the purpose of parklets

This Friday, Downtown OKC Inc. will be hosting several parklets in and around downtown Oklahoma City as part of PARK(ing) Day.

PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event on the third Friday in September when parking spaces are transformed into temporary public parks and gathering spaces. The project began in 2005 in San Francisco, where parklets have become very popular and many now exist year-round. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat. Parklets are a creative and cost-effective way to add public gathering spaces.

Parklets often function as outdoor extensions to nearby cafes or coffee shops. A tool for both economic development and sense of community, parklets add activity on the sidewalks and often attract business to the surrounding area. In Philadelphia, businesses adjacent to parklets have experienced sales increases of as much as 20 percent immediately after parklets have been installed.

Read the full article at The Journal Record.