At an October 2025 luncheon honoring the retirement of Houston Parks Board President and CEO Beth White, Beth sat down with City Parks Alliance Executive Director Catherine Nagel for a wide-ranging conversation about parks, partnerships, and the future of urban public space. Below is an edited Q&A from their parkside chat at Discovery Green, a 12-acre park in downtown Houston, Texas.
Beth White:
First, tell us a little bit about City Parks Alliance and why that organization was created.
Catherine Nagel:
City Parks Alliance was formed 25 years ago, at a time when people were moving back to cities, but all the years of disinvestment had really taken a toll on the quality of our nation’s urban parks.
We were beginning to see more civic investment, more civic engagement, and more civic leadership with the evolution of the public-private partnership model with Central Park Conservancy [New York] first. And other cities that had historic parks took note and created their own conservancies. But this was a new model, and people were trying to figure this out on their own, working in isolation.
The folks involved recognized there was a need to form a national group that would really elevate the issue of urban parks as part of our national infrastructure and to bring these people together to share information and talk about the unique challenges that people who run urban parks have. It’s not just about maintaining the grass—city parks are so intricate and so connected with so many other urban issues.
So they formed the City Parks Alliance.
Beth:
You’ve had a long-term relationship with the city of Houston. What are your impressions from when you first came here, and what you see now?
Catherine:
So I’ve been coming to Houston for nearly two decades, and it’s great that we’re right here [at Discovery Green] because I remember when this was a parking lot—and I will use that symbolically to answer your question.
We were walking by Discovery Green on Sunday night and this place was so alive. There were families pushing kids in strollers. There were girls taking their selfies. There were teen boys throwing footballs. And I looked at that and I looked up to see all the investment that’s happened around the park, and I thought, holy cow—when we talk about the power of parks, this is it right here. I could just see that this was creating lasting memories for all of these people.
You all are extraordinarily fortunate to have the incredible philanthropic investment that you have, and it’s not just in one park—it’s across your city. Not every city has that. . . . And the investment is not incidental—it’s a big vision.
Secondly, Houston has really strong public-private partnerships. You have great leaders in the sector, and that’s enabled you to create these world-class signature parks from Discovery Green to Hermann Park, Memorial Park, Emancipation Park, the bayous—all of those places are a result of those partnerships.
I also think about how you work together not only citywide but regionally. The collaboration that’s happening with Houston Parks Board and city and county entities including the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Harris County, the Flood Control District, along with private philanthropic support—that is very unique, and what you’re doing is creating a cohesive system, which is really important for resilience over time and giving people a variety of experiences through that system.
It also includes neighborhood parks, and I want to acknowledge Mayor Whitmire for his dedication to neighborhood parks. No system is healthy without investment in our neighborhood parks. They are at the core of what makes a city healthy and vibrant.
And lastly, where I see your leadership nationally is the way that you are positioning your parks as resilient infrastructure. You’re creating a new model for how we live with water, using a collaborative governance structure. This is new and it’s all being tried and tested, and we look forward to helping elevate what you’re doing here with a national audience, because we all have to figure this out. Instead of every city starting from scratch, we could learn from each other, and I know people will be learning from you all.
Beth:
You’ve written and spoken a lot about the growing demand for parks across the country. What do you think is driving that demand?
Catherine:
In the last 40 to 50 years, we’ve really seen this golden age of park-making. If you think about what cities looked like in the 60s and 70s and where they are today, it’s a whole different world—and parks have been a significant piece of that development.
Usage was already up, but it was really catapulted during the pandemic. We all realized how important it was to have a close-to-home park. I live in the city. I don’t have a backyard. My local park saved me. It really did. It was a lifeline. And it helped people understand how critical those parks are not only for our physical health, but for our mental health.
It also shined a light on the fact that not everybody has access to a quality park close by. And we know that the need can’t be met solely by public budgets—so across the country, cities are trying to figure out what to do to create more park space when they don’t necessarily have the resources.
So cities are looking at creative approaches. You’ve got a great example here with the Spark Park program, where there’s a cooperative agreement with the schools for turning playgrounds and play spaces into public amenities for after school hours and on weekends and during the summer. I think we need that creative thinking to figure out how to partner with public institutions, cultural institutions, housing authorities to make the most of the land that we have.
Beth:
How do we find more sustained public funding for parks when cities are facing so many competing needs?
Catherine:
I wish I had a magic answer—there’s no magic answer to this. But I will be a champion for robust investment in the public sector.
You can’t have a strong public-private partnership without strong partners on both sides, and we can’t starve our parks departments and expect them to do more—especially for maintenance and operations.
We have to think about the long-term vision. How are we going to take care of everything that we’re building today to ensure future generations can enjoy it?
It’s as important to build world-class signature parks as it is to build a world-class workforce. The skills required today are very different from what they used to be, and we have a tremendous opportunity to train a new generation with those green skills.
Parks give you the best return on your investment. They’re an extension of your public health system. They’re part of your economic development engine. They help reduce crime. But unfortunately, parks are often the first budgets that get cut.
We have to reframe the conversation to say: you invest something here, and you’re getting so much more in return.
Beth:
Why did City Parks Alliance choose Houston for its October 2025 Park Study Tour?
Catherine:
For many of the reasons I’ve already talked about. We’re bringing 40 people from 19 cities to look at your models of public-private partnerships, resilient design, and inclusive community engagement.
What I hope people take home is the big vision. The problems we have are enormous, and we can’t solve them in small ways.
We need civic leadership. We need political leadership. We need leadership at the local level to make that happen.
People learn the most when they’re out in the field, seeing how parks work and hearing from the people who are using them. And we’re going to continue shining a national spotlight on the great work that you’re doing here.