Alan TateCritiques

shelved at: 998 : Landscape

shelved at: 998 : Landscape

Alan Tate, in his wonderful survey of 20 great city parks around the world, reminds us that these community and cultural gems don't develop on their own. From the smallest (New York City’s Paley Park) to the largest (Minneapolis Park System), the parks are introduced and then examined from a variety of perspectives including key figures in the establishment of each park, the planning and design that went into each park, management and usage of the parks, and conclusions that connect Tate's observations into a cohesive summary that helps readers understand each park within its own context and also provides valuable background to anyone interested in becoming more involved with the development and ongoing support needed to support these community resources in the best and worst of financial situations. Maps and photographs accompanying the text help create a more complete picture of each park than would otherwise have been possible; the result is that readers are likely to want to visit a park again sooner than later as a result of spending time with Tate and the parks he so lovingly describes.