Parklets, Park(ing) Day: reclaiming city spaces!

PARK(ing) Day: Is a day for performances, for education and for standing up for a cause, where various entities, groups and members of the public temporarily transform public parking spaces into parks, gardens and other options for regaining public space.  Although a new concept to Mauritius, PARK(ing) Day has quite a history.  It was started in the city of San Francisco in 2005 and today it is celebrated in 200 cities around the world.

The wider message is about designing and supporting city models which focus on people and the environment.

San Francisco was the first city to make ‘Parklets’ a prominent feature of its streetscape. In 2005, a design studio kept a parking spot occupied by throwing money in the parking meter and rolling out green synthetic grass.  Today, Parklets exist is many cities, where parking spaces are being converted into mini-parks for people to sit and enjoy.

And now, ‘PARK(ing) Day’ has become an annual worldwide event where citizens, particularly artists, and designers adopt metered parking spots for the day and transform them into temporary public parks.

Urban Rebellion

This process whereby citizens take ownership of public spaces and implement small changes themselves (often without municipal permission or support) has many names:  Guerrilla Urbanism, DIY Urbanism, Pop-up Urbanism, City Repair or Tactical Urbanism (which is the term we prefer to use).

“The lack of resources is no longer an excuse not to act.  The idea that action should only be taken after all the answers and the resources have been found is a sure recipe for paralysis.  The planning of a city is a process that allows for corrections:  it is supremely arrogant to believe that planning can be done only after every possible variable has been controlled.” – Jaime Lerner, Architect, Urbanist, former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, and one of the pioneers of TU.

Open Streets

Open Streets is a 40-year-old global movement, which originated in Bogota, Columbia.  The ‘Ciclovia’ (Spanish for Cycleway), was a bike path where certain streets in the city centre were closed off to automobiles, and pedestrians and cyclists could move freely.

Open Streets is now more of a street festival, where people meet to celebrate the car-free street; participate in group activities such as outdoor yoga, aerobics, Zumba, music and dance performances etc.; and enjoy pop-up stores and eateries.

Since then, the idea of Open Streets has spread to most major cities around the world.  In over 400 cities, on almost every continent, people are gathering to enjoy car-free spaces:

The City of Cape Town has taken the lead in Africa – where the Municipality works closely with local communities in organising every event.  But the community takes ownership of the concept and inspires the spirit of every event!

 

 

Parking Day is celebrated each year on the 20^th of September.  Perhaps it could be introduced in Mauritius for 2020?

Author: Divesh Guttee