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In order to attract and retain residents in the region’s urban communities, Metro Boston must ensure access to open space and a healthy urban environment.  Urban residents benefit greatly from access to a safe, well-maintained, and interconnected urban park system.  Good urban open spaces increase the quality of life for surrounding areas and the desirability of urban living in general.  A healthy urban environment and robust “green infrastructure” provides innumerable public benefits as residents breathe cleaner air, are more physically active, have access to more locally-grown food, are exposed to fewer pollutants, and experience less intense summer heat.  

The open space needs of urban residents are diverse, ranging from pocket parks and tot lots to athletic fields, greenways, community gardens, and urban wilds.  The demands and preferences for open space are also changing, due in part to growing immigrant populations that bring new concepts regarding the use and form of open space.  Connections between open spaces are also a critical element of the urban system; they create more access to larger areas for a wider variety of residents, and they improve the bicycle and pedestrian experience for people moving through the city.  

Creation and preservation of urban open space is often a challenge due to development pressures, especially in areas where the need is greatest (i.e., in areas where neighborhoods are most dense).  In these areas, open space needs might be met through better connections to nearby open spaces, and opportunistic development of publicly accessible open spaces on plazas, through set-asides, or on rooftops.  Other underserved neighborhoods have less development pressure and a larger supply of vacant land, due to past disinvestment.  In these areas, urban park stakeholders should identify networks and opportunities, acquire land, and adjust development controls in advance of future growth, in order to create a park system that precedes and helps to stimulate investment.  Innovative financing strategies such as linkage fees, betterments, or value capture tools can help to reduce direct costs to municipalities.  Increased real estate values that occur as a result of park-adjacent development may in fact yield a financial benefit to municipalities.

17)    Coordinate urban park planning, development, administration and regional connections
Urban open space in Metro Boston comprises a diverse network of properties owned by various public and private entities: the Commonwealth (Department of Conservation and Recreation, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority), municipalities, land trusts, nonprofits, institutions, cemeteries, and for-profit interests.  Each agency and organization has a distinct mission and portfolio.  Greater coordination among all these entities can reduce redundancy, identify gaps, and create economies of scale.  This constellation of stakeholders should be largely preserved, but slight restructuring of interests and responsibilities, among public agencies in particular, might yield greater efficiencies in service delivery.  

The focus of the coordination efforts and restructuring should be to increase the quality of the park system and efficiency of service delivery.  There should be particular focus on developing parks, playgrounds, community gardens, and greenway connections in areas that are (or will be) underserved by open space (less than 50 acres of protected open space per 1,000 residents.)  Regional planning should also be a key focus since, in urban areas especially, waterways and parks often span municipal boundaries.  

Greenways are the most common linkages.  Continuous and contiguous pathways along urban riverfronts and waterfronts also should be planned.  Gaps in existing networks should be identified and filled, for example, the Charles River Inner Basin pathways are missing a waterfront link behind the Museum of Science garage.  When the Museum expands, public access to this area needs to be assured to help complete a continuous loop.  As the public agency with the largest portfolio of parks, parkways, and greenways, the Department of Conservation and Recreation should take the lead in ensuring master plans for all of its major properties.  

Municipalities can also make efforts to ensure that development is coordinated with open space.  Zoning and development controls can be used to shape the form and function of properties adjacent to and along parks and greenways.  Conventional zoning can specify lot coverage, building height, and setbacks; form based codes can be even more detailed with regard to circulation and the visual relationship between building and open space.

17.a    MAPC should develop a network of urban open space stakeholders and seek funding to support ongoing communication

17.b    The Governor should establish a task force to evaluate management of Metro Boston’s urban parks and develop options to enhance service delivery

17.c    The Department of Conservation and Recreation should develop and implement master plans for all its major urban parks, parkways, and greenways

17.d    The Legislature should adopt legislation “Relative to Protecting the Natural and Historic Resources of the Commonwealth” (Public Lands Protection Act)

18)    Leverage partnerships and private funding to improve maintenance of urban parks
Residents and property owners benefit greatly from a good urban park system, in the form of increased property values and quality of life.  The private sector has an important role to play in park development and maintenance, from planning through financing and maintenance.  Avenues of participation may be as informal as “friends” groups and park clean-ups, or as formal as conservancies and land trusts; they may be voluntary (organization membership) or compulsory (betterments.)  

The most successful new parks and rehabilitations are those where sufficient thought has been given to four key principles:

• Visioning and organization
• Design and permitting
• Construction and supervision
• Stewardship and programming

Without these efforts, the result will be poorly conceived designs, little community buy-in, and no long term commitments to maintenance or programs on the part of neighborhoods or government agencies.   Projects will begin to degrade the day the ribbon is cut and will fail to reach and benefit a broader audience.  This is not a good use of limited private or public dollar.  

Park management and maintenance is a more complicated, onerous, and expensive task than restoring parks in the long run. In special cases, maintenance endowments should be considered to support private maintenance crews with specialized skills.

Public-private partnerships on park development and maintenance have demonstrated great success in Metro Boston and elsewhere.  Innovative financing tools that benefit from and reinforce real estate development trends have been a key tool for urban park development for many years (the development of Boston’s Franklin Park and the Emerald Necklace were funded through betterments and that era’s equivalent of District Improvement Financing.)  Special linkage fee structures can be used to support park development in those areas currently underserved by open space.  

