Parks + Park Systems: St. Louis

Public park systems are one of the great urban frameworks for daily life and city development. Memorial Park Conservancy sponsored student research into the park systems of Great American Cities like St. Louis, MO to inform their efforts in creating a world-class park here in Houston. (See Master Plan 2015. Kevin Lynch posits that modern man/woman navigates the city just as early man navigated the savannah. Each read a legible environment using edges, paths, nodes, landmarks and districts to find their way home after a long day of hunting and gathering. Paths are researched in relation to major parks and as part of park system. Research is presented on historic origins, impact on development, physical characteristics, park usage and changes in use over time. Diagrams illustrate access to parks and circulation inside them. Illustrations show how parks systems support a civil society: peaceful co-existence, an opportunity to be part of it, and how parks shape every day life motivating city dweller to come again + again.