!”

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Published in The Dirt
For many years, New York City has been struggling to overcome the challenges associated with urban farming. With over 700 urban farms and gardens throughout the sectors, farmers fail to receive the necessary support and appreciation that they work hard for. The Design Trust for Public Space has partnered with Added Value and collaborated to produce a report entitled, Five Borough Farms: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture, in order to enhance awareness of the benefits of urban agriculture and consequently increase growing support from the government. The group proposes a merit aimed to methodologically collect data that will demonstrate the value of their work to stake holders, and evidently provide them with more support for local resources.”

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Published in The Dirt
American Society of Landscape Architects Los Angeles has been continuously criticized due to theirlack of public parks in the downtown sector. This July, they launched the transformation of L.A’s Country Civic Center Mall into their very own “Central Park”. However, its odd location situated between government buildings on one side, and a 90-foot drop in the other, seems less than ideal. In addition, some worry that perhaps this is another move towards gentrification by creation a public space that is mostly-appealing to the upper class, as opposed to the city’s diverse populations. Despite the many criticisms, the park has received a lot of positive feedback with their moveable fuchsia furniture, unique plants, and outstanding views of some of the city’s greatest landmarks.”

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By Eric Jaffe in The Atlantic Cities
Have you ever said “I just need to go for a walk to clear my head”, well it turns out your instinct was right! According to recent research, if that walk was in a park it not only improved your cognitive skills but it probably enhanced your mood too. In this two part series, Jaffe writes about recent research in “attention restoration theory” – the idea that a walk in nature or a nearby park can restore mental fatigue and improve mood. The research not only supports the idea that "incorporating nearby nature into urban environments may counteract some of the cognitive strains placed on the brain by the city” but also that the density of vegetation in parks enhances the restorative effect.”

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Published in the Dirt
With the challenge of the obesity crisis and increased anxiety and depressive disorders more and more attention is being paid to the role parks play in both mental and physical health. It turns out much of the research shows that you don’t necessarily need huge million dollar investments in parks to make them health-promoting. According to research by two different authors presented in this article, when it comes to encouraging physical activity, simply having park space isn’t enough, but simple activities and programs seem to be some of the best predictors of park use. The link between parks and health is nicely summed up by Dr. Daphne Miller, a professor of family and community medicine, at the University of California; “Parks are a part of our healthcare system...green spaces, are crucial to solving hypertension, anxiety, depression, diabetes — the diseases of indoor living.”

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by Winnie Hu from The New York Times
In efforts against the rise in obesity rates, New York City has provided a wonderful alternative to dreadful gym routines: adult playgrounds. Although no swings or slides are present, the adult playgrounds are ultimately outdoor gyms designed in a similar fashion to traditional playgrounds for children. New York City has opened their first playground in Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx, and plans to open 24 more within the next 18 months. Similar trends have proven to be utterly successful in various countries around Europe and Asia.

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by Amy Hoak of Market Watch
Featured in Market Watch in 2009, this article highlights the landmark study released that same year by CEO’s for Cities which demonstrated that homes located within walking distance of amenities such as schools, parks and shopping sell for more money. It was the first study that \ put a dollar value on walkability. In the article, Carol Colletta, the president of CEO’s for Cities remarks, “They [the findings] tell us that if urban leaders are intentional about developing and redeveloping their cities to make them more walkable, it will not only enhance the local tax base but will also contribute to individual wealth by increasing the value of what is, for most people, their biggest asset."

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by Active Living Research
Childhood obesity has been a growing concern for children in the United States. In the past four decades, obesity rates for children have quadrupled, while those for teens have tripled. As a result, vast amount of research has been conducted demonstrating the effects of physical exercise in children, therefore encouraging cities to provide more accessible resources. Despite great efforts in various cities around the country, it is clear that children of ethnic and racial minorities, and/or low-income communities do not have sufficient physical and social environmental supports for physical activity, resulting in inevitable disparities in rates of obesity. Many would argue: aren’t these the children that need it most?

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by James Trainor from The Cabinet Magazine
Along with his many creative writings depicting contemporary culture, James Trainer uses the present story to outline the evolution of recreation in New York City. His peculiar anecdotes illustrate the respective attitudes of children and adults regarding parks and playgrounds in the city, extending from the 1960s until present. Through his humorous descriptions, he manages to candidly depict society’s general conception of public spaces, and how their perceived function and utility has evolved through time.

