https://twitter.com/gabicohen6/status/909804813377994752
This article discusses Freshkills Park, which is a park built on what used to be a landfill in Staten Island. In PlaNYC 2030’s original 2007 urban sustainability plan, the Bloomberg administration set a goal that every city resident would live within a ten minute walk of a city park, showing how important parks are to urban life. While we know that they are an enjoyable place to spend time outdoors, there are also ecological benefits. Green space absorbs heat and carbon dioxide, assists in controlling storm water runoff, and can help preserve biodiversity.
In rural settings, people have their own outdoor land to enjoy alone. However, in cities, people depends on parks to enjoy the outdoors. Park design can vary by topography, climate, culture, public demand and capital investment. A lot of thought is put into placing a waterfall to drown out the noise of people or where to place a Pond so there aren’t too many people in one area. But not many times are parks placed on landfills. I think Staten Island is setting a great example of urban sustainability. If you can’t tell what used to be there, and you’re getting good use of the space, why not turn a garbage dump into a park?
