Planning

75-Minute Education Session

SAT-A06 - Parks Equity: Fostering Access to Great Public Parks for All

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AIA/HSW, AICP, FL, NY/HSW

Lead Speaker(s)

• 

  Laura Marett, ASLA, LEED AP

  Associate Principal
  Sasaki

Speaker(s)

• 

  Charles McCabe

  Director, Center for City Park Excellence
  The Trust for Public Land
• 

  Christopher Cook, Affil. ASLA

  Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space
  City of Boston

Access to high-quality parks is essential for all communities, especially those in urbanized areas with backyard deficits. This session will explore how the act of measuring and visualizing inequities in both park access and quality can give cities the tools to prioritize investment in parks where they are needed most.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about tools developed to measure equity of park access across communities, including the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore and Sasaki’s Parks & Equity Atlas.
• Explore how measurements of access can go beyond a percentage of residents served to include analysis of demographics and parks quality.
• Understand how visualizing inequities in park access can give cities tools to invest in parks where they are most needed—often in low-income communities and communities of color.
• Learn from a case study of Boston, a city using measurement tools to strategically invest in its park system and to help foster social equity.