“We should all feel welcome to the park” Intergenerational Public Space and Universal Design in Disinvested Communities
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Published:
Jun 26, 2022
Keywords:
public space disinvested communities universal design intergenerational public space
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Abstract
This article investigates the potential for intergenerational public space in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Through a series of site observations, focus groups, interviews, thick mapping, and participatory design exercises, we work with 43 youth and 38 older adults (over 65), all residents of Westlake, to examine their public space use, experiences, and desires, and identify where the two groups’ interests intersect or diverge. We explore the potential for complementary approaches to creating intergenerational public space using the principles of Universal Design. In doing so, we emphasize the importance of taking an intersectional approach to designing public space that considers the multiple, often overlapping identities of residents of historically marginalized communities predicated by disability and age, in addition to race, class, and gender. Our findings yield insights for creating more inclusive and accessible public spaces in disinvested urban neighborhoods as well as opportunities for allyship between groups whose public space interests have been marginalized by mainstream design standards.
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How to Cite
Wendel, G., Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Nelischer, C. and Bastar, G. (2022) “‘We should all feel welcome to the park’: Intergenerational Public Space and Universal Design in Disinvested Communities”, The Journal of Public Space, 7(2), pp. 135–154. doi: 10.32891/jps.v7i2.1481.
Section
Academic
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References
AARP, 8 80 Cities and The Trust for Public Land (2018) Creating Parks and Public Spaces for People of All Ages, AARP.
American Community Survey (2019) Westlake Demographic Profile, Washington DC: US Bureau of the Census.
arki_lab (2017) A short guide to how to design intergenerational urban spaces. Copenhagen, Denmark. https://issuu.com/arki_lab/docs/a_short_guide_to_how_to_design_age.
Biggs, S. and Carr, A. (2015) ‘Age- and Child-Friendly Cities and the Promise of Intergenerational Space’, Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(1), 99–112.
Boone, C.G. Buckley, G.L., Grove, J.M. and Sister, C. (2009) ‘Parks and people: An environmental justice inquiry in Baltimore, Maryland’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(4), 767–787.
Brown, C. and Henkin, N. (2018) ‘Communities for all ages: Reinforcing and Reimagining the Social Compact’, in Stafford, P.B. (ed.) The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 139–168.
Byrne, J. (2012) ‘When green is white: The cultural politics of race, nature and social exclusion in a Los Angeles urban national park’, Geoforum, 43(3), 595–611.
Byrne, J. and Wolch, J. (2009) ‘Nature, race, and parks: past research and future directions for geographic research’, Progress in Human Geography, 33(6), 743–765.
Carstensen, L. (2016) ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: How Intergenerational Relationships Can Transform Our Future’. Stanford University: Stanford Center for Longevity.
Cortellesi, G. and Kernan, M. (2016) ‘Together Old and Young: How Informal Contact between Young Children and Older People Can Lead to Intergenerational Solidarity’, Studia paedagogica, 21(2), 101–116.
Crenshaw, K. (1991) ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299. doi:10.2307/1229039.
Cushing, D.F. and van Vliet, W. (2016) ‘Intergenerational Communities as Healthy Places for Meaningful Engagement and Interaction’, in Punch, S., Vanderbeck, R., and Skelton, T. (eds) Families, Intergenerationality, and Peer Group Relations. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 1–27.
Dawson, A.T. (2017) Intergenerational programming on a multi-generational play park and its impact on older adults. Master’s Thesis. University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Haider, J. (2007) ‘Inclusive design: planning public urban spaces for children’, in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal Engineer, 83–88. doi:10.1680/muen.2007.160.2.83.
Hamraie, A. (2017) Building access: universal design and the politics of disability. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hayden, D. (1995) The power of place: urban landscapes as public history. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Heynen, N., Perkins, H.A. and Roy, P. (2006) ‘The Political Ecology of Uneven Urban Green Space: The Impact of Political Economy on Race and Ethnicity in Producing Environmental Inequality in Milwaukee’, Urban Affairs Review, 42(1), 3–25.
Kaplan, M. Haider, J., Cohen, U. and Turner, D. (2007) ‘Environmental Design Perspectives on Intergenerational Programs and Practices: An Emergent Conceptual Framework’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 5(2), 81–110.