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by Active Living Research
Active Living Research, a U.S based research organization that works to battle child obesity rates through the promotion of parks and outdoor recreation space has released valuable information on parkland availability. The research synthesizes the growing body of research about the role parks play in shaping active lifestyles, particularly across a variety of study populations, including children, seniors, lower-income families, specific racial and ethnic groups and other populations at high risk of being inactive. Their research has highlighted various areas that still need to be investigated such as understanding the connection between park policies and programming.

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Reported by Science Daily
Just a month ago the online science journal ScienceDaily reported on a joint US-Canadian research initiative that found individuals who were clinically depressed benefitted from improved cognitive skills after taking a walk in a park as opposed to a typical busy urban environment. The research suggests that a human’s psychological functioning improves greatly with exposure to a nature setting; memory and attention spans were increased an average of 16% amongst participants in the study. Dr. Marc Berman of the Baycrest Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, who headed the study, has done previous research exploring what is known as Attention Restoration Theory (ART) which suggests that people concentrate better after spending time in nature or even looking at scenes of nature.

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by Maureen Hannan
Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, uses the term “community attachment” when describing walkable public spaces in today’s urban expanses and how parklands have developed into evidence of a community’s overall attractiveness. In Florida’s written work, he outlines how skilled professionals are increasingly demanding of their employees outdoor experiences not far from their home. Florida explains that more and more cities are adopting measures to increase and positively utilize their green space, while noting that suburbs and exurbs still have some catching up to do.

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by Edward T. McMahon
Edward McMahon of the ‘Urban Land Institute’ in Washington D.C. argues that increasing public demand for sustainable housing should not be answered with high-rise buildings; the idea being that it could help prevent urban sprawl. Instead, McMahon believes that density of buildings and 24/7 usage of them is more critical to consider. He gives French Quarters, New Orleans and Georgetown, Washington as two examples of areas in cities that are “compact, walkable, charming...and low-rise.” He states further that a block of a wide variety of retail and living spaces is likely to be used more frequently compared to a block of office buildings.

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by Greg Lindsay
8-80 Cities is tremendously excited to be working collaboratively with Gehl Architects on projects to transform public places. Here is a wonderful interview with Jan Gehl, the founder of this world renowned consultancy, also a professor and researcher on the human dimension in city planning for over 45 years. Jan is interviewed in NYC, a wonderful example of Gehl’s theories put to work with the recent reclaiming of streets for pedestrians and cyclists.

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by Paul Sherer of the Trust for Public Land
Will Rogers, the President of the Trust for Public Land writes, “The emergence of America as an urban nation was anticipated by Frederick Law Olmsted and other 19th-century park visionaries, who gave us New York’s Central Park, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and similar grand parks in cities across the nation… In the view of these park visionaries, parks were not “amenities.” They were necessities, providing recreation, inspiration, and essential respite from the city’s blare and bustle. And the visionaries were particularly concerned that parks be available to all of a city’s residents-especially those who did not have the resources to escape to the countryside.” Sherer build on this message and makes a strong case for the benefits of parks, particularly for low income neighbourhoods and recent immigrants who are especially short of park space. The report outlines the public health, economic, environmental and social benefits of city parks.

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by Jerold S. Kayden, Richard Barth, Philip Schneider, Edith Hsu-Chen, Patrick Too, and Ellen P. Ryan.
The recent Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have put a spotlight on New York City’s privately owned public spaces (POPs) where demonstrators have been camped out and dialogue on the role of and types of uses “permitted” in the these public spaces has been re-awakened. Since 1961 New York City developers have been building plazas, gallerias, arcades and other public spaces in exchange for lucrative density bonuses under provisions of the city’s zoning code. From the outset, critics questioned the value of the public amenities that were provided, and despite numerous revisions to the zoning, the public spaces have remained controversial. We thought it would be to interesting to feature in this month’s newsletter research conducted several years ago by Harvard University, NYC Department of City Planning and Municipal Art Society of New York that is seemingly just as pertinent today on what has been called the world’s most expensive public space.

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by Kaboom!
Children playing outside—in spaces dedicated for play or not—signify a vibrant, healthy community. Unfortunately, as the authors note, the “active, free-range child of early and mid-century America has gradually become a couch potato” and as children become more sedentary, the loss of play has serious consequences for health, education, and community development. This report describes several successful local initiatives to improve opportunities for play and draws conclusions about why they have worked. This report also identifies emerging data linking play initiatives to positive outcomes in health, education, the environment, and the economy.

