Comparing Urban Parklands
Urban parklands provide open spaces for human recreation and important habitat for wildlife. What are the essential features of a world-class urban parkland and how can existing parklands be improved?
Centennial Park is an urban parkland that is one of several parklands managed by Greater Sydney Parklands. The size and features of these parklands is extremely varied, with all providing much-needed green space and areas for recreation in the increasingly populated suburbs of the Greater Sydney metropolitan area.
[Image: Map showing Greater Sydney Parklands]
Callan Park
Located on the banks of the Parramatta River in Lilyfield, Callan Park covers an area of 61 hectares (0.61 square kilometres). It features sporting fields, historic buildings, and native vegetation. The traditional custodians of the land are the Wangal clan of the Dharug tribe, who traditionally sheltered in sandstone rock overhangs in the area and fished from canoes and from the banks of the river.
The Callan Park (Special Provisions) Act 2002 (New South Wales legislation) states that the park can only be used for educational, health, and not-for-profit purposes, and the need to maintain and conserve the landscape and heritage of the site. This includes shell middens and rock shelters used by First Nations People and the sandstone buildings and gardens of the former psychiatric hospital that operated on the site from 1884 to 2008.
[Image: Callan Park landscape]
Parramatta Park
Parramatta Park is 85 hectares (0.85 square kilometres) of lawns and gardens, historic monuments, outdoor event spaces, sporting fields, and playgrounds. It was designated as a public park in 1857. Prior to European colonisation, the landscape provided food, shelter and resources for the Burramattagal people for close to 39,000 years.
Parramatta is a busy city located close to the geographic centre of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan area. With a growing population in Parramatta, the park provides a large green space for recreation and habitat for local wildlife. The Parramatta River snakes through the edge of Parramatta Park and this area provided fresh water and fertile soil for farming in the early years of the European settlement in Sydney.
[Image: View of Parramatta River in Parramatta Park]
Western Sydney Parklands
Covering a huge area of 5,280 hectares (52.8 square kilometres), Western Sydney Parklands is a green corridor that passes through residential suburbs and former farming and grazing lands. It is located on the lands of the Gandangara, Cannemegal, Gomerrigal, Gabrogal/Cabrogal and Wandeandegal peoples.
Western Sydney Parklands features playgrounds, picnic areas, artworks by First Nations artists, and over 70 km of trails for walking, running, and cycling.
[Image: boardwalk in Plough and Harrow West, Western Sydney Parklands]
Activities
Identify the features of a range of urban parklands
Students work in groups of 3.
- Allocate one urban parkland to each group of students. See below for a list of parklands to analyse.
Each group researches their park and creates a text summary that includes:
Park name, city, and country
Total area of the park
Features for human use of the park (e.g. playing fields)
Features that support wildlife (e.g. vegetation)
A list of environmental impacts and benefits for the park that would form part of the park’s environmental management plan
Each group creates 3 slides to communicate the key features of their park, including:
Information from Step 2
A map of the park
A satellite image of the park
Sources of information:
- Park websites (e.g. Greater Sydney Parklands)
- Google Maps for park maps and satellite images
Examples of urban parklands to analyse:
Greater Sydney
Callan Park, Parramatta Park, Western Sydney Parklands
Elsewhere in Australia
Kings Park (Perth WA), Roma Street Parkland (Brisbane QLD), Fitzroy Gardens (Melbourn VIC), Botanic Park (Adelaide SA)
Worldwide
Central Park (New York, U.S.A.), Park Güell (Barcelona, Spain), Hyde Park (London, England), The Imperial Palace Gardens (Tokyo, Japan), Mount Royal Park (Montreal, Canada), Phoenix Park (Dublin, Ireland), Ibirapuera Park (São Paulo, Brazil), Golden Gate Park (San Francisco, U.S.A.), Luxembourg Gardens (Paris, France), Green Point Park (Cape Town, South Africa), Lumpini Park (Bangkok, Thailand), Tiergarten (Berlin, Germany), Chapultepec Forest (Mexico City, Mexico), Stanley Park (Vancouver, Canada), Mount Faber Park (Singapore)
Debate the qualities of a range of urban parklands
- Groups of 3 students present their slides about an urban park and present a 1-minute persuasive argument to the class about why their urban park is the best urban park in the world.
- The class asks each group questions to interrogate the claims of the group regarding the quality and environmental management of the park.
- Class members hold a secret ballot to vote on which is the world’s best park.
Questions:
- What would it be like to live in a densely populated city if there were no public green spaces, such as urban parklands?
- Is the environmental management of urban parklands a valuable use of government resources?
Image 1: Aerial photo of Centennial Park ponds. Centennial Parklands
Image 2: Map of Greater Sydney Parklands. Source: Greater Sydney Parklands | Greater Sydney Parklands
Image 3: Callan Park landscape. Source: Greater Sydney Parklands | Greater Sydney Parklands
Image 4: View over Parramatta River in Parramatta Park. Source: https://www.greatersydneyparklands.nsw.gov.au/parramatta-park-environment-and-nature
Image 5: Boardwalk in Plough and Harrow West, Western Sydney Parklands. Source: https://www.greatersydneyparklands.nsw.gov.au/explore-our-parks?page=2&Location=221
Image 6: https://www.greatersydneyparklands.nsw.gov.au/explore-our-parks?page=2&Location=221