Parks and other types of urban green spaces are often perceived as nice-to-haves rather than must-haves. However, as I have argued and shared in numerous articles (like Nurturing Neighborhoods), urban green spaces contribute significantly to the quality of life in communities and offer benefits well beyond their boundaries. For those who share this perspective or want to learn more about the relationship between parks and health equity, I suggest reading the book Urban Green Spaces – Public Health and Sustainability in the United States (2019) by Viniece Jennings, Matthew H. E. M. Browning, and Alessandro Rigolon. The intended audience for the book includes researchers, students, and practitioners in urban planning, parks and recreation, public health, and other fields. As a park planner and ‘plannerd,’ I found this book to be a page-turner and finished it in one sitting during a flight. Highlighted below are three issues that stood out to me: [Read more…] about Book Review: Urban Green Spaces
About Clement Lau
Fostering Health and Wellness Through Shared Use Facilities | Health & Wellness | Parks and Recreation Magazine | NRPA
A lack of vacant land is forcing L.A. County agencies to seek innovative solutions and creative partnerships to meet the needs of their communities, especially underserved communities.
Los Angeles County Using Technology to Advance Health and Wellness | Open Space | National Recreation and Park Association
https://www.nrpa.org/blog/los-angeles-county-using-technology-to-advance-health-and-wellness/
The L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation’s refreshed trails website and new mobile app promote the use of trails and informing the public of the value of stewardship, conservation and habitat restoration.
Beyond Location Maps – PRB
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2019/5/beyond-location-maps
Every parks department knows where its facilities are, and most have published maps identifying the location of their parks for the benefit of visitors. However, not all parks agencies maintain a geographic
Book Review: Wild LA
Nature is everywhere in Los Angeles. That is the main message you will get from reading the new book “Wild LA: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Los Angeles” released by Timber Press. While we may all be aware that wildlife can be found in the Santa Monica Mountains or the Angeles National Forest, many of us probably do not think of Los Angeles as an area of incredible biological diversity. But the truth is that there is a tremendous diversity of species in L.A. and there are many stories to tell, according to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the authors of the book: Lila Higgins, Dr. Gregory B. Pauly, Dr. Jason G. Goldman, and Charles Hood. [Read more…] about Book Review: Wild LA
Meeting Park Needs Through Mobile Recreation
Have you heard of mobile recreation? Essentially, this is the idea of bringing recreational resources to communities, especially those that lack parks. UCLA professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris was perhaps ahead of her time when she said in 1995 that “the ever-changing urban form and social ecology of neighborhoods calls for a flexible rather than rigid park design and for spatial layouts that can be easily changed in response to future needs… One can even think of mobile parks-spaces whose equipment and furniture can be transported to other parts of the city if the need arises.” [Read more…] about Meeting Park Needs Through Mobile Recreation
A Walk to the Park
“That’s a walk in the park!” Most of us are familiar with this expression which is used to describe something that is very easy to do. Ironically, a walk to a park may actually not be a walk in the park for a variety of reasons. For example, there may not be a park within walking distance (typically defined as a half-mile) from one’s home. There may also be physical and social barriers that often make walking to parks challenging and undesirable, such as a lack of infrastructure like sidewalks and crosswalks, traffic safety concerns like speeding vehicles, and crime issue like the presence of gangs. [Read more…] about A Walk to the Park
Nature for Neighborhoods
Have you heard of “nature-deficit disorder“? Coined by author and journalist Richard Louv, the term refers to possible negative consequences to individual health and the social fabric as children stay more time indoors and away from physical contact with the natural world. [Read more…] about Nature for Neighborhoods
Presents for Plannerds: 2018 Edition
Let me begin with a confession. I almost decided not to continue my annual update of Presents for Plannerds which I started in 2013. As my family knows, I have never been much of a shopper, but I thought it would be fun to compile a list of gift ideas for my fellow planners and those who may want to give us presents for Christmas. So I updated the list in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. But as December approached this year, [Read more…] about Presents for Plannerds: 2018 Edition
Looking Ahead to 2019: Events for Planners
Can you believe that it is October already? With 2019 arriving in less than three months, I would like to highlight twelve events that planners, architects, and landscape architects can look forward to in the new year. [Read more…] about Looking Ahead to 2019: Events for Planners