Over the past 20 years, as I have led City Parks Alliance, I have been struck by a simple truth: parks hold a city’s DNA. They are markers of a city’s history, politics, culture, and values. You can visit a city’s park system and learn to read these indicators by the condition and accessibility of the green spaces, their funding sources, their management structures, and how local residents use them.
Cities are dynamic places, shaped by ever-changing environmental, economic, and social forces. As city leaders grapple with global disruptions, from social isolation to climate change, they are using parks and recreation in new ways to anchor communities. Creating a city that works for all takes constant tending.
Looking back at my time leading the Alliance, here are the five biggest lessons I’ve learned about the power and potential of urban parks.
Lesson 1: Parks are remaking cities—and serving as vital infrastructure.
Parks have always been important places for respite, especially against the stressors of the urban environment. But today, they are being deployed to shore up cities against storms and extreme heat, help kids focus, and create pipelines to new job opportunities. They are also refuges for wildlife and native plants–natural infrastructure to protect biodiversity within the urban realm.
As park function evolves, so does the physical configuration of cities. A 10-acre park at the heart of the Memphis Medical District is the new gathering place for thousands of employees, students, and residents. Detroit’s 29-mile Joe Louis Greenway is connecting once-isolated neighborhoods, shaping future housing and mobility options, and helping to build wealth for all. Nature is no longer an escape from the city; it is integrated into the everyday lives of its residents.
Lesson 2: We can’t do it alone. The park ecosystem is expanding.
As parks have become woven into the fabric of urban systems, the ecosystem of organizations that plan and operate them has grown in scale and complexity. Twenty years ago, our membership primarily included newly formed non-profit conservancies and some public agencies. Today, it also includes business improvement districts, community development organizations, environmental justice groups, institutional partners, and more.
We need strong partners on all sides, each doing what they do best. Partner groups serve as intermediaries, building trust and ensuring local knowledge meets local needs. Our workshops on park partnerships have helped strengthen skills for managing these relationships.
However, while public-private partnerships bring vital resources, they cannot replace public investment, especially for operations and maintenance. Philanthropic support is a massive force for catalytic projects, but it cannot sustain the level of public support needed to keep parks well-managed over time, especially as severe weather events increase the wear and tear on our green spaces.
Lesson 3: New approaches to park funding must be holistic, equitable, and entrepreneurial.
Cities are taking a much more holistic look at park investment. About ten years ago, cities like Minneapolis, Detroit, and Philadelphia began collecting data to prioritize public investment in neighborhoods that had suffered from decades of underfunding. Today, cities like Greater & Greener 2028 host city Atlanta are using sophisticated equity data tools to address disparities in service levels and access across the city’s diverse neighborhoods, and voters are approving ballot measures to support this work.
At Greater & Greener 2026 in Austin this June, City Parks Foundation will share learnings and outcomes from the NYC Green Fund. This pooled grant program supports a network of parks and open spaces across the city that has been effectively deployed for grassroots initiatives and during times of crisis.
Park leaders are also becoming more entrepreneurial, using self-sustaining frameworks that leverage real estate assets and other market-based approaches to capture value and capitalize on earned income opportunities, such as restaurants and concessions. They are making the most of adjacent public-sector funding, such as water and transportation, to achieve multiple community goals simultaneously.
Lesson 4: Advocacy is the engine of sustained change.
Even with new funding approaches, we can’t expect the government to do more with less. Threats to public open space from private development are growing, requiring more resources for land protection.
Here’s where stronger advocacy is crucial. Very few cities have dedicated urban park advocacy organizations, and advocacy “wins” often take years. Every voice matters—from elected officials to grassroots groups.
The City Parks Alliance Mayors for Parks Coalition has successfully brought local leadership to the national level to advocate for federal investment. In 2014, we helped introduce the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program with $3 million in funding. Today, that program has been codified into law, funded at roughly $125 million annually, and has leveraged more than $1 billion.
Parks are a bipartisan issue. The EXPLORE ACT recently made the ORLP program permanent with support from both sides of the aisle, a rare occurrence in our hyper-partisan times.
Lesson 5: Innovation is contagious.
Today’s park leaders are solving tough problems, and their innovation is infectious. Dallas park leaders, for example, plan to fund $55 million in deferred maintenance through new development projects inspired by the revenue model of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park.
On-site learning, which the Alliance elevates through our park study tours and Greater & Greener conferences, is a powerful catalyst. Cities learn from each other’s successes and failures. Brownsville, TX, learns from Copenhagen; Detroit learns from Atlanta. The Alliance’s role as a convenor has enabled these vital relationships to flourish.
Looking Forward
With proper investment, parks, recreation, and the public realm are the best infrastructure we have for resilient communities. They are essential parts of our democratic framework, bringing people together and reminding us of our dependence on each other and on the natural systems that sustain us.
After two decades of seeing this work up close, I can confidently say that the field is richer with possibilities and potential than ever before.
The best way to realize that potential is to learn and innovate with each other. I invite you to join me, along with urban park leaders, city planners, and advocates from across the globe, at Greater & Greener 2026. Let’s continue building the resilient, vibrant cities of tomorrow—together.
