This Friday people around the world will be participating in Park(ing) Day a celebration of streets as public spaces.
PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out! (http://parkingday.org)
The first official celebration of Park(ing) Day took place in San Francisco in 2005. Of course there is no shortage of international examples and traditions where streets are re-configured and space is reallocated for markets, entertainment, or other social functions.
Last year there were multiple installments around Auckland. I celebrated on Ponsonby Road thanks to the work of Walk Auckland, while a landscape architecture group (NZILA) and Unitec students delivered a portfolio-padding beauty along Shortland St.
Taking a strategic position on the famously place-deprived High Street, here is a photo of what may be Auckland’s first Park(ing) Day effort in 2009. It was a collaboration between Frocks on Bikes and Heart of the City.
If you are struggling for design inspiration here is an image from a recent IKEA catalogue referencing a Park(ing) Day set up. By some accounts this catalogue has the widest circulation of any print magazine.
While clearly a mainstream event now, Park(ing) Day is representative of the growing trend to reallocate urban space for better uses. In addition to Park(ing) day we are moving along a bumpy path that includes: parking reform, vehicle capacity reduction, increased prominence of PT, and simply providing more space for people.
Park(ing) Day is special since it is a one-day political event that can be easily documented and pointed to as a benchmark. Meanwhile, the evolution of cities is moving in the same direction (albeit too slowly) with the emergence of Parklets, Road Diets, Separated Cycleways, Shared Streets, and Pedestrian Improvements. If you are stumble upon a Park(ing) Day event on Friday, send your photos along to the ATB twitter account @AkTransportBlog.
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Great post, thanks Kent. I’ll look forward to this event on Friday. Kids playing and street cafes. This should be much more commonplace in the cbd.
I happened to be walking down Fort Street on Saturday morning and wow, what a transformation with the shared space format. Just needs a few more eateries/ shops to bring it to life.
yes, in many ways the sight of children playing in the streets is the best sign of a successful city.
As for Fort Street: Wow completely agree. Did you see that beautiful old building on the corner at the eastern end that is currently being used (inefficiently) for car-parking? How about that for a redevelopment opportunity! You could immediately split it into retail ground and apartments/commercial upstairs.
I noticed that too, dreadful. Same around St Patrick’s square, there are a few lovely old heritage buildings on the Albert St side that could be amazing mixed uses, but are used as carparks.
don’t feel too bad – those car-parks will redevelop at some point. And thereby reduce the ease with which cars can enter the city centre, and subsequently provide additional momentum for urban renewal projects.
It’s a virtuous cycle!
I’ll keep an eye on twitter on friday and hopefully will be able to make it along to one at lunch time. I missed it last year 🙁
Classic idea. Be safe.
This year’s setup will be on Victoria Street by the vertical bungee as a hat-tip to the Vertical Park!
Er, I mean the linear park!
Vertical Park, now that is an interesting idea!
Otherwise known as a cliff, or a tall public building…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9185292/How-to-park-a-picnic
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.516333495116831.1073741829.357680380982144&type=1