Gregory Bush, "Redefining the Dichotomy Between Passive vs. Active Parks"

We have heard it again and again.  Miami does not need more passive parks.  We need active parks, which usually means sports fields. There are two concerns here that bear further thought. On the one hand, no one is against active parks but so often that term is a pretext for commercializing park space - and often for favored interests. That is clearly reflected in Miami's modern history. We already have commercial spaces such as the ATT Amphitheater.  What the city's waterfront needs are accessible spaces for neighborhood residents to walk, relax, play ball, fly a kite, see some beautiful flowers and trees, watch the waterfront, perhaps eat an ice cream or snack, jump in a splash fountain, and taike a break from the hustle and bustle of a rather sterile city atmosphere. In other words, an active park should have human scale activities - and security- that brings people there but does so in a human scale.  It does not need to be a major spectacle - that so often seems to be the desired end of Miami's use of its public spaces. It seems that spaces that  are "green" with trees and flowers, meandering pathways and ponds - do not have a clear financial gain for the city and thus are less useful.  Well, parks should not be looked on as cash cows.  They are a public ammenity, part of why people pay taxes.  On the other hand, most planners create plans with "green space" without giving those spaces adequate consideration about what would make them both beautiful as well as active.  They are not mutually incompatible but that is the convenient way to conceptualize a passive park as a simple throwback to a 19th century Olmsteadian notion of parks. That's a basic set up to expropriate parkspace for non-park purposes.  Miami needs to define a new set of principles to define its park spaces, building on the work of Goody Clancy's Master Plan.  Make those green spaces into textured and beautiful spaces that people will want to visit!  Get people involved in helping to design them.  European cities do not seem to have the problems that we have in Miami.  They have gorgeous parks with small scale ammenities and they are hugely popular.  You can walk to them or take public transportation. Let's get it together.