Public Gardens and Livable Cities changes the paradigm for how we conceive of the role of urban public gardens. Donald A. Rakow, Meghan Z. Gough, and Sharon A. Lee advocate for public gardens as community outreach agents that can, and should, partner with local organizations to support positive local agendas. Safe neighborhoods, quality science education, access to fresh and healthy foods, substantial training opportunities, and environmental health are the key initiative areas the authors explore as they highlight model successes and instructive failures that can guide future practices. Public Gardens and Livable Cities uses a prescriptive approach to synthesize a range of public, private, and nonprofit initiatives from municipalities throughout the country. In doing so, the authors examine the initiatives from a practical perspective to identify how they were implemented, their sustainability, the obstacles they encountered, the impact of the initiatives on their populations, and how they dealt with the communities' underlying social problems. By emphasizing the knowledge and skills that public gardens can bring to partnerships seeking to improve the quality of life in cities, this book offers a deeper understanding of the urban public garden as a key resource for sustainable community development.

Public Gardens and Livable Cities changes the paradigm for how we conceive of the role of urban public gardens. Donald A. Rakow, Meghan Z. Gough, and Sharon A. Lee advocate for public gardens as community outreach agents that can, and should, partner with local organizations to support positive local agendas. Safe neighborhoods, quality science education, access to fresh and healthy foods, substantial training opportunities, and environmental health are the key initiative areas the authors explore as they highlight model successes and instructive failures that can guide future practices. Public Gardens and Livable Cities uses a prescriptive approach to synthesize a range of public, private, and nonprofit initiatives from municipalities throughout the country. In doing so, the authors examine the initiatives from a practical perspective to identify how they were implemented, their sustainability, the obstacles they encountered, the impact of the initiatives on their populations, and how they dealt with the communities' underlying social problems. By emphasizing the knowledge and skills that public gardens can bring to partnerships seeking to improve the quality of life in cities, this book offers a deeper understanding of the urban public garden as a key resource for sustainable community development.

The complete-and-ready reference for establishing, managing, and running a successful and sustainable, profitable public garden As unique museums with living collections of plants, public gardens offer visitors aesthetically beautiful landscapes combined with educational programming and scientific research that promote the value and understanding of plants. In the twenty-first century, public gardens are in the forefront of organizations and institutions committed to promoting the conservation of plants and their habitats, developing sustainable practices that support the environment, and providing green spaces where our increasingly stressed and urbanized citizens can reconnect with the natural world. It is critically important that such institutions have trained, knowledgeable staff members. Because of its comprehensive examination of public gardens, Public Garden Management is the ideal guide for staff members at public gardens, anyone considering a career in public gardens, groups starting a botanical garden or arboretum, and students discovering how these complex institutions work. Public Garden Management is an all-in-one professional reference and textbook that clearly shows how to develop, establish, manage, and maintain a sustainable—both economically and environmentally—public garden. Offering practical coverage of relevant topics, along with useful tools for reinforcing study, this insightful and forward-thinking guide is: Copublished by the American Public Gardens Association Written by a panel of leading experts in the field Filled with dozens of case studies that are real-world illustrations of the principles explored in the text Illustrated throughout with line drawings, figures, and photographs that assist in conveying critical information Students and professionals will benefit greatly from the management principles outlined in this book, helping them establish and maintain new and existing public gardens that engage, inspire, and connect with their communities.

This publication is a result of a 2-year innovative, exploratory, and reflective study of cities as unique urban spaces that support life, work, and play. It responds to major issues that affect the quality of life of urban residents. This publication offers practical ways on how urban managers, urban practitioners, businesspeople, and citizens can engage to make cities more livable by building on their distinctive physical, social, cultural, and economic characteristics. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations, the book comes at the right time to offer integrated urban development solutions that can translate global development commitments into urban-level actions to achieve livable cities.

