Project Author: Karah Li
The uses of neighborhood parks can be the same as urban developers imagined when designing the area but they can also be drastically different. As Jane Jacobs says in chapter five, “The Uses of Neighborhood Parks”, of her book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”, the upkeep and uses of city parks largely depend on the neighborhood. For example, a park in a high-income area will be clean and “the heart of the neighborhood” (Jacobs 102), while a park in a “lower-middle-class district… has never seen a period in which one of its parks was a vital focus of community life and identity” (Jacobs 103). In my series of images, I showcase the emptiness of my neighborhood park and how its intended uses differ from the park’s reality.
Jacobs, Jane. “The Uses of Neighborhood Parks.” The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961, pp. 89-111, https://www.buurtwijs.nl/sites/default/files/buurtwijs/bestanden/jane_jacobs_the_death_and_life_of_great_american.pdf.