Kaplan, M., Thang, L.L., Sánchez, M. and Hoffman, J. (2020) ‘Introduction’, in Kaplan, M. et al. (eds) Intergenerational Contact Zones: Place-based Strategies for Promoting Social Inclusion and Belonging. New York: Routledge.
Lang, F.R. (1998) ‘The young and the old in the city: Developing intergenerational relationships in urban environments’, in Görlitz, D. (ed.) Children, cities, and psychological theories: developing relationships. Berlin: de Gruyter, 598–628.
Larkin, E., Kaplan, M.S. and Rushton, S. (2010) ‘Designing Brain Healthy Environments for Intergenerational Programs’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 8(2), 161–176.
Layne, M.R. (2009) Supporting Intergenerational Interaction: Affordance of Urban Public Space. Doctoral Dissertation. North Carolina State University.
Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (2016) Los Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Needs Assessment. Los Angeles, CA. Available at: https://lacountyparkneeds.org/final-report/.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Brozen, M. and Levy-Storms, L. (2014) Placemaking for an Aging Population: Guidelines for Senior-Friendly Parks. UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/450871hz.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. Levy-Storms, L, Chen, L, and Brozen, M. (2016) ‘Parks for an Aging Population: Needs and Preferences of Low-Income Seniors in Los Angeles’, Journal of the American Planning Association, 82(3), 236–251.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and Sideris, A. (2009) ‘What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children’s Use of Parks’, Journal of the American Planning Association, 76(1), 89–107.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and Stieglitz, O. (2002) ‘Children in Los Angeles parks: A study of equity, quality and children’s satisfaction with neighborhood parks’, Town Planning Review, 73(4), 467–488.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Wendel, G, Bastar, G., Frumin, Z., and Nelischer, C. (2021) Creating Common Ground: Opportunities for Intergenerational Use of Public Spaces in Disinvested Communities, unpublished report. UCLA: cityLAB and Lewis Center for Regional Policy. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4674f4bz.
Low, S. and Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2020) Public Spaces for Older Adults Must be Reimagined as Cities Reopen. Available at: https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/public-spaces-for-older-adults-must-be-reimagined-as-cities-reopen (Accessed: 13 January 2022).
Lusher, R. and Mace, R. (1989) ‘Design for Physical and Mental Disabilities’, in Wilkes, J.A. and Packard, R.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design Engineering and Construction. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 755.
Lynch, H. Moore, A., Edwards, C. and Horgan, L. (2018) Community Parks and Playgrounds: Intergenerational Participation through Universal Design. National Disability Authority. http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.22422.60486 (Accessed: 25 December 2020).
Mace, R.L., Hardie, G.J. and Place, J.P. (1991) Accessible Environments: Toward Universal Design.
Raleigh, N.C.: The Center for Universal Design.
Macedo, J. and Haddad, M.A. (2016) ‘Equitable distribution of open space: Using spatial analysis to evaluate urban parks in Curitiba, Brazil’, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43(6), 1096–1117.
Manchester, H. and Facer, K. (2017) ‘(Re)-Learning the City for Intergenerational Exchange’, in Sacré, H. and De Visscher, S. (eds) Learning the City: Cultural Approaches to Civic Learning in Urban Spaces. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Nelischer, C. and Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2022). ‘Intergenerational public space design and policy: A review of the literature,’ Journal of Planning Literature, doi:10.1177/08854122221092175.
Pain, R. (2005) Intergenerational Relations and Practice in the Development of Sustainable Communities. International Center for Regional Regeneration and Development Studies (ICRRDS), Durham University.
Rigolon, A., Derr, V. and Chawla, L. (2015a) ‘Green grounds for play and learning: An intergenerational model for joint design and use of school and park systems’, in Sinnett, D., Smith, N., and Burgess, S. (eds) Handbook on Green Infrastructure: Planning, Design and Implementation. Edward Elgar Publishing, 281–300.
Rigolon, A. and Németh, J. (2018) ‘A Quality Index of Parks for Youth (QUINPY): Evaluating urban parks through geographic information systems’, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 45(2), 275–294.
