2005-04-06 P & R Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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The landscape architects who urged communities to plan for the needs of unborn generations were praCtical radicals determined to humanize the nineteenth-century American city. The urban-rural continuum they envisioned, which hinged upon the adoption of systematic planning proceedures and the incorporation of open space into the physical texture of the citY, anticipated to some degree the garden city of Ebenezer Howar~, the regionalism of Pa,trick Geddes, the community planning program of the Regional Planning Association of America and the New Deal. the New Towns of Britain, and. indeed, most subsequent efforts to develop a satisfact.ory relationsh.ip between man. space, and . nature in the urban milieu. . Paris, after the Haussmann reforms, provided the model. where public gardening was not "confined to parks in olleend of t01in, and absent from places where it was most wanted. It follows the street . buiJders with trees, turns little squares into gardens unsurpassed for good t~te and beauty. drops down gracefully fountains here and there. and margins them with flowers: it presents to the eye of the poorest workman every charm of vegetation, it brings him pure air, and aims directly and effectivity at the recreation and benefit .ofthe people: According to Fredrick Law Olmsted any complete municipal park system included at least six distinct features: Public grounds attached to public buHdi~gs,anetwork of squares orsmalt parks, a series of larger local or neighborhood parks, a large rural'parli: 00 the outskirts extending over hundreds of acres, a "great public reservation",:comprising thousands olactes. and !.inally, connecting parkways and boulevards. How can any naturally attractive features. sQ.~h as a. river, lake. etc., near or distant. be made to minister to the beautiful or picturesqu~ character ot the place. by adapting the arrangement to the development of their most attractive aspects? The inhabitants of every part of the city would find in these small parks and boulevards attractive pleasure grounds. immediately accessible to their homes. to which they could resort when the toils of the day were over. The beauty and attractive interest of the city in the eyes' of visitors and strangers would be incalcuably increased by the refreshing variety and supurb effect of coming at intervals upon these verdant areas. and the importance of attaining such a reputation is rarely appreciated as it deserves. In order to fully enjoy the city, it is essential that the means of access should be rendered not only easy, and free from danger and discomfort. but attractive and elegant,