Urbanites everywhere, from San Francisco to New York City and Brisbane to Brussels, celebrated International PARK(ing) Day Sept. 17.
PARK(ing) Day is "an annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good," according to the organizers of the festivities. The organizers boast of 700 parks constructed in 21 countries on six continents for the 2009 event.
While there is no official record on the size of the 2010 event, coverage in national news as well as local coverage of a Phoenix parking space by the Arizona Republic suggests parkers were in full force.
The scope of PARK(ing) Day is remarkable given that it was only started in 2005 by the San Francisco-based interdisciplinary art, design and activism studio Rebar Inc. The recent growth can be attributed to Rebar's continued promotion of the event.
On ParkingDay.org, which Rebar conveniently owns and operates, past events are covered and people interested in participating can do things like download the 21-page PARK(ing) Day Manual for $7, the eight-page PARK(ing) Day Manifesto for $4, or both the manual and manifesto for $10. The manifesto, at a cost about $4 more than most manifestos, promises to be "Rebar's latest piece of critical writing about PARK(ing) Day, exploiting niche spaces in the urban fabric and enviro-spatial remixing!"
I have not seen as much exploiting of niche spaces since “Avatar,” or enviro-spatial remixing since “Inception.” Kidding aside, it seems as if Rebar Inc., through the sale of manuals, manifestos, and $20 PARK(ing) Day shirts, is the only party that stands to benefit from the event.
But what about those who made astro-turf or sod-covered spaces for PARK(ing) Day? Those who participated in the construction and enjoyment of the parking spaces must have had a lot of fun doing so, but at a cost.
Those who purchased items from Rebar for the event had to pay what seems like a lot of money for very few pages of information that could have been given away for free. Not to mention, materials purchased explicitly for the parking space also have a financial cost.
The overall costs do not end there. The greatest cost of PARK(ing) Day was on the already existing local, state and national parks. By enhancing an urban parking space, the message that the PARK(ing) Day participants send is one of complete rejection of the already existing parks available.
If there are no local parks, then it makes sense to create the parking spaces. With 10 parks within 45 minutes of downtown Phoenix, as a part of the 12,000 acres of the Maricopa County Parks, local parks are under appreciated.
Given the great demand for budget cuts on all levels of government, the PARK(ing) Day event could have taken place inside many different parks and sent the message to governing bodies that parks are valued and important parts of cities.
It is not too late to send this message, though. Sept. 25 is National Public Lands Day where all national parks, monuments or recreation areas, including the 16 in Arizona, have waived entrance fees.
Let’s go enjoy and fight for the existing parks before we make a one-day park in a city parking space.
Send park suggestions to djgarry@asu.edu.
