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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
The Commons
and Environmental Rights Issues
in Relation to Urban Open Spaces -
Page 1
by Isaac B. Daniel
Open spaces are often overlooked in the examination of urban landscapes, but these spaces in fact play pivotal roles in defining the characteristics of the landscape and how individuals relate to it. Paul Gobster claims "Neighborhoods [are] thought to offer a sense of coherence and identity for those living in large cities, making urban life more manageable and meaningful… [Thus] open space forms an important component of the neighborhood landscape" (Gobster 199-200). In an urban context, open spaces were at one time simply looked upon as spaces not being occupied by humans (such as residential and industrial). Through urban strife and redevelopment these spaces have gained a more significant status. Instead of simply being seen as land that is not being used socially, they are now seen as spaces of interconnected, interrelated patches of great importance. Such a landscape has been deemed an 'urban ecology.' This modified idea of ecology proposes that in the built and pseudo-natural environments that comprise metropolitan areas, there still exists a web-like relationship between its various components. Therefore, it can be inferred that by examining these open spaces, one can grasp and analyze both the ecological and social characteristics of the landscape. Using the frameworks of the Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin and the proposition of the "Case for Environmental Rights" by Shari Collins-Chobanian, an analysis of urban open space can be completed in order to understand its social and ecological significance, as well as to create a sense of urgency for its preservation.
For the purpose of examining the urban landscape, a level of specificity must be drawn as to the definition of open space. The term 'open space' implies that these spaces would be any land that is not developed in the traditional sense of development (i.e. residential homes, commercial businesses…). Most federal and state governmental agencies define open space quite differently. For example, the New Jersey Green Acres program, the agency of the New Jersey state government that acquires and preserves open space, defines it as all parkland, forestland, and greenways. This includes federal, state, and municipal parks and forests, and all riverbeds, coastline, wetlands, and undeveloped corridors (NJ-DEP). This definition selectively excludes other spaces that play key roles in daily interactions with urban landscapes. Joseph Shomon proposes a more comprehensive definition. He asserts that open space is anything
…which promotes or has a tendency to enhance the natural environment: any area of land or water or air, whether reserved or unreserved, any green area, any view horizontal or vertical which improves the appearance of the natural scene or natural environment (12).
This proposition is much more inclusionary and precise. It includes the spaces that often get overlooked in the environment but play important roles in daily life.
These previous definitions provide valid ideas as to what open space is, yet they both exclude the most important component of the urban landscape, people. Cities are extensions of society and their purpose is to serve their inhabitants. A more valid definition of open space would then be the "spaces [that] provide recreational and aesthetic values to residents as well as serving a variety of deeper psychophysiological and spiritual values related to nature…" (Gobster 200). Therefore, for the purpose of examining the urban landscape, open space can loosely be defined as any space with which people can connect in a pseudo-natural manner. (It is referred to as a 'pseudo-natural' manner because urban 'natural' spaces are planned and managed versions of nature and are consequently man-made natures.) Open space, by this definition can include, but is not limited to, parks, farmlands, rivers, vacant lots, streets, public squares, school grounds and interspaces (the spaces between the components of the landscape).