Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S.
This paper proposes a lens of analysis for studying how public urban park creation, often presented as inherently beneficial for the public by planners, government officials, and stakeholders, served to enforce prevailing social and political norms by excluding unwanted visitors and fostering speci...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association of Geographers
2025-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Geography |
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| Online Access: | https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/679 |
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| _version_ | 1841545358105116672 |
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| author | Laura Brannan Fretwell Eliane Schmid |
| author_facet | Laura Brannan Fretwell Eliane Schmid |
| author_sort | Laura Brannan Fretwell |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This paper proposes a lens of analysis for studying how public urban park creation, often presented as inherently beneficial for the public by planners, government officials, and stakeholders, served to enforce prevailing social and political norms by excluding unwanted visitors and fostering specific codes of conduct. The two case studies of post-war park development in Richmond, Virginia, U.S., and Hamburg, DE, exemplify the social and political effects of restoration ideas and ideals on beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. In Richmond, the construction of Chimborazo Park displaced and excluded an African American (Black) community during the aftermath of the Civil War, while Hamburg's Alsterpark was created within the city’s general post-World War II greening initiatives that included forced expropriation and behavior regulation. The joint spatial humanities based approach, which includes GIS modeling and archival source analysis, furthers historical investigation to more deeply understand patterns of displacement, exclusion, and social control. The paper offers an approach for critically examining the planning histories of parks that were created under the justification of restoration but operated as sites of contestation and ideology during moments of societal, political, and social reform.
Highlights:
• Historical inquiry into the study of public urban park planning and development.
• Use of GIS tools to analyze historical sources, especially atlases and maps, to reveal people’s perceptions, uses, and regulations of space as well as highlights experiences of place.
• Challenges the assumption that parks are automatically beneficial to the public.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-72374d38258c455eb370f9ef5b53a42b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1792-1341 2410-7433 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | European Association of Geographers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Geography |
| spelling | doaj-art-72374d38258c455eb370f9ef5b53a42b2025-01-12T07:07:08ZengEuropean Association of GeographersEuropean Journal of Geography1792-13412410-74332025-01-0110.48088/ejg.si.spat.hum.l.bra.30.44690Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S.Laura Brannan Fretwell0Eliane Schmid1George Mason University, USACentre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg This paper proposes a lens of analysis for studying how public urban park creation, often presented as inherently beneficial for the public by planners, government officials, and stakeholders, served to enforce prevailing social and political norms by excluding unwanted visitors and fostering specific codes of conduct. The two case studies of post-war park development in Richmond, Virginia, U.S., and Hamburg, DE, exemplify the social and political effects of restoration ideas and ideals on beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. In Richmond, the construction of Chimborazo Park displaced and excluded an African American (Black) community during the aftermath of the Civil War, while Hamburg's Alsterpark was created within the city’s general post-World War II greening initiatives that included forced expropriation and behavior regulation. The joint spatial humanities based approach, which includes GIS modeling and archival source analysis, furthers historical investigation to more deeply understand patterns of displacement, exclusion, and social control. The paper offers an approach for critically examining the planning histories of parks that were created under the justification of restoration but operated as sites of contestation and ideology during moments of societal, political, and social reform. Highlights: • Historical inquiry into the study of public urban park planning and development. • Use of GIS tools to analyze historical sources, especially atlases and maps, to reveal people’s perceptions, uses, and regulations of space as well as highlights experiences of place. • Challenges the assumption that parks are automatically beneficial to the public. https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/679public parksGeographic Information Systems (GIS)urban historyspatial humanitiespost-World War IIpost-American Civil War |
| spellingShingle | Laura Brannan Fretwell Eliane Schmid Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. European Journal of Geography public parks Geographic Information Systems (GIS) urban history spatial humanities post-World War II post-American Civil War |
| title | Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. |
| title_full | Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. |
| title_fullStr | Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. |
| title_short | Layering Public Park Histories: Uncovering the Effects of Restoration Idea[l]s in Post-War Urban Spaces in Germany and the U.S. |
| title_sort | layering public park histories uncovering the effects of restoration idea l s in post war urban spaces in germany and the u s |
| topic | public parks Geographic Information Systems (GIS) urban history spatial humanities post-World War II post-American Civil War |
| url | https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/679 |
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