What do parks mean to the soul of a city?

**"Harriet Festing" h*@pps.org**

Find out by joining us for our 8th International Urban Parks Conference

GREAT PARKS/GREAT CITIES
Celebrating 150 years of Central Park
Hosted by The Central Park Conservancy and Project for Public Spaces
with City of New York/Parks & Recreation

June 21-25, 2003, New York City
Visit http://pps.org//GPGC/ for details
Price: Just $285-$350 for the 5 day event
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CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS...
Meet Elizabeth Barlow Rogers on a Sunday tour of Central Park.  
Founding president of the Central Park Conservancy and Cityscape
Institute, Rogers is internationally recognized for her leadership in
revitalizing public parks and gardens.  Her book 'The Forests and
Wetlands of New York City' won the John Burroughs Medal and was a
National Book Award nominee.  Join the tour and learn more about the
major landscape types of Olmsted and Vaux's Greensward plan.
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Eat your way through Sunset Park neighborhood. 
Sunset Park is one of the most under-recognized, yet glorious parks in
the city. Enjoy the sensational views of NYC harbor and lower Manhattan
from the park as you feast on the culinary benefits of South Brooklyn's
ethnic diversity, from Mexican to Chinese to Scandinavian to
Palestinian. We will also visit Owl's Head Park and its cutting-edge
skate park in neighboring Bay Ridge, as well as the Narrows Botanical
Garden, and Shore Parkway greenway on the waterfront. 
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Learn from bestselling author, Malcolm Gladwell, of "The Tipping Point".

