Olmsted 200 Celebrates Legacy of ‘Father of Landscape Architecture,’ Looks Toward Equitable, Sustainable Future

The Olmsted Legacy in Connecticut: Constructing Sustainable Metropolitan areas Symposium honored the legacy of the “father of landscape architecture” and Hartford indigenous, Frederick Law Olmsted.

Olmsted, born in Hartford in 1822, was a pioneer in the field of landscape architecture and accomplished considerable initiatives these kinds of as Central Park in New York Town, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, and parks in the course of the U.S. and Canada.

The symposium, co-arranged by assistant professor in the School of Agriculture, Overall health and Normal Methods Sohyun Park and Phil Birge-Liberman in the Department of City and Community Studies, focused on 3 major places of sustainability for park style: community, ecological, and financial wellness.

“I want people today to fully grasp the great factors [Olmsted] did,” claims Park, who is a faculty member in the Section of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. “But additional importantly, it is important for us to know how we can control and produce new parks.”

Parks and other general public inexperienced areas have a demonstrated worth for people’s mental and physical wellbeing.

“People now comprehend how important general public parks are, particularly going by way of the pandemic,” Park says.

Parks can also give habitat for native vegetation and animals and stoke the community financial state.

The closing keynote address, sent by Alessandro Rigolon, assistant professor of town and metropolitan organizing at University of Utah, talked over the worth of inclusivity and equity in parks. These kinds of concerns can enable deal with disparities in who uses and feels safe in parks, which are inclined to be underutilized by individuals of color.

The symposium was held at the Hartford Club on April 22. Presenters involved professors in city and local community scientific studies, landscape architecture, geography, medicine, used science, background, from UConn, UConn Well being, George Washington College, Trinity Higher education, and the University of Utah a group planner from the Countrywide Park Service, the New Haven city system director, and members of other Connecticut companies concentrated on parks, preservation, and city preparing.

Attendees bundled park pros, local community volunteers, landscape architects, professors, historians, and plan makers.

“I hope this option can bring up new initiatives where we can work with nearby communities,” Park suggests.

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