Sanchez, M. and Stafford, P.B. (2020) ‘A toolkit for intergenerational contact zones application’, in Kaplan, M. et al. (eds) Intergenerational contact zones: place-based strategies for promoting social inclusion and belonging, New York: Routledge, 259–273.
Scharlach, A.E. and Lehning, A.J. (2013) ‘Ageing-friendly communities and social inclusion in the United States of America’, Ageing and Society, 33(1), 110–136.
Stafford, L. and Baldwin, C. (2015) ‘Planning Neighbourhoods for all Ages and Abilities: A Multi-generational Perspective’, in State of Australian Cities Conference 2015: Refereed Proceedings. State of Australian Cities Research Network, 1–16.
Tan, E.J. Rebok, G.W., Yu, Q., Frangakis, C.E., Carlson, M.C., Wang, T., Ricks, M., Tanner, E.K., McGill, S. and Fried, L.P. (2009) ‘The Long- Term Relationship Between High-Intensity Volunteering and Physical Activity in Older African American Women’, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 64B(2), 304-311.
Tan, P.Y. and Samsudin, R. (2017) ‘Effects of spatial scale on assessment of spatial equity of urban park provision’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 139–154.
Thang, L.L. (2015) ‘Creating an intergenerational contact zone’, in Vanderbeck, R.M. and Worth, N. (eds) Intergenerational space. London & New York: Routledge, 17–32.
Thang, L.L. and Kaplan, M.S. (2012) ‘Intergenerational Pathways for Building Relational Spaces and Places’, in Rowles, G.D. and Bernard, M. (eds) Environmental Gerontology : Making Meaningful Places in Old Age. Springer Publishing Company, 225–251.
Tuan, Y. (1977) Space and place: the perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
United Nations (2006) “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” Treaty Series 2515 (December): 3. Article 9. General Comment 2.
United Nations (2017) New Urban Agenda. ISBN: 978-92-1-132731-1. Quito: United Nations Habitat III Secretariat. Available at: https://habitat3.org/documents-and-archive/new-urban-agenda/ (Accessed: 17 January 2022).
Vaillant, G.E. (2003) Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
van Vliet, W. (2011) ‘Intergenerational Cities: A Framework for Policies and Programs’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 9(4), 348–365.
Winick, B.H. and Jaffe, M. (2015) Planning aging-supporting communities. (PAS Report 579). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
Wolch, J.R., Byrne, J. and Newell, J.P. (2014) ‘Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities “just green enough”’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 125, 234–244.
Wolch, J.R., Wilson, J.P. and Fehrenbach, J. (2005) ‘Parks and park funding in Los Angeles: An equity-mapping analysis’, Urban Geography, 26(1), 4–35.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2007) Global age-friendly cities: a guide. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43755
American Community Survey (2019) Westlake Demographic Profile, Washington DC: US Bureau of the Census.
arki_lab (2017) A short guide to how to design intergenerational urban spaces. Copenhagen, Denmark. https://issuu.com/arki_lab/docs/a_short_guide_to_how_to_design_age.
Biggs, S. and Carr, A. (2015) ‘Age- and Child-Friendly Cities and the Promise of Intergenerational Space’, Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(1), 99–112.
Boone, C.G. Buckley, G.L., Grove, J.M. and Sister, C. (2009) ‘Parks and people: An environmental justice inquiry in Baltimore, Maryland’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(4), 767–787.
Brown, C. and Henkin, N. (2018) ‘Communities for all ages: Reinforcing and Reimagining the Social Compact’, in Stafford, P.B. (ed.) The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 139–168.
Byrne, J. (2012) ‘When green is white: The cultural politics of race, nature and social exclusion in a Los Angeles urban national park’, Geoforum, 43(3), 595–611.
Byrne, J. and Wolch, J. (2009) ‘Nature, race, and parks: past research and future directions for geographic research’, Progress in Human Geography, 33(6), 743–765.
Carstensen, L. (2016) ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: How Intergenerational Relationships Can Transform Our Future’. Stanford University: Stanford Center for Longevity.
