Planning for Equity in Parks with Green Infrastructure

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Planners and park professionals routinely incorporate green infrastructure principles into the planning and design of public parks. This approach can be a powerful tool to improve the environmental quality of parks, engage and empower nearby communities, and provide social equity benefits. Green infrastructure refers to natural or artificial land forms and plant communities whose ecological processes provide benefits to human developments. Researchers commonly describe these benefits as ecosystem services. At the city or regional scale, green infrastructure consists of a network of natural areas and open spaces.

At the site or neighborhood scale, the term "green infrastructure" has been applied to stormwater management techniques that incor porate natural features or mimic ecological processes . These features include native trees and landscaping, rain gardens, bioswales, constructed wetlands, green roofs, and permeable pavement.

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