PARKing Day 2018

Layla Riley
Heart Foundation WA
39

Watch this space, the Heart Foundation are currently planning 2018's PARK(ing) Day. It was very successful last year and we are hoping this year will be even better and innovative with collaborations and involvement from the DoT, Subiaco Shire and Cancer Council.

We are currently planning this years activities and hope they will include: a welly-throwing competition, jam-jar snacks/salads, a gym circuit and a creative art session.

I am planning on converting our Your Move points into prizes for the welly throwing comp! Next month I will upload a story with photos of the successful event! Hopefully this inspires you to do your own PARK(ing) Day. Forget the car for a day, have fun and be creative!

For those that haven't heard of PARKing day, here is some information:

In 2005, members of the San Francisco design collective Rebar paid an on-street parking meter for two hours. Rather than park a car, Rebar used the space to create a “park” with turf, a tree, a bench and signs inviting passers-by to sit and relax. Rebar then packed up and returned the space to its former condition.

While the event was not intended to continue beyond the initial two hours, photos and video were rapidly shared online. The images proved inspirational: requests quickly came from people asking how to create their own “parks”. Rebar responded by producing a how-to guide and decided to launch an event that would make a much bigger statement about the use of public space.

In 2006, the first PARK(ing) Day was celebrated with 47 “parks” in 13 cities across three countries. The event grew rapidly, expanding to more than 200 parks in 2007 and featuring in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008. By 2011, PARK(ing) Day included almost 1,000 parks in 35 countries.

PARK(ing) Day has spread beyond the event itself. As well as parklet programs, the first of which was introduced in San Francisco in 2010, the day has inspired a number of other activities.

Turning a parking space into a park is a quirky idea, but even in 2005 it was not entirely new. Precedents can be found in many cities over many years: from the installations on California roads by Bonnie Ora Sherk in the 1970s, to the Parking Meter Parties held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 2001, to Ted Dewan’s road witching in Oxford, UK, from 2003, to Michael Rakowitz’s 2004 (P)LOT projects in Vienna, Austria, and Trento, Italy.

Yet none of these precursors succeeded in engaging or inspiring people on such a grand scale.

More than this, however, a key part of the event’s success is its connection to law. PARK(ing) Day was not presented as a protest, a plea for change, or a proposal for reform. On the contrary, PARK(ing) Day was expressly presented as something already legal. PARK(ing) Day provides a powerful invitation to citizens around the world to rethink the city and their place in it.

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Kylie (Your Move)

Hi Layla, Thanks for the update and glad to hear PARKing is happening again in 2018! I have awarded you 20 points for outlining the steps you are taking in putting it together, 10 points for partnering with other organisations and 5 for reflecting on the benefits of running a PARK(ing) day. When you actually hold the event you will get 40 activity points for running an activity transport event. Though I'm wondering if we should add PARK(ing) Day to our list of activities?

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Layla

Hi Kylie, thanks for that! It is certainly an activity that anyone or organisation can create their own! Plus using their Your Move Points for activity prizes is a good idea!

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