Cortellesi, G. and Kernan, M. (2016) ‘Together Old and Young: How Informal Contact between Young Children and Older People Can Lead to Intergenerational Solidarity’, Studia paedagogica, 21(2), 101–116.
Crenshaw, K. (1991) ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299. doi:10.2307/1229039.
Cushing, D.F. and van Vliet, W. (2016) ‘Intergenerational Communities as Healthy Places for Meaningful Engagement and Interaction’, in Punch, S., Vanderbeck, R., and Skelton, T. (eds) Families, Intergenerationality, and Peer Group Relations. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 1–27.
Dawson, A.T. (2017) Intergenerational programming on a multi-generational play park and its impact on older adults. Master’s Thesis. University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Haider, J. (2007) ‘Inclusive design: planning public urban spaces for children’, in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal Engineer, 83–88. doi:10.1680/muen.2007.160.2.83.
Hamraie, A. (2017) Building access: universal design and the politics of disability. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Hayden, D. (1995) The power of place: urban landscapes as public history. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Heynen, N., Perkins, H.A. and Roy, P. (2006) ‘The Political Ecology of Uneven Urban Green Space: The Impact of Political Economy on Race and Ethnicity in Producing Environmental Inequality in Milwaukee’, Urban Affairs Review, 42(1), 3–25.
Kaplan, M. Haider, J., Cohen, U. and Turner, D. (2007) ‘Environmental Design Perspectives on Intergenerational Programs and Practices: An Emergent Conceptual Framework’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 5(2), 81–110.
Kaplan, M., Thang, L.L., Sánchez, M. and Hoffman, J. (2020) ‘Introduction’, in Kaplan, M. et al. (eds) Intergenerational Contact Zones: Place-based Strategies for Promoting Social Inclusion and Belonging. New York: Routledge.
Lang, F.R. (1998) ‘The young and the old in the city: Developing intergenerational relationships in urban environments’, in Görlitz, D. (ed.) Children, cities, and psychological theories: developing relationships. Berlin: de Gruyter, 598–628.
Larkin, E., Kaplan, M.S. and Rushton, S. (2010) ‘Designing Brain Healthy Environments for Intergenerational Programs’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 8(2), 161–176.
Layne, M.R. (2009) Supporting Intergenerational Interaction: Affordance of Urban Public Space. Doctoral Dissertation. North Carolina State University.
Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (2016) Los Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Needs Assessment. Los Angeles, CA. Available at: https://lacountyparkneeds.org/final-report/.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Brozen, M. and Levy-Storms, L. (2014) Placemaking for an Aging Population: Guidelines for Senior-Friendly Parks. UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/450871hz.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. Levy-Storms, L, Chen, L, and Brozen, M. (2016) ‘Parks for an Aging Population: Needs and Preferences of Low-Income Seniors in Los Angeles’, Journal of the American Planning Association, 82(3), 236–251.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and Sideris, A. (2009) ‘What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children’s Use of Parks’, Journal of the American Planning Association, 76(1), 89–107.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A. and Stieglitz, O. (2002) ‘Children in Los Angeles parks: A study of equity, quality and children’s satisfaction with neighborhood parks’, Town Planning Review, 73(4), 467–488.
Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Wendel, G, Bastar, G., Frumin, Z., and Nelischer, C. (2021) Creating Common Ground: Opportunities for Intergenerational Use of Public Spaces in Disinvested Communities, unpublished report. UCLA: cityLAB and Lewis Center for Regional Policy. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4674f4bz.
Low, S. and Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2020) Public Spaces for Older Adults Must be Reimagined as Cities Reopen. Available at: https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/public-spaces-for-older-adults-must-be-reimagined-as-cities-reopen (Accessed: 13 January 2022).
Lusher, R. and Mace, R. (1989) ‘Design for Physical and Mental Disabilities’, in Wilkes, J.A. and Packard, R.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design Engineering and Construction. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 755.
Lynch, H. Moore, A., Edwards, C. and Horgan, L. (2018) Community Parks and Playgrounds: Intergenerational Participation through Universal Design. National Disability Authority. http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.22422.60486 (Accessed: 25 December 2020).
Mace, R.L., Hardie, G.J. and Place, J.P. (1991) Accessible Environments: Toward Universal Design.
