"Parks Are Like Icebergs" Anthology (Updated to September 3, 2024)
... Vlogs at the intersection of parks, urban planning, urban parks planning and park service operationalization
“Parks Are Like Icebergs” Anthology - (Updated to September 3, 2024)
The "Parks and Like Icebergs" vlog is a comprehensive exploration of various aspects related to urban parks, including urban parks planning and park service operationalization. The vlog marries the creator's extensive experience as a parks practitioner for over 30 years with their recently completed PhD in parks planning decision-making. The vlog's intended audience is quite diverse and includes elected officials, planning professionals, landscape architects, community engagement practitioners, recreationists, academics, and community social actors.
The vlog is organized into six key subject areas, and it lists over 30 vlogs in production order, with the most recent vlogs appearing first. The topics covered in the vlogs often overlap between categories, focusing on the intersection between parks services and urban planning. To access specific vlogs, you can click on the "Archive" button (above) to search the posts by date, listed chronologically.
The vlog titled "The Use Case for Parks Are Like Icebergs Vlog, March 5, 2023" is of particular importance as it provides detailed insights into the practical nuances related to urban parks. It discusses the significance of urban parks and why it is essential to read this vlog. Now, on to the previously produced vlogs! Below is a short introductory video.
A. Urban Planning/Governance Processes
Urban and parks planning, as well as governance process practices, are essential in creating well-designed, sustainable, and inclusive communities. The nuances of these processes shape the outcomes and have significant impacts on various social actors within the community. It is important to recognize that not all social actors have the same power and agency in decision-making processes, and as a result, change processes may create winners and losers in the community.
Settler Colonialism - Israel, Palestine and Canada, January 24, 2024.
Discusses settler colonialism discourses in the middle east, europe and Canada, including interlinks to urban planning in Canada.
Parks and Mixed Use Development - Back to the (Community Engaged) Future (November 15, 2023).
Mixed use has been an integral part of multi-purpose park site development in Edmonton since 1960. Parks and planners have diverged since that time, but the concept is enjoying a renaissance during the rise of sustainable city rhetoric.
The Implications of Sprawl on Parks and Park Services, September 28, 2023. Discusses the problem of letting the economic interests direct development timing in neighbourhoods, the delay on parks and park service delivery, including the loss of associated ecological, health and wellness benefits.
The Precarity of Greenspaces in Governance Processes, September 8, 2023. Discusses how greenspaces are essentially seen as a temporary land uses by economic interests awaiting residential development, in Ontario and Alberta, using inauthentic sustainable city rhetoric.
The “Retention Case” For Passive Parklands, April 18, 2023.
Discusses the need for unstructured, active and passive greenspaces, and why passive lands are targeted for development by economic interests.15 Minute City (Districts), Parks Planning and Park Services, April 3, 2023. Discussed the concept and how it applies and may not apply well to parks and park services.
Land Use Change Processes Are From Mars, Place Telling Processes are From Venus, Parts I, II and III, January 5, 17 and February 1, 2023.
A three part vlog that discusses how land use change processes are not designed for communities to tell their park place stories, without process augmentation. Land use change processes create space and infrastructure, community creates place.Social Actors in Parks - Linking Land Use Planning and Parks Services Operationalization, November 1, 2022.
Discusses the broader setting of how parks are planned in land use change processes and how park services are operationalized with and for the community. That linkage is not well understood or appreciated by urban planners who claim to be place makers. This presentation was previously provided as a webinar to the Alberta Professional Planners Institute.Parks as Systems of Program Systems, November 9, 2022.
Discusses systems planning approach historically used in urban park planning, and how each park is connected to the broader park system.Pulling Back the Curtain - Area Park System Planning, September 30, 2022. Discusses an actual example of how farmland and natural areas were planned to accommodate urban land uses, including parks on a system basis, using the Riverview Area Structure Plan in Edmonton.
Municipal Park Decision Making In a (Neoliberal) Pluralistic Society, September 5, 2022.
Discusses the tension between short term economic interests and long term broader community ecological and health and wellness benefits and outcomes.
B. Knowledge Sharing in Governance Processes
Sharing knowledge in land use change processes is a crucial aspect of ensuring the authenticity and effectiveness of democratic processes. By disseminating accurate and timely information, elected officials and administrators can enhance the transparency and legitimacy of decision-making processes. In this response, we will explore the importance of knowledge sharing in land use change processes, provide examples of how it can be implemented, and discuss the benefits it brings to democratic processes.
The (composite) role of a Parks Planner (September 3, 2024). Provides insight in to how parks planners work with other planners, areas of expertise, functions, civil society and elected officials.
