Note: the title of this post was taken from a chapter in Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities by Peter Harnik.
Since we ran Aaron Odland's essay about the wildlife habitat potential of urban cemeteries and our own observations of the New Bowery or Second Cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, we have read several articles about the trend of urban cemeteries being used as parks.
Most recently, Peter Harnik and Aric Merolli contributed "Cemeteries Alive" to Landscape Architecture magazine (December 2010). In the article, Harnik and Merolli noted that cemeteries were often cities "primary green spaces." Consider Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA and Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. The authors provided case studies of 11 "selected urban cemeteries that function like parks" including Cedar Hill in Hartford, CT, Grand View Cemetery in Fort Collins, CO, Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, GA, and Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, ME.
In an excerpt from Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities (Harnik, 2010) for City Parks Blog, Harnik wrote that the level of recreation permitted in a cemetery defines a cemetery as a park. What is considered recreation? Harnik's list included
Do you recreate in a local cemetery?
Since we ran Aaron Odland's essay about the wildlife habitat potential of urban cemeteries and our own observations of the New Bowery or Second Cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, we have read several articles about the trend of urban cemeteries being used as parks.
Most recently, Peter Harnik and Aric Merolli contributed "Cemeteries Alive" to Landscape Architecture magazine (December 2010). In the article, Harnik and Merolli noted that cemeteries were often cities "primary green spaces." Consider Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA and Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. The authors provided case studies of 11 "selected urban cemeteries that function like parks" including Cedar Hill in Hartford, CT, Grand View Cemetery in Fort Collins, CO, Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, GA, and Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, ME.
In an excerpt from Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities (Harnik, 2010) for City Parks Blog, Harnik wrote that the level of recreation permitted in a cemetery defines a cemetery as a park. What is considered recreation? Harnik's list included
walk,On a related note, Yalin Fu and Ihsuan Lin have designed Mumbai's Moksha Towers, a vertical cemetery to be wrapped in a "multi-layered skin consisting of an outer skin, glazing, plants, woven material and a steel frame would line the tower, absorbing heat and CO2," according to a review on inhabitat.
walk a dog,
cycle,
picnic,
play music,
throw a ball,
sit under a tree.
Do you recreate in a local cemetery?
Comments
"A number of small children stood in a circle with their chaperones, holding part of a parachute. They counted and then at the same time they all lifted their section of the chute, propelling a yellow ball into the air. They weren't very accurate and often the ball would fly out and roll past the surrounding graves and a small child would drop his section of the chute and fetch it. They laughed and they giggled."
It was nice to see so much life and happiness in a cemetary.
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