What does it take to create a parks movement?  Staff writer for The New
Yorker, Gladwell describes the tipping point as "that magic moment when
an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and
spreads like wildfire." Gladwell's brilliantly illuminating tipping
point phenomenon is already changing the way people throughout the world
think about disseminating ideas.
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Get a cloud's-eye view of the Chrysler building during the Great
Parks/Great Cities Awards.  
From the green to the groovy, the quintessential to the quirky, we'll be
honoring the best of American urban parks at a special reception hosted
by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., on the 50th floor of its world headquarters
in New York City (in honor of the 150th anniversary of Central Park).
Run by Project for Public Spaces and sponsored by Metropolis Magazine,
the awards will be presented by The Honorable Gifford Miller, Speaker of
the New York City Council. 
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Listen to conference keynote speaker, Reverend Calvin 0. Butts, III.  
What do parks mean to the soul of a city?  Renowned speaker and activist
pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York, Dr.
Butts will get to the heart of the matter.  An inspiration to us all,
Reverend Butts' leadership has set the standard for church-based
community involvement across the U.S.  For his work, he has received
more than 1,000 honors and commendations.
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Join the Special reception at Gracie Mansion hosted by Parks
Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.   
Given to every mayor of New York since Fiorello LaGuardia (1942), this
white-frame colonial house stands in Carl Schurz Park above Hell Gate, a
roaring stretch of water where the Harlem and East Rivers meet.
Presidents and the literati of the day have been entertained in the
mansion notable for its three-sided porch and trellis railings that
sweep around the house.  You, too, can be part of the mansion's
impressive history.
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Canoe down the Bronx River.  
Experience the inspiring restoration of the historically-neglected Bronx
River. The 29-year effort to restore the river and the parks and
communities along its banks has made enormous strides, from habitat
restoration to the construction of a park-studded greenway that will
eventually stretch the full length of the 23-mile river. Participants
will hear from community leaders who have lead the efforts to ensure
that the river corridor is a resource to the communities through which
it flows.
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Visit the World Trade Center site and get first-hand account of plans
for Lower Manhattan.  
The World Trade Center site and surrounding area will be undergoing
massive changes in the coming years, much of it centered on parks and
memorials. The tour will include a descent into the site itself, as well
as an exploration of the larger Lower Manhattan area, including: a
proposed site for a new public market, the convergence of Manhattan's
oldest and newest parks and proposed sites for future parks and public
spaces. 
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Bicycle and boat along the Hudson River.  
A new 4.5 mile waterfront park is quickly taking shape along Manhattan's
West Side. The progress in the last year has been breathtaking and the
park is already promising to be one of New York's great public spaces.
As you bicycle along the new greenway, see how park planners and
community groups are dealing with water access, the reuse of old piers
and land reclamation. The return trip to midtown via water taxi will
provide superb views of the new park and Manhattan skyline
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Take a tour of Central Park given by the park's very-own Teen Docents.  
The Teen Docent Program trains young people in park history and design,
ecology and conservation, public speaking, tour writing, marketing and
outreach.  Tap into their training on a walking tour around the Pond -
the newly restored landscape that greets most of Central Park's 25
million visitors annually - and into the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, the
area of the park that has been closed to the public and set aside for
wildlife since 1934. 
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Witness the restoration of Prospect Park's Ravine by the Prospect Park
Youth Council.  
Examples of teens working to create parks that are comfortable places
for them and their peers-places where they have a sense of ownership and
involvement-are rare. When it happens, though, communities discover that
youth involvement can dramatically improve the perception of and
activity in a park that is not recreation-oriented. Find out about teen
programs and initiatives that work to build park use and community
activity, including restoration work and school program partners.
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See 5,000 rose bushes in bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  
The tour will explore the garden's incredible variety of plant life,
from the 300 herb Garden and innovative Fragrance Garden to the
exquisite Japanese Garden and world-famous Bonsai Museum. Learn also
about the Brooklyn GreenBridge program that works with block
associations, community gardens, community centers, and other
neighborhood groups in Brooklyn, to promote conservation and community
through gardening. 
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Join the boat trip and exclusive viewing of Governor's Island.  
A discontinued Coast Guard base, Governor's Island has been unseen by
the public for 200 years.  At 172 acres, and just a 5 minute ferry ride
from Battery Park, the island presents a unique recreation opportunity
for New York, on a scale similar to the conversion of San Francisco's
Presidio from military to civilian use.  See the unspoiled collection of
18th century officers' homes and unparalleled views of Lower Manhattan.
Find out how the island and the harbor at large can play a new role in
the City's future.  
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Observe the social life of Midtown Manhattan with the inimitable Fred
Kent, President of Project for Public Spaces.  Midtown Manhattan has a
