This Friday September September 17th 2010 is PARK(ing) Day! Every year, on one Friday in September, in cities all across the planet, playful urban revisionaries take over parking spaces, put coins in the meter, and create temporary parks for all to enjoy.

PARK(ing) Day was started by some San Francisco folks at Rebar back in 2005 to call attention to the lack of green space in their city. Their original PARK stood in place for two hours – the term of the lease offered on the face of the parking meter. When the meter expired, they rolled up the sod, packed away the bench and the tree, gave the block a good sweep, and left. A few weeks later,  as a single iconic photo of the intervention (below) traveled across this here interweb, Rebar began receiving requests to create the PARK(ing) project in other cities. Rather than replicate the same installation, they decided to promote the project as an “open-source” project, and created a how-to manual to empower people to create their own parks without the active participation of Rebar.  A few years later PARK(ing) day is now a world-wide deal, and it's returning to Brisbane for the third year running to showcase creativity and environmental awareness.
 
  

As a measure of Brisbane's support for this excellent day, take a look at these figures: In both 2008 and 2009, Brisbane came 3rd in the international rankings of the most PARKs created (San Francisco and LA came 1st and 2nd). Go BrisVegas!

I'll be cruising the CBD tomorrow lunchtime looking for some excellent PARK(ing) spaces, ideally somewhere that provides what is needed throughout Brisbane's city centre: safe, accessible, public open space that offers green grass and social opportunities, along with respite from concrete jungle. Download this map  and take a look at PARK(ing) spaces near you!

Here are photos of a few of last year's excellent Brisbane PARKs!

  

  

  

(photos via OurBrisbane)