September 21st marked the 13th annual Park(ing) Day celebration. According to the organzer’s website “PARK(ing) Day” is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) 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 … at least until the meter runs out!”
Mobility Lab team members Jenna Fortunati and Owain James spent the day documenting some of the innovative approaches to Park(ing) Day in and around Arlington and Washington, D.C. Perhaps in 2019 we can convince some of our corporate residents in Reston to participate. Then at least for a day, we can Livemore and park less!