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by ITDP
Bus Rapid Transit was first implemented in Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, and has become a global phenomenon in the twenty-first century. Major new BRT projects have opened since the turn of the century in Africa, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Turkey, several cities in Europe, and dozens of cities in Latin America. The flexibility and cost effectiveness of Bus Rapid Transit make it an excellent choice for cities and transit agencies facing both increasing demand for transit and increasingly constrained budgets. Can BRT transform American cities like it has so many others around the world? The authors of the report argue that it can, but standards for what constitutes BRT best practice must be established.

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by Tara Parker-Pope (New York Times)
A group of researchers have put new emphasis on declining workplace activity as one of the culprits of rising obesity in the United States. The report shows that in 1960, one out of two Americans had a job that was physically active. Now it is estimated that only one in five Americans achieves a relatively high level of physical activity at work. The research represents a major shift in thinking, and it suggests that health care professionals and others on the front lines against obesity, who for years have focused primarily on eating habits and physical activity at home and during leisure time, have missed a key contributor to America’s weight problem. The findings also put pressure on employers to step up workplace heath initiatives and pay more attention to physical activity at work. Also, it is a great argument for encouraging people to get their physical activity on their way to work, with a nice walk or bike ride!

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Writer and explorer Dan Buettner has spent his life traveling the world in search of answers. His early life consisted of trekking throughout the world on a bicycle, covering thousands of miles in Africa, Asia, South America and beyond. His travels around the world (and on assignment for National Geographic) inspired him to discover and name the globe's "blue zones," the countries and societies with the longest life expectancy, the greatest happiness and other strengths. His first book to come out of this research was 2008's The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, a prescription for life extension that became an international best-seller. Now, Buettner is back with a new book, Thrive, which focuses on happiness in the "blue zones," and how everyone can attain a better quality of life by following the happiest countries' examples.

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In creating sustainable communities, many political leaders tend to struggle between choosing economic growth or open space protection. Will Rogers thoroughly clears up this confusion in the following article, indicating that new parks and open spaces in fact increase business in downtown markets and neighbourhood economies, as well as increasing the community’s health, stability, beauty and quality of life.

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While the transportation component of Vancouver’s Winter olympics is being watched closely by planners of the 2012 summer olympics in London, Vancouverites saw the event also as an opportunity to reframe the city’s long range transport picture, particularly in the context of a greener future.

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Although parks improve our lives economically, environmentally, and physically, it is evident that one of the most remarkable effects that they impose upon us relates to our well-being. Cities such as Paris, Bogota and Hangzhou have clearly demonstrated this trend, confirming that it is the interaction, eye contact and experiences that we gain when we walk or bike that generate overall happiness. Creating meeting places, parks, and pathways, we promote a sense of equality and balance that allows people to feel happy.

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by Anna Ruminska
Anna Ruminska of the EMSA Education Initiative, an organization that promotes non-formal education in architecture, public space, and cultural anthropology writes about the simple act of “CITYING” a playful word that describes our desire to sit in cities. Ruminska promotes the idea that architects should design in a way that enables people to sit and watch other people, including creating designs that allow people to sit on the architecture itself and in more informal ways, without the need for additional city furniture. The article also describes the different groups that tend to use different “seats” available in the city environment, including tourists, older adults, youth, and people of different social status.

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by Peter Harnicke
This report from the Trust for Public Land, details more than 75 innovative features and programs-including 14 case studies-that maximize a park's ability to promote physical activity and improve mental health. The report documents the major factors that stimulate public use of city parks, including: programming of sports and exercise; a reduction of automobile traffic within parks to help promote running, walking, cycling and skating; an improvement in signage to assist with wayfinding and to promote safety; the design of parks and trails to serve multiple purposeful functions in people's day-to-day lives; and an increase in partnerships between park agencies and medical offices.

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by David Harvey
This paper examines challenges and opportunities for enhancing and expanding parks in the City of Toronto. Like many large cities, Toronto’s parks have suffered in a climate of fiscal and organizational constraints. Harvey outlines some practical solutions for improving the way we manage our parks, making full use of the community’s energy, ideas, and funding. These recommendations would be useful for any city wanting to leverage scarce resources to improve their parks.

