Encouraging development of a quality urban open space system: lessons from the field

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Last Modified
  • October 24, 2019
Creator
  • Holub, Krista
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of City and Regional Planning
Abstract
  • Urban Open Space (UOS) planning is an important part of central city revitalization that is happening in cities across the nation. There are defined and quantifiable social, economic and environmental benefits of UOS. However, there is still much that we do not know regarding how to maximize the return on open space developments. This study evaluates how urban open space efforts are being carried out in eight selected U.S. cities to understand: 1) How is the private provisioning of publicly accessible urban open space occurring in cities and what lessons can be learned to improve the process and outcomes? 2) How is quality urban open space developed, funded, codified, measured, and maintained? Six factors regarding open space emerged from the analysis of the case study cities' plans and processes. These factors are discussed in detail; typologies of UOS, vision statements, private development and management, design guidelines, operations and maintenance, and funding. From the lessons learned through the study, six suggestions were developed for the UOS planning efforts of the Durham City-County Planning Department: 1) Improve the downtown trail system: Durham should challenge itself to both create a connected green network through downtown and capitalize on the economic opportunities along the trail. 2) Plan for adequate operations, maintenance, and repairs: Durham should review its current levels of maintenance to assess their adequacy, set guidelines for the minimum operational expense requirements for new spaces, and encourage the development of formal organizations that contribute to and enhance the care and stewardship of open spaces. 3) Program and activate: Durham should include and budget for programming of the open space areas to create consistent use of UOS by a variety of users. 4) Engage stakeholders: The Durham UOS planning effort should engage all stakeholders early in the process and coordinate continually as needed. 5) Set minimum requirements for provision and design: Durham should set minimum requirements for provision and design of UOS to set a standard and communicate minimum expectations for developers interested in downtown. 6) Conduct post-occupancy evaluations: Durham should conduct post-occupancy evaluations of open spaces to gauge and respond to user needs and also document its successes with UOS.
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Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Nguyen, Mai
Degree
  • Master of City and Regional Planning
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2011
Language
Location
  • Durham, North Carolina, United States
Extent
  • 56
Deposit record
  • b3ab205f-7827-443a-b796-3f32525f3bb2
Date uploaded
  • March 6, 2013

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