The Intersection of Neurodiversity and Urban Planning Processes Knowledge Sharing. (April 15, 2024) Discusses the challenge of knowledge sharing and knowledge processing in land use change processes with a broad range of neurodiversity populations. Adoption of universal process design principles will better engage all populations.
Planners as Knowledge Assemblers, Disseminators and Translators, August 18, 2023. Discusses the role of planners in providing accurate and transparent knowledge in land use change processes, including current deficencies.
"(s)Pickleballing" Community Planning Nomenclature, June 20, 2023.
Discusses the challenge of planner and legal speak in land use change processes that hides in plain site information in council reporting.The Known Unknowns in Municipal Governance Processes - My 3 minute Phd Dissertation May 1, 2023.
Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy Part I and II. March 20 and 21.
Discusses the flawed process used by the City to repurpose public lands, including how some internal policy information was purposely was not shared with the community.
C. Recreation and Leisure Trends, Knowledge and Information
Parks planning is an integral part of urban planning, focusing on the development and design of parks, open spaces, and recreational areas within communities. Parks play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life for residents, promoting physical and mental well-being, and providing opportunities for leisure and recreation. The process of parks planning involves understanding the needs and desires of the community, evaluating current park assets, determining the financial feasibility of proposed projects, and creating a comprehensive project plan. Engaging community members, stakeholders, and experts in the planning process is essential to ensure that the park meets the diverse needs of the community. Within that frame, below are contemporary park planning topics previously included in my vlogs.
Recreational and Leisure Needs Part II (February 23, 2024). This is a nuts and bolts discussion of the elements of a recreational need assessment.
Assessing Recreation and Leisure Needs - Part I Using Descriptive Writing (February 16, 2024.)
The first of a two part vlog discussing recreational and leisure need assessment. The vlog discusses how using descriptive writing using the senses as a lens (not a tool) could inform need assessment by revealing benefits and outcomes in a more visible and meaningful way.
Park Peoples 2023 Canadian City Parks Report - Surfacing Solutions, October 12, 2023.
Discusses the top 10 2023 park issues of the day expressed by the public and practitioners.2022 Alberta Recreation Data, Trends and Implications, August 31, 2023. Discusses changes in recreation new and evolving interests.
Dog Off leash (in) Park Institution, February 16, 2023.
Discusses competing community needs in park planning process.Dog Off Leash Planning and Implementation, February 14, 2023.
Discusses how park land use change can be effectively mediated between competing uses.Investing in Parks, Investing in People, Investing in Well-Being, November 22, 2023. Discusses the people benefits of park and park service benefits.
Why Parks? A Summary of Park Benefit Research, November 14, 2022.
A discussion of ecological, health and wellness, ecomomic goods and services using Dr. John Cromptons research.Urban Parks and Urban Problems, October 20, 2022.
A historical discussion of how parks planning has evolved in the past 150 years to mitigate the densification of urban settings.
D. Specific Park Site Chats
Gallagher Park, Parts I and II. What you can see and do in Gallagher Park, and what is hiding in plain sight. (August 13, 2024).
MacKinnon Ravine Park, Parts I and II. What you can see, and what is hiding in plain sight (July 7, 2024)
Louise Mackinney Park, Parts I and II. What you can see and what is hiding in plain sight (July 3, 2024)
Contemporary Park Issues - Stanley Park Tree Cull (March 28, 2024). Discusses the reality of climate change, impact on trees in Vancouver and Edmonton, and budgeting of scarce funds.
Park Chat #1. Tempelhof Park, Berlin Germany, October 19, 2023.
A discussion that blends park history, planning, programs, maintenance and security in a specific cultural high density urban setting.William Hawrelak Park Closure - Are Trees the Canary in the Coal Mine? Feb 3, 2023.
Discusses the complete (and unecessary) three year closure of a major urban park to accommodate park revitalization. The city is prioritizing construction project managers needs over community needs and interests.Lewis Farms Recreation Centre, November 30, 2022.
Discusses the public controversy over program and funding for the planned Lewis Farms Recreation Centre, including the challenge of providing legacy facilities.
E. Ethics and Planning
Ethics and Planning or Planner Ethics (December 12, 2023).
This is a “what comes first chicken or the egg” discussion about planner ethics - pragmatism in process vs ethics.
F. Other
Affordable Housing is More Than Bricks and Mortar, July 10, 2023. Discusses how like recreation bricks and mortar is only part of the solution to addressing affordable housing. Urban land use change processes operationalize infrastructure development without a plan to operationalize affordable housing.