2023 Theses Master's

Observing Community and Design: Healthy Public Waterfronts in New York City

Alwan, Dillon Lateef

As cities continue to increase in population density and social inequities continue to be exacerbated by external factors, public spaces become increasingly valuable to the health and wellbeing of urban populations. In New York City, public waterfront parks exist as valuable land once exclusively designated for industrial use, but now standing for the opposite as designated community spaces with an opportunity to experience a natural environment. They speak to contemporary issues and community representation through their design, but how and to what extent they influence, remains understudied. This paper looks critically at waterfront park usage and the intended and unintended consequences of their design. Moreover, qualitative data collected in three different New York City public waterfront parks using structured observational research methods were used to reveal trends and patterns between the parks, their designs, and their uses. Results of this study broadly suggest that park design can impact park use, and that demographic variables of the areas immediately surrounding a park can reveal insights to the types and frequencies of park adaptations observed.