The Philadelphia Parks Alliance Surveys How the City Uses Public Space

Community board at Liberty Lands Park in Northern Liberties 

The Philadelphia Parks Alliance, an independent advocate for public parks and spaces, released a survey designed to shed light on how the city uses its public space.

A specific goal of the program is to determine what kind of regular programming is taking place at public parks and spaces. The introduction to the survey defines what kind of programming:

“By programming and activities, we mean organized, regular activities that are offered in Philadelphia’s outdoor public parks, trails and open spaces such as plazas, ball fields, playgrounds, and gardens that are operated either by the city or by nonprofit organizations (e.g., Schuylkill Banks, Franklin Square, Penn’s Landing, etc.).”

Other examples include organized runs and hikes, farmers markets and tours.

The survey was funded by the William Penn Foundation as a part of a one year grant to research “local and national best practices on public space programming,” wrote Lauren Bornfriend, executive director of the Park Alliance, in an email.

“The Parks Alliance will compile the collected information into a final report that will inform programming investments of nonprofits, local government, city leaders and others,” she wrote.

The survey is available here.