start-with-the-park

88 Start with the park
Higher
aspirations
If you want to achieve great green
spaces, you need high aspirations.
Good examples can inspire
and motivate.
In 1883, planners in Minneapolis were forwardthinking
enough to establish a board...‘to secure
the necessary land for such a grand system of
parks and boulevards as the natural situation
offers...which, when secure and located as they
can now be at a comparatively small expense,
will, in the near future, add many millions to the
real estate value of our city.’
Lois McMaster Bujold, A civil campaign, 1999
Learning from green space management in other countries
In 2004, CABE Space published Is the grass
greener? Learning from international innovations in
urban green space management. 11 cities with a
good reputation for well-managed parks and gardens
were examined. The research identified the key
lessons for park managers in England:
• Strong and continued political leadership and
commitment to green space quality
• A strategic view of green space management
that is integrated with other public services
and priorities
• An effective and well-developed process of
community engagement and involvement in
green space management
• Adequate and reliable resources, with long-term
and secure funding from independent sources
• A general focus on quality rather than quantity
• Strong and effective lobbying by green space
advocates to demonstrate the value of green
space and ensure that resources are not
diverted elsewhere
• Well-trained and committed staff who operate
in a stable organisational environment
• Efficient management structures that
devolve management responsibility to
the appropriate levels
• Good collaborative partnerships with a range
of public and private stakeholders
• Co-ordinated and integrated responsibility
• Dedicated management models that have some
degree of political and financial independence
• Effective monitoring of outcomes that feeds
back into decision-making.