Community Development: Lack of Public Parks - Essay Example

Community Development: Lack of Public Parks Community Development: Lack of Public Parks Introduction The aim of this proposal is to recommend a solution regarding the focused community problem. Herein, the chosen problem is the lack of public parks in United States. In addition, the proposal may include a number of recommendations and solution along with the discussion of existing literature available on the subject matter. Description of the Problem A vast number of researches and investigative studies have been conducted to understand the relationship between public park presence and levels of exercise. It is evident from the findings that people are more likely to exercise well if they have access to public parks. Increased exercise and workout can result in reducing critical health issues such as obesity. Herein, it should be noted that United States is well-known all around the world as an obese nation. A large budget is spend every year for spreading awareness concerning obesity. Access to public parks can allow the government to cut down on the cost that is being accounted because of the increased prevalence of obesity in United States. Furthermore, as per the recent evaluation, it was observed by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that if people are given access to areas and activities for physical exercise then the rate of obese people can be reduced to a high extent. At the same time, there were other results noted as well. It was observed that people who had access to public parks were able to regain their energy and remained active in their daily routine. Similarly, various researches found out that children who live closer to Public Parks are more inclined towards making physical activity their routine activity that allows them to maintain their weight right from the early age (Garvin, 2011). However, the critical aspect is that despite increased awareness concerning access to public parks and its impact of health, very few communities in United States have access to the parks. As per the statistical underpinning, the issue of lack of public parks is evident in urban areas of United States. Talking in general about New York City, less than 1.5 public parks are available per 1000 citizens. It is due to this condition that people ignore the significance of undertaking daily exercise. Also, low-income citizens are not able to afford expensive memberships of gyms (Maron, 2013). Description of the Solution The major issue or barrier that has been noticed in the planning of public parks is the increased parking lots that take up a lot of area in urban areas such as New York City. Therefore, it is suggested that the high towers such as Corrigan Tower must be leveled up. It will allow a large cover for the parking lots that are spread all over the city. It is not just dependent upon one building but within maximum high towers in each avenue. It will leave enough room for the public parks developmental committee to plan for new parks. Previously, increased number of solutions and recommendations were given that indicated the presence of many towers as useless contribution to the avenues. In return, increased debated context was observed (Woudstra & Fieldhouse, 2000). Therefore, it is suggested that bulldozing the towers will create a lot of tension in the developmental process as well as delay the overall plan for providing access to public parks. In addition, there is more likely to be resistance from the groups connected to the buildings that may be at disposal. Therefore, it is suggested or highly recommended that there is a quick creation of the parking towers that will allow the relevant institutions to undertake effective steps (McKinney, Schoch, & Yonavjak, 2012). Also, there has been an ongoing debate concerning the inadequate provision of land for public parks. It is noted that for one county, there may be a large landscape for the public park purpose while the adjacent counties are made deprived of the facility of public park access. Therefore, it is suggested that the cutting of land is undertaken with the clear understanding of the counties and the number of citizens living in the particular area. Irrespective of the fact that there has been a lack of public parks, there is a lack of discussion on the subject of topic. Therefore, there is an evident need of public forums where citizens can actively take part in spreading the word. The government will be able to answer the queries of the people who tend to have issues in having access to the public parks. The aforementioned solution is effective because it does not focus on bulldozing the buildings but rather suggests to build up projects (Hilson, 1998). A closer look and insight is needed to be given to the fact that public parks should be able to meet the needs of the community people. United States is known for its diversified population and communities. It is due to this reason that the communities are also referred to as multicultural neighborhoods. It is necessary to ask the community members as to what they really want to see in their public space. Another reason is that people of different age are in dire need of different physical activities. Similarly, the ethnic background of people is also associated with the way they look at exercises. Therefore, it is recommended that the relevant authorities must take the involvement of the community members in consideration so that the demand is met completely and effectively (Garvin, 2011). Justification of the Solution Various critics have claimed that major retail stores and