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Social Justice and
the Transforming Quality of Gardens highlighted
the development of green space as a means of promoting
urban tranquility. Community activists described local
projects and participated in a spirited panel
discussion.
The Social
Justice and the Transforming Quality of Gardens panel included Nancy
Kafka, Senior Project Manager for Trust for Public
Land’s Parks for People project; Charles Lord, Executive
Director of Urban Ecology Institute; Jorge Martinez,
Executive Director of Project RIGHT; and Patrice Todisco,
Executive Director of The Esplanade Association. Public
perception, they remarked, is that parks are often unsafe.
In fact, Todisco pointed out, multiple studies
indicate that the more green space in a neighborhood, the
lower the crime rate. Lord reiterated the point by
displaying statistics showing that people are most unhappy
and most want to move away from areas without tree cover.
However,
Martinez
pointed out that urban planning often puts green space
last, so that urban projects often wind up with little
more than a tot lot and a trampled edging strip of grass.
The panelists concluded that urban ills such as crime and
poor economy, inherent in an area with a high population
density, can be mitigated by providing space to play,
meditate, and exercise —nutrition can also be
incorporated by growing vegetables and fruit. The
alternative, as Todisco put it, is that “allowing the
parks to decline is like letting the back porch of your
house fall off.”
Imette's Garden Site |
Mother's Rest Site |
Outreach
was cited as a major part of the design process. The key
to a successful project, according to Martinez, is the participation of at least 12-15 people who
“take ownership.” With that foundation,
community involvement is likely to continue after
construction is finished. The most used parks, as
manifested by a high number of planned and informal
activities, will be those policed and maintained by
neighbors. Martinez
described one park in which safety was insured by local
gang members.
One
COGdesign project in the making is Imette’s Garden,
planned as a meditation garden tucked between two
buildings in the densely built-up Longwood/Mission
Hill area of
Boston
. It will commemorate the loss of a young resident, Imette
St Guillen, a graduate of Boston Latin and
George
Washington
University, who was murdered in New York City last February.
Mother’s
Rest in Franklin Park, the largest park in Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, is the
site of a restoration project that may include
the recovery of an underground spring.
Children study nature in Puddingstone Garden. |
One
completed project,
Puddingstone
Garden
, designed by COG designer Janis Porter, was mentioned as
an example of successfully including residents in the
design process.
The event
took place at the new Arsenal
Center
for the Arts in Watertown, formerly part of a United States arsenal. Guests
quaffed wine and ate dainties in the brand new space and
mingled before displays of design projects. The crowd was
also treated to a tour of the new facility, where, in the
past, armaments had been manufactured. As COG designer and
Arsenal
Center
for the Arts board member Monica Fairbairn pointed out, on
this occasion, “guns into plowshares” seemed an ideal
closer to realization.
-- Fran
Gustman, writer & editor,
HortResources, NELDHA
fgustmaneditor@gmail.com
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