wealth of public spaces that are managed, maintained and programmed
completely privately. See how these spaces - Bryant Park, Rockefeller
Center, Paley Park and Herald Square among others - are used and
designed to attract people and contribute to the life of the city, as
well as to the bottom line of the buildings surrounding them.
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SPEAKERS/PARTICIPANTS SO FAR...
Kerry Hilts, City of Regina				Regina, Canada
Damodar Sharma, Jaipur, Municipal Corporation		Jaipur, India
Rumi Sato, NPO Birth 					Musashimurayama,
Japan
Vicky Lawrence						London, UK
Alan Barber, Urban Parks Forum			Bristol, UK
Lars Stenberg, Sensory Trust				St. Austell, UK
Jo Easingwood,	Sensory Trust				St. Austell, UK
Jane Stoneham, Sensory Trust				St. Austell, UK
Marianne Cramer, University of Georgia			Athens, US
Melanie	Jones, Park Pride				Atlanta, US
Debbie McCown, Piedmont Park Conservancy		Atlanta, US
Greg Levine, Trees Atlanta				Atlanta, US
Anne Schwartz, Gotham Gazette			Brooklyn, US
Luis Garden Acosta, El Puente				Brooklyn, US
Tupper Thomas, Prospect Park Alliance			Brooklyn, US
Mary Fox, Prospect Park Alliance			Brooklyn, US
Steve Parkey, Prospect Park Alliance			Brooklyn, US
Jack Walsh, Celebrate Brooklyn				Brooklyn, US
Christian Zimmerman, Prospect Park Alliance		Brooklyn, US
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Prospect Park Youth Council	Brooklyn, US
Ellen Kirby, GreenBridge Community Program		Brooklyn, US
Deborah Ann Trimble, Buffalo Olmsted Parks		Buffalo, US
R. Wayne Weston, Mecklenburg County Parks & Rec.	Charlotte, US
John De Kemper, Mecklenburg County Parks & Rec.	Charlotte, US
Patricia O'Donnell, Landscapes				Charlotte, US
Paula Mohr, University of Virginia			Charlottesville,
US
Caryl Dillon, Parkways Foundation			Chicago, US
Karen Hobbs, Center for Neighborhood Technology	Chicago, US
Eunita Rushing, Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance	Chicago, US
Sandra Baldonado, City of Claremont			Claremont, US
Joe Cimperman, Cleveland City Council			Cleveland, US
David McNeill, Baldwin Hills Conservancy 		Culver City, US
Jay Woodhull, Cox Arboretum/MetroPark		Dayton, US
Dennis Jerke, Carter & Burgess, Inc.			Fort Worth, US
B. G. Clark, Carter & Burgess, Inc.			Fort Worth, US
Timothy Marshall, ETM Associates, LLC			Highland Park,
US
David Schuyler 	Franklin and Marshall College		Lancaster, US
Dean Allen, Parks and Recreation			Layton, US
Ja Eggett, Parks and Recreation				Layton, US
David Price, Parks and Recreation			Layton, US
Susan Rademacher, Louisville Olmsted Parks Cnsrvncy	Louisville, US
Michelle Spence, City of Miami Mayor's Office		Miami, US
Florence Schornstein, Parkway Partners			New Orleans, US
Constance Casey, NYC Parks & Recreation		New York, US
Daniel Brown, Statue of Liberty National Monument	New York, US
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Bard Graduate Center		New York, US
Regina Peruggi, Central Park Conservancy		New York, US
Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point"			New York, US
Adrian Benepe, City of New York/Parks & Recreation	New York, US
Doug Blonsky, Central Park Conservancy		New York, US
Philip Reed, New York City Council			New York, US
Gifford Miller, Council Speaker				New York, US
Lynden Miller, New Yorkers for Parks			New York, US
Fred Kent, Project for Public Spaces			New York, US
Kathy Madden, Project for Public Spaces		New York, US
Warrie Price, The Battery Conservancy			New York, US
Peter Crumlish, Partnerships for Parks			New York, US
Bettijean Miller, Harlem Gateway Committee		New York, US
Cynthia Nikitin, Project for Public Spaces		New York, US
Jonathan Kuhn,	Dept. of Parks and Recreation		New York, US
Matt Arnn, USDA Forest Service				New York, US
Sara Cedar Miller, Central Park Conservancy		New York, US
Abby Ehrlich, Battery Park City Parks Conservancy	New York, US
Neil Calvanese, Central Park Conservancy		New York, US
Siobhan McDermott, Strategic Management Consulting	New York, US
Michael Washburn, Washburn Partners			New York, US
Dick Dadey, City Parks Alliance				New York, US
Anna Magenta, Forsyth St. Garden Conservancy, Inc	New York, US
Terri Carta, Central Park Conservancy			New York, US
Bill Berliner, Central Park Conservancy			New York, US
Reverend Calvin Butts, Abyssinian Baptist Church	New York, US
Wilbur McNeil, Weequahic Park Association		Newark, US
Phebe Goodman					Newtonville, US
Leslie Schuster, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society	Philadelphia, US
Nancy Goldenberg, Center City District			Philadelphia, US
David Michael, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society	Philadelphia, US
Mary Ferrell, Fairmount Park Conservancy		Philadelphia, US
Dan Campo 	Department of City Planning		Philadelphia, US
Joan Reilly	Pennsylvania Horticultural Society	Philadelphia, US
Jeffery Mroczek, City of Rochester			Rochester, US
Brian O'Neill, Golden Gate NRA				San Francisco,
US
Jim Mann, Forest Park Forever				St. Louis, US
Douglas Fraser, Metro Parks Tacoma			Tacoma, US
Fran Mainella, Florida Division of Rec.& Parks		Tallahassee, US
Susan Hines, American Society of Landscape Architects	Washington, US
David Burwell, Rails to Trails Conservancy		Washington, US
J. Glenn Eugster, National Park Service
Washington, US
Peter Harnik, Trust for Public Land			Washington, US

SPONSORED BY
Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP

Additional Sponsors:
JP Morgan Chase
MAT Foundation, Mereck Family Fund
The New York Times Company Foundation

CONFERENCE PARTNERS 
Central Park Conservancy 
Project for Public Spaces 
City of New York/Parks & Recreation 
City Parks Alliance 
Prospect Park Alliance 
City Parks Foundation/Partnerships for Parks 
New Yorkers for Parks 
Cityscape Institute 

CONFERENCE SUPPORTERS 
Czech Environmental Partnership
International Network for Traditional Buildings
Planum
The Prince's Foundation
Urban Parks Forum

CONFERENCE SUPPORTERS 
American Society of Landscape Architects
International Downtown Association
Library of American Landscape History
Metropolis Magazine
National Association of Olmsted Parks
National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Park Service 
New Urbanism.org
New York State Council on the Arts
Planetizen
Trust for Public Land 
U.S Conference of Mayors
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Smart Growth Program 
U.S. General Services Administration

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