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by Tom Buyers and Ken Bounds
This report examines the factors contributing to Seattle’s current funding crisis for parks and lays out innovative strategies for sustaining a park system under a substantial budget shortfall. These strategies would be useful for any city looking to achieve standards of excellence in protecting and enhancing parks in the midst of financial pressures.

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Close your eyes and picture a happy memory from your childhood. Whether you’re playing with friends, enjoying a picnic with your family, or sitting on a bench basking in the sunshine of a warm afternoon, there’s a good chance you’re imagining something that involved a public park. And that’s no surprise. Kids love parks. And kids need parks…to get fresh air, exercise, and just to enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.

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Regular physical activity increases longevity, well-being, helps children and adults maintain a healthy weight, and can reduce the risk for obesity and its related health consequences. Parks and playgrounds provide a wide variety of opportunities for physical activity and have the potential to help many Americans lead a more active lifestyle. The collective body of evidence suggests that parks and playgrounds encourage physical activity, although the data are not entirely consistent. Research also indicates that the capacity of America’s parks could be further leveraged to promote opportunities for helping diverse populations achieve recommended physical activity levels. This synthesis summarizes the growing body of evidence concerning the role of parks in shaping active lifestyles across a variety of study populations, including children, seniors, lower-income families, specific racial and ethnic groups and other populations at high risk of being inactive.

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In 2003, the Trust for Public land’s Center for City Park Excellence gathered 24 park experts and economists in Philadelphia to analyze the economic benefits that arise from park systems. From the reunion, they gathered 7 major factors, which provide a city with direct income, direct savings, environmental savings, as well as qualitative benefits.

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The Trust for Public Land launched its report, titled Parks for People, in order to encourage the idea of putting a park within easy reach of every family, in order to reduce some health issues based on inactivity, as well as increasing social benefits. Studies have shown that when people have close access to parks, they exercise more and reduce car-usage within short distances, therefore removing great potential for these diseases.

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The Trust for Public Land has been analyzing the relationship between cities and parks for over 30 years now, and as a result, they have created this booklet illustrating evidence and guidelines to follow in seeking park excellence, as well as thorough examples of cities that have already succeeded. This report focuses on 7 factors that are critical in order to plan, create, and connect an excellent park system.

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Active Living by Design establishes and evaluates innovative approaches to increase physical activity through a more suitable infrastructure, in order to increase health. The report provides a list of promotions, policies, projects, and programs that are being implemented. Programs range from promoting bike safety, to creating after school and summer program to enhance physical activity.

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Almost every major successful city in America has a downtown signature park that serves as a central public gathering place, a point of local pride, and a reflection of the city’s public heart. The City of Minneapolis has a variety of smaller downtown parks; however, they are inclined to pursue the idea of creating a central park that would be financially viable. The following report seeks to outline the general framework from cost benefits and tax revenues, to appropriate location, size, connectivity, and visibility.

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by Dan Burden and Todd Littman
An aging population, rising fuel costs, congestion, health, and environmental concerns and changing consumer preferences are all increasing demand for walking, cycling, and public transit. In this article, the authors make a compelling case for the adoption of complete streets policies across the United States as a measure to help direct important transportation dollars towards streets that support a broader range of social, environmental, and community building goals while improving accessibility for all.

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By: Gary Toth with Herman Volk (The Victoria Tranport Policy Institute)
Streets are often the largest public space in any city. While over the last 50 years transportation agencies have focused on moving car traffic, there is increasing demand from communities to re-examine the role of our streets. Project for Public Spaces (PPS) provides an empowering must-read document for anyone interested in transforming streets into great places for everyone. Gary Toth, a former New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) employee outlines how to establish a productive relationship with your DOT by advocating partnership and collaboration. In addition, Toth explains the technical and regulatory processes that shape how DOTs make decisions and offers advice on how to deal with governmental bureaucracies, transportation planning processes and issues of liability.

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By: Siri Agrell (The Globe and Mail)
By interviewing people making a difference in their communities across Canada, Siri Agrell attempts to answer the question: what makes a Canadian community great? Agrell writes “Turns out people who brag about their neighbourhoods today talk about a place where people know one another, where they are loved. These are places, we are told, where you can walk to the bookstore and the grocery store, to your kid’s school.

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