KAMIL ROGOWSKI

The global movement of PARK(ing) Day is back in Saskatoon, with the third edition taking place Sept. 19 on 20th Street West between Avenues B and E. The event allows community groups and citizens to convert metered parking spots into temporary public spaces — becoming public parks, food truck stations, bike valets, open forums and hosts of activities for children.

The gravel parking lot at the corner of 20th Street West and Avenue B will become a public square with green space and public seating, while local musicians play live music in front of the Little Chief Police Station. In other words, 20th Street will become awesome for a day — which begs the question, why can’t it be awesome every day of the year?

Too much of Saskatoon’s public space is allocated to parking and not enough is set aside for areas of public recreation. Public spaces can be a place to sit and relax, to run into a familiar face or to engage in community events like festivals and concerts. Above all, public spaces enhance the health of the community by encouraging activity, commerce and social interaction. Saskatoon needs more spaces like these to make city life more exciting and to have healthier and better connected citizens.

PARK(ing) Day should be seen as a catalyst to inspire citizens and politicians to imagine new public spaces for our city. Outdoor public space in cities have been a place of social interaction and spontaneous encounters for as long as cities have existed. European cities have an abundance of public spaces, which only adds to their appeal as desirable travel destinations. Unfortunately, car-oriented development in North America in the 20th century has dedicated much of our public space to storing cars — which are obviously private property — and left cities like Saskatoon lacking outdoor spaces for public events.

Despite the noted benefits, suggestions from municipal governments or community groups for major city space changes — such as the addition of separated bicycle lanes or the conversion of a parking lot or street into a public plaza — are often met with cries of despair from the change-fearing public and politicians.

The solution to combating this attitude is to propose a temporary demonstration project, such as the annual worldwide event PARK(ing) Day, for a short trial period. PARK(ing) Day originated in San Francisco in 2005 when the art and design studio Rebar transformed a metered parking spot into a temporary green space for a day. The photo of their public park went viral — and since then the movement has accelerated to establish itself in 162 cities in 35 countries across the world.

The temporary nature of the PARK(ing) Day project makes the change both less expensive and less prone to public resistance. The trial period allows the public to experience the new space or infrastructure without commitment and if they like it — which is often the case — agree to make the change permanent.

A practical example of a temporary city space project that produced fantastic results is the conversion of five blocks into a pedestrian plaza near Times Square in New York City. Traffic flow actually improved as a side effect. The project was initially advertised as “temporary” to limit public resistance and it was blocked off by bollards; cheap public seating and tables were put in the plaza and the asphalt surface was painted to distinguish the area, making it more visually appealing.

It turned out that the people of the Big Apple loved this new Times Square and the plaza was made permanent, with more attractive and expensive urban design put in place after citizens accepted the idea. The Times Square project, initiated by NYC’s Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, was complemented by several smaller projects such as additions of separated bicycle lanes, widening the sidewalk and the creation of many smaller public plazas around NYC that are now permanent and provide residents with a healthier lifestyle — additionally contributing to NYC’s image as a people-friendly city.

A report released by NYC’s Department of Transportation in 2012 showed that the installation of separated bicycle lanes on 8th and 9th avenues in NYC increased retail sales by 49 per cent at local businesses on 9th Avenue. Additionally, the conversion of an underused parking lot in Brooklyn into a pedestrian plaza boosted the retail sales of nearby local businesses by a colossal 172 per cent.

Closer to home, the temporarily separated bicycle lane project on 4th Avenue and 24th Street East that was debated for Saskatoon’s downtown this summer followed this same idea of being an inexpensive trial — that could be removed if hated or made permanent if loved. Due to several factors — one being the negligible issue of losing metered parking spots — the bicycle lanes didn’t go in this summer, but will hopefully be installed next summer. If the people of Saskatoon receive them positively they could become permanent, providing our residents with a space to ride their bicycles safely, separated from motor vehicles.

PARK(ing) Day and other temporary demonstration projects such as past ones in NYC and Saskatoon are a useful tool that activists, designers, business leaders, city planners and politicians can use to show people how our streets can be more lively, attractive and safe. As citizens we should be bold in organizing events like PARK(ing) Day and encouraging our civic leadership to create the public spaces that will make our community healthier, happier and more economically competitive.