before
KINGSBRIDGE, THE BRONX
after
In the mid 1990s, New York City had less green space per person than almost anywhere else in America. To address the shortage, The Trust for Public Land initially looked to build playgrounds on vacant lots. But as the city’s housing market heated up, that strategy faltered—and staff shifted their attention to a different type of real estate: schoolyards. Most public schools’ recess areas were (and remain) featureless asphalt, uninviting to students and closed to the rest of the community altogether. Taken as a whole, they represented a big opportunity to green neighborhoods without competing for pricey property. The city embraced the idea. When Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2001, he included school-
yards in his 30-year livability plan. “PlaNYC” tapped The Trust for Public Land as its nonprofit partner, in part because the organization recognized the opportunity to involve children as co-creators. Install- ing “cookie-cutter” parks might be faster, but staff believed that incorporating the design process into school curriculum would motivate students—and produce better playgrounds. “There’s a schoolyard culture that adults have no idea about,” says The Trust for Public Land’s Joan
Keener. “Instinctively, kids know where the light is, where it’s cold, where it’s noisy. If you give them the autonomy to suggest their own improvements, they come up with ideas that adults couldn’t imagine.”
TPL.ORG · 35
nana taimor
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