Raleigh, N.C.: The Center for Universal Design.
Macedo, J. and Haddad, M.A. (2016) ‘Equitable distribution of open space: Using spatial analysis to evaluate urban parks in Curitiba, Brazil’, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43(6), 1096–1117.
Manchester, H. and Facer, K. (2017) ‘(Re)-Learning the City for Intergenerational Exchange’, in Sacré, H. and De Visscher, S. (eds) Learning the City: Cultural Approaches to Civic Learning in Urban Spaces. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Nelischer, C. and Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2022). ‘Intergenerational public space design and policy: A review of the literature,’ Journal of Planning Literature, doi:10.1177/08854122221092175.
Pain, R. (2005) Intergenerational Relations and Practice in the Development of Sustainable Communities. International Center for Regional Regeneration and Development Studies (ICRRDS), Durham University.
Rigolon, A., Derr, V. and Chawla, L. (2015a) ‘Green grounds for play and learning: An intergenerational model for joint design and use of school and park systems’, in Sinnett, D., Smith, N., and Burgess, S. (eds) Handbook on Green Infrastructure: Planning, Design and Implementation. Edward Elgar Publishing, 281–300.
Rigolon, A. and Németh, J. (2018) ‘A Quality Index of Parks for Youth (QUINPY): Evaluating urban parks through geographic information systems’, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 45(2), 275–294.
Sanchez, M. and Stafford, P.B. (2020) ‘A toolkit for intergenerational contact zones application’, in Kaplan, M. et al. (eds) Intergenerational contact zones: place-based strategies for promoting social inclusion and belonging, New York: Routledge, 259–273.
Scharlach, A.E. and Lehning, A.J. (2013) ‘Ageing-friendly communities and social inclusion in the United States of America’, Ageing and Society, 33(1), 110–136.
Stafford, L. and Baldwin, C. (2015) ‘Planning Neighbourhoods for all Ages and Abilities: A Multi-generational Perspective’, in State of Australian Cities Conference 2015: Refereed Proceedings. State of Australian Cities Research Network, 1–16.
Tan, E.J. Rebok, G.W., Yu, Q., Frangakis, C.E., Carlson, M.C., Wang, T., Ricks, M., Tanner, E.K., McGill, S. and Fried, L.P. (2009) ‘The Long- Term Relationship Between High-Intensity Volunteering and Physical Activity in Older African American Women’, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 64B(2), 304-311.
Tan, P.Y. and Samsudin, R. (2017) ‘Effects of spatial scale on assessment of spatial equity of urban park provision’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 158, 139–154.
Thang, L.L. (2015) ‘Creating an intergenerational contact zone’, in Vanderbeck, R.M. and Worth, N. (eds) Intergenerational space. London & New York: Routledge, 17–32.
Thang, L.L. and Kaplan, M.S. (2012) ‘Intergenerational Pathways for Building Relational Spaces and Places’, in Rowles, G.D. and Bernard, M. (eds) Environmental Gerontology : Making Meaningful Places in Old Age. Springer Publishing Company, 225–251.
Tuan, Y. (1977) Space and place: the perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
United Nations (2006) “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” Treaty Series 2515 (December): 3. Article 9. General Comment 2.
United Nations (2017) New Urban Agenda. ISBN: 978-92-1-132731-1. Quito: United Nations Habitat III Secretariat. Available at: https://habitat3.org/documents-and-archive/new-urban-agenda/ (Accessed: 17 January 2022).
Vaillant, G.E. (2003) Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
van Vliet, W. (2011) ‘Intergenerational Cities: A Framework for Policies and Programs’, Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 9(4), 348–365.
Winick, B.H. and Jaffe, M. (2015) Planning aging-supporting communities. (PAS Report 579). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
Wolch, J.R., Byrne, J. and Newell, J.P. (2014) ‘Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities “just green enough”’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 125, 234–244.
Wolch, J.R., Wilson, J.P. and Fehrenbach, J. (2005) ‘Parks and park funding in Los Angeles: An equity-mapping analysis’, Urban Geography, 26(1), 4–35.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2007) Global age-friendly cities: a guide. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43755