shopping malls continue to occupy space for parking lots. In case the spaces are given to the government for the purpose of creation of public parks then it is expected that their respective objectives of making capital would also increase. Public parks tend to increase the value of the area as well for which more and more public parks must be entertained by all communities and groups (McKinney, Schoch, & Yonavjak, 2012). Talking about the pointer of engagement of community members during the public park placements in different communities will allow citizens to gain a spirit of ownership. It will not only allow them to play their part in the social development plan but also make them aware of the fact that their health is considerably the most important aspect. Also, they shall be aware of about the developmental concern of government to make the lives of citizens better than ever. Working together is also likely to bring citizens and government closer to each other rather than undertaking critical approach of response (Maron, 2013). Furthermore, engaging community members in the process of creating public parks will allow them to understand their role in cutting down the number of patients of chronic diseases. Obesity remains as the critical issue in America for decades now because of the fast food trend of eating. With the help of creating public parks, people will be able to understand their weaknesses when it comes to eating habit. In all this, it is expected that the citizens would be able to look at the public park as a way to socialize and a symbol of change as well (Woudstra & Fieldhouse, 2000). Alternative Solutions As a matter of fact, it can be stated that many other solutions have been provided in order to meet the requirement of allowing citizens with the access of public parks. Majority of the solutions and recommendations that have been made in the past suggest that more and more buildings should be bulldozed are built in the ideal landscapes for public park. In addition various solutions have been made to bulldoze shopping centers that are not meeting their objective capital. The fact remains that all such solutions are not impossible to implement but they rather require destroy the buildings that are in operations for respective purpose. Therefore, the above suggested solution of creating higher levels of the high towers will allow space that are currently being used to provide parking lot facilities to the citizens (Garvin, 2011). Summarizations of the Objectives It is surely expected that the solutions and recommendations that have been given in above will raise questions and concerns. One of the major critical questions can be concerning the creation of levels above in the building for provision of parking lots. Many would question that it will not allow space for a lot of cars that are parked everyday outside malls and other public landmarks. However, this can surely be answered and justified here. It should be noted that creation of the parking lots is an effective way to cut down on accidents and social distress. A lot of people have been questioned about their preference over the high tower parking and the open space parking. Majority of them have reported that they feel that their car is secured when they park them inside the towers. In the open public spaces, there is a lot of expectation of car thefts and accidents. Also, bulldozing buildings have raised a lot of debate in the past years for which the problem of public parks have not been solved (McKinney, Schoch, & Yonavjak, 2012). Another question of concern can be posed against the aspect of engagement of community members in the process of creating public spaces for health benefits. Many would consider that the word from the citizens might make things complicated because a public park may not be able to design in such a way that it will meet the demands of individuals from all ages. In reply of such a concern, it can be stated that majority of the demands might not be fulfilled during the process but having a word from the community members will surely remove much of the confusion concerning its layout and design. Also, some of the requirements could easily be fulfilled if they are in respective majority (Garvin, 2011). Conclusion Through the above analysis of the significance of public parks, it comes to understanding that the government should be able to shed light on health benefits of the public parks. In this way, people will work together to make it happen because currently every state is making use of the capital to eradicate health issues. As a matter of fact, the root cause of health issues remains the inactivity of the people. Therefore, it is recommended that more and more attention should be given to the idea of removing parking lots by creating higher levels on high towers in every community. In addition, the role of community members is very significant and that is why they should be engaged throughout the process. The alternative methods have been given in the past but they were limited in terms of their practical implication. References Garvin, A. (2011). Public parks : the key to livable communities. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Hilson, W. (1998). Hamilton Park: A Planned Black Community in Dallas. New York: JHU Press. Maron, C. (2013). City parks : public places, private thoughts. New York: Harper. McKinney, M. L., Schoch, R., & Yonavjak, L. (2012). Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Woudstra, J., & Fieldhouse, K. (2000). The regeneration of public parks. New York: Garden History Society, Landscape Design Trust, and E & FN . Read More