Public Gardens Management: A Global Perspective provides essential information about public gardens and what is involved in designing, managing, and maintaining one. Although suitable as a textbook, its audience will include anyone with direct or peripheral responsibility for administration or supervision of a complex organization that requires scientific knowledge as well as public relations and business acumen. It may also prove useful for homeowners, for there is no fundamental difference between growing plants in a public garden or a home garden, a fact reflected in the extensive reference citations. The topic is multidisciplinary and as old as the beginning of human civilization when the concept of mental and physical restoration was realized by early man while he/she was in a natural but well-ordered garden environment. Thus began the art of garden making. Many volumes have been written on every applicable subject discussed in this and similar publications. Indeed the voluminous literature on history, design, horticulture, and numerous related subjects is nothing short of overwhelming. Accordingly, anyone involved in management of public gardens, whether as a director or area supervisor, and irrespective of the type and size of such facility, would have to have familiarity with various aspects of garden organization and administration. However, despite the enormous number and diversity of such publications there are very few books that deal with the multiplicity of the topics in such a manner as to be practical in approach and cover most relevant and unified issues in a single book. These volumes provide the essential background information on plants, animals, management, maintenance, fundraising and finances, as well as history, art, design, education, and conservation. They also cover a host of interrelated subjects and responsible organization of such activities as creating a childrens garden, horticultural therapy, conservatories, zoological gardens, and parks, hence, administration of multidimensional public gardens. Nearly 500 full color plates representing illustrations from gardens in more than 30 countries are provided to assist and guide students and other interested individuals with history and the fundamental issues of public garden management. The 15 chapters begin with the need for public gardens, types of public gardens, historical backgrounds, as well as design diversity. Numerous quotations are included from many garden lovers, landscape architects, philosophers, and others. The authors primary aim in writing this book was based on the confidence that a relevant reference, between the encyclopedic nature of some and the specific subject matter of others, could be used to provide fundamental information for management of public as well as private gardens. The boundary between botanical and zoological gardens and parks is no longer as distinct as it once was. In part it is because a garden is not a garden without plants and in part it has become apparent that for all practical intents and purposes all animals need plants for their survival. Visitors of zoological gardens expect to see more than just animals; zoos are landscaped grounds. Moreover, most communities find it financially difficult to simultaneously operate a botanical garden or an arboretum as well as a zoological garden and city parks. A number of public gardens are currently referred to as botanical and zoological garden. Population density and the publics desires and expectations, as well as financial requirements, are among the reasons for some major city parks, such as Golden Gate in San Francisco, Central Park in New York City, and Lincoln Park in Chicago which integrate botanical or zoological divisions as well as museums and recreational facilities. While this book attempts to provide basic principles involved in public garden management, it does not claim to be a substitute for broader familiarity

For years American urban parks fell into decay due to disinvestment, but as cities began to rebound—and evidence of the economic, cultural, and health benefits of parks grew— investment in urban parks swelled. The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently cited meeting the growing demand for parks and open space as one of the biggest challenges for urban leaders today. It is now widely agreed that the U.S. needs an ambitious and creative plan to increase urban parklands. Urban Green explores new and innovative ways for “built out” cities to add much-needed parks. Peter Harnik first explores the question of why urban parkland is needed and then looks at ways to determine how much is possible and where park investment should go. When presenting the ideas and examples for parkland, he also recommends political practices that help create parks. The book offers many practical solutions, from reusing the land under defunct factories to sharing schoolyards, from building trails on abandoned tracks to planting community gardens, from decking parks over highways to allowing more activities in cemeteries, from eliminating parking lots to uncovering buried streams, and more. No strategy alone is perfect, and each has its own set of realities. But collectively they suggest a path toward making modern cities more beautiful, more sociable, more fun, more ecologically sound, and more successful.

Everything that landscape architects, architects, planners, civic officials, and citizen activists need to know about the critical urban role of public parks. Everything that anybody (whether they are citizen activists, or public officials, or professional landscape architects, architects, and planners) needs to know about the critical role public parks play in creating livable communities. Millions of dollars are being spent on restoring parks and creating new ones. Planner Alexander Garvin explains the rationales for their existence, the forms they take, their value, ways to pay for and govern them, and the ingredients that make successful parks, providing the first single definitive source of wisdom about them.