At this pivotal moment in NRPA’s history, we’re evaluating how best to communicate our values and goals for the field of parks and recreation. We’re asking ourselves, how can we help our members demonstrate the importance of the nutrition programs, fitness offerings, community support initiatives and leisure opportunities they champion? What are the words we must utter to grab the attention of municipal leaders who hold the financial keys to our field’s success? What anecdote must we tell to help our members and constituents understand that we must, in the words of Gil Penalosa, “go from talking, to doing?”
The Bogotá, Columbia, native and current Toronto, Canada, resident may not have all the answers, but he sees their hazy outlines from the vantage of his big-picture window. Penalosa sees cities designed with people, not cars, in mind. He makes the connection between walkability and reduced heart disease. He sees that by increasing opportunities for safe, multimodal transportation, we can reduce the number of cars on the road and help mitigate air pollution. He understands that communities with safe, open green spaces, parks, playgrounds and comfortable gathering spots have less crime, higher property values and a greater sense of connectedness.
Penalosa first demonstrated this varied and holistic view of parks, recreation and healthy, vibrant communities while serving as commissioner of parks in Bogotá, Columbia. During the late 1990s, he successfully led the design and development of more than 200 Bogotá-area parks and initiated New Ciclovia/Open Streets — a program that sees more than 1 million people walk, run, skate and bike along 121 kilometers of Bogotá’s city roads every Sunday.
Today, as Founder and Chair of the Board of 8 80 Cities (the firm’s name is a nod to Penalosa and his team’s philosophy of engineering all cities in a way that would be equally safe and useful for both 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds, and, by default, everyone in between), as well as Chair of the Board for World Urban Parks, Penalosa advises decision makers and communities on how to create public spaces that serve everyone regardless of social, economic or ethnic background. His focus on street and park design and multimodal transportation, including walking, cycling and public transit, is bounded by concerns of public health and climate change, and it is in these terms that Penalosa makes his impassioned arguments for a sea change when it comes to how we’re engineering modern living spaces.
Ahead of his keynote address at the Opening General Session of the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Parks & Recreation asked Penalosa to expand on his work and philosophy, including his tactics to move from talk to action.
Parks & Recreation magazine: Why is it so critical to take a holistic view of planning and public health? Why should municipal leaders, including parks and recreation professionals, care about how a city is developed and about conservation, public health, etc.? Talk about how all these themes are connected.
Gil Penalosa: Unfortunately, many city leaders perceive parks and recreation just as fun and games. It is much fun and lots of games, which in itself is very important. But, it is also about creating competitive cities with healthy communities where all people will live happier. The benefits include a cleaner environment, better physical and mental health, and more economic development. I feel that we, parks and recreation people, have not always done a good job of communicating this holistic view and its benefits.
P&R: What are the key areas on which you and 8 80 Cities are focused?
Penalosa: We must create great cities for ALL. What if, everything that we did in our cities, including the parks, community centers, roads, sidewalks, libraries, etc., had to be great for an 8-year-old and for an 80-year-old? If they are good for the 8 and the 80, then they are going to be good for all, from zero to over 100. The 8 and 80-year-old are a great “indicator species” for how we build our cities. We must stop building cities as if everyone is 30 years old and athletic.
P&R: How do you suggest municipal and park and recreation leaders overcome political hurdles to the kind of initiatives advocated by 8 80 Cities?
Penalosa: We must demand decisions based on the general interest, which must prevail over the particular one. Change is not easy, and it does not happen by consensus. It seems easier to do nothing new, just more of the same, even if a bit better. Nevertheless, we need to do things right but we also need to do the right things, and in many cases it requires change. In the public sector, citizens pay us every other week to get things done, not to have 20 excuses why things “could not be done.” We must become champions at finding solutions to problems and not problems to solutions.
P&R: In that same vein, how do you overcome intractability in the public sector — how can we get people engaged enough to demand from their leaders changes like those you recommend?
Penalosa: We must evaluate a city by how its most vulnerable citizens are treated: the children, the older adults, the poor and people with disabilities. The solutions to have great cities with fantastic parks and recreational services along with sustainable mobility are not technical or financial; they are political. Everyone must get involved.
P&R: You say “change is hard,” and we all know people resist change, even at its easiest. How do you overcome these attitudes to get citizens and leaders to join together, prioritize and get to work?
Penalosa: We need to focus on the symptoms and on the benefits, more than the change itself. It’s easier to build broad alliances around the symptoms — obesity, physical and mental health issues — as well as on the benefits — having a healthier and happier population. What is most difficult to agree on is in the how, but if we have a shared vision along with strong agreement on the symptoms and benefits, we can move forward and succeed.
P&R: What speaks to politicians and what speaks to citizens when it comes to creating 8 80 Cities; that is, are there any “magic words” that really get their attention and make them listen?
Penalosa: Benefits. Doable. Urgency. The “doability” and sense of urgency speaks to all, but the benefits are individualized according to the priorities of the specific person: economic development, public health, recreation, environment, etc.
P&R: It seems like common sense that the topics you point to as needing attention (climate change, economic crises, health concerns) should foment a sense of urgency on their own — why do you think that sense develops in some cities and not in others?
Penalosa: Because it is easier to do more of the same than to change. Unfortunately, considering the elements that you mentioned, it seems like we are facing a perfect storm: climate change, economic crisis, health crisis and others like population growth, living longer (much longer), means that doing more of the same even if a little better is NOT good enough. Too many politicians have as a No. 1 priority to get reelected and will not make difficult decisions if those decisions are not popular. At the same time, many city staff members have the perception that the easiest way to move up the ladder is by not rocking the boat, not being innovative and not creating change. Citizens can no longer be spectators — they need to participate and work with politicians and city staff who want to do what is right, not necessarily what is easy.
P&R: What’s the single largest challenge you see as you go about your important work?
Penalosa: Creating a sense of urgency. Around the world, the population living in cities will double from 3.5 billion to more than 7 billion in just 35 years. The population of the United States in the same period will grow by more than 100 million which means that 40 million homes will have to be built. We need to improve the current communities, but we also need to create great communities for 100 million people, with parks within walking distance, bikeways, public transit, etc. There is not much time to think. We must do.
P&R: What are some simple changes citizens and parks and recreation leaders can implement now that will help put their locale on track to becoming an 8 80 City?
Penalosa: I want to suggest two actions that could be transformative: One is to make sure that every American child living in an urban or suburban area (more than 85 percent of the population) has a park and/or play area within a short walk. Ideally, it should be a park, but if not possible immediately, then it can be a school playground, or even a street dedicated to play. And two is to realize that successful parks are not an issue of design and construction but of management, uses and activities. It seems that in many cities it’s easier to find the millions to build a park than the thousands to make them work.
Samantha Bartram is the Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine.