Preserving and enhancing natural elements
By Laurel Raines and Gretchen Wilson
Parks serve so many vital purposes in our communities. They connect us to one another and to nature. They support mental and physical health and well-being. They serve an important function in the local ecosystem, providing a habitat for plants and animals, cooling urban heat islands, filtering stormwater, and improving air quality. And most of the dozens of benefits parks provide hinge on one essential element: the natural infrastructure.
Beyond considerations for physical infrastructure, a thoughtful examination of an aging park’s design involves looking at the health and life cycle of the existing species, seeking opportunities to increase ecological function and biodiversity, and planning for how the park’s natural infrastructure can be more efficiently and sustainably maintained now and well into the future.