The Department of Conservation and Recreation Partnerships Matching Funds Program in the Office of External Affairs and Partnerships is creating new models of stewardships to protect and sustain the natural, cultural, historical, and recreational public resources of the Commonwealth for future generations.  Through the provision of a dollar-for-dollar match for private, non-state funding, partners can contribute to capital projects needed to maintain the Commonwealth's parks system.  Contributing to organizational capacity building by enabling private partners to work closely with DCR, the Partnerships Matching Funds Program strengthens working relationships between DCR and its Friends groups, civic organizations, institutions businesses and individuals.

Municipalities should also seek opportunities to direct youth jobs programs to service in parks and playgrounds or training programs focused on horticulture and open space.  The benefits of youth jobs programs extend beyond the work experience and the physical improvements to open space; such programs help toeducate youth, create awareness of parks issues, and build an open space constituency.

18.a    Property owners and residents should create and support conservancies and friends of parks groups

18.b    MAPC, advocacy organizations, and municipalities should develop a model for using linkage or impact fees to support park development in underserved areas

18.c    MAPC, advocacy organizations, and municipalities develop a model for value capture tools such as a “Park Improvement District”

18.d    Municipalities and organizations should direct more youth jobs programs to service in parks and open space

19)    Increase the urban tree canopy
Especially in urban communities, trees are vital to the health of a neighborhood and its residents.  Trees lower temperatures by providing shade, and they remove air pollution, especially particulate pollution that has been linked to asthma and other repertory diseases that are more common in urban areas.  According to the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 100 mature trees remove five tons of carbon dioxide and more than 1,000 pounds of other air pollutants each year.  Urban forests are also known to dramatically reduce the “urban heat island effect.”  On a household level, one large shade tree can reduce air conditioning cost by 30% and reduce heating cost by 10-25% by blocking wind. Trees have also shown to have dramatic effects on the neighborhoods they are planted in through their capacity to help foster a sense of community by creating attractive and engaging meeting places.  

MetroFuture supports efforts to increase the region’s urban tree canopy, such as the City of Boston’s goal of increasing canopy coverage from 29% to 35% by planting 100,000 trees before the year 2020.  Assuming that other urban municipalities have canopy coverage comparable to that of Boston, MetroFuture identifies a need for 1.2 million trees in order to achieve 35% canopy coverage in the region’s urban communities.  Studies show that planting and maintaining 100 urban trees will cost $82,000 over the lifetimes of the trees while generating $225,000 in economic benefits, specifically storm water and air pollution control and increased real estate value.

Regional urban forestry efforts will require a more comprehensive understanding of Metro Boston’s existing urban forest canopy and the condition of existing trees and forests.  A recent study of the forest canopy in Boston’s Franklin Park found that many of the trees in the forest are nearing the end of their lifespan and there are not enough younger and mid-sized trees to replace those that will be lost.  Such research is critical to guiding effective planting and forestry management programs.  

Tree and forest inventories are one important component of a comprehensive “community forestry program” through which public and private tree canopy efforts are coordinated.  Existing models for such programs include Grow Boston Greener, a public private partnership comprised of City of Boston and its partners in Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition (BUFC).  The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is one such partner and provides support for community forestry programs.  

Municipalities can also retain and increase tree canopy through regulatory means.  There are a variety of tree preservation ordinances that help to protect existing trees on public and private property; zoning and site plan review guidelines can also require tree planting and establish baseline planting and maintenance standards so that trees will flourish. 

19.a    The Commonwealth and private funders should support efforts to catalog and increase the urban forest canopy

19.b    Urban municipalities should establish community forestry programs based on the criteria of the US Forest Service and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation

19.c    Municipalities should adopt tree preservation ordinances and mitigation programs

19.d    Municipalities should establish baseline planting and maintenance standards (through zoning or site plan review) for trees in new development or redevelopment

20)    Expand urban farms and community gardens
Community gardens are green spaces that are communally cultivated and cared for; these spaces may consist of individually worked plots, communally tended areas, sitting areas, and small-scale children's play areas.  Urban farms are similar, but are cultivated by a single individual or organization.  Community gardening is an effective community-building strategy that contributes to neighborhood revitalization, beautification, crime deterrence, and enhanced property values.  

Community gardens are a source of fresh and healthy food for the gardeners, often food that is a critical supplement to a family’s resources.   In 2008, the Boston Natural Areas Network completed a 3 year study indicating that $1.2 million of food is grown each year in approximately 300 garden plots in the City of Boston, equivalent to $431 per gardener.  Community gardens are especially important to seniors and immigrants, who value community gardening for social benefits and opportunity to grow culturally appropriate food.  Gardens are integral to the active living of residents, providing a source of recreation and increasing appreciation of natural beauty.

Most community gardens are supported by resident advocates and volunteers, some of whom benefit from the support of organizations such as the Boston Natural Areas Network.  New and expanded networks of community gardens and gardeners, with increased support from organizations and municipalities, can support advocacy, collaborative resource development, and dissemination of best practices.  

While some community gardens are permanently protected through ownership or easement, others have no such protection (including many publicly-owned community gardens).  Municipalities should enact policies (such as a zoning designation) that prohibit or restrict the development of community gardens
There is also a need for safe gardening and soil remediation strategies to lower pollutant levels of contaminants that may exist in garden soil due to the use of railroad ties and pressure-treated lumber as plot dividers. 

20.a    Create local and regional community garden networks

20.b    Municipalities should adopt Urban Garden Zoning to designate and protect community gardens.

20.c    Municipalities, nonprofits, and institutions should collaborate to apply best practices for remediation of contamination at community gardens and urban agriculture sites

20.d    Municipalities should partner with immigrant advocacy organizations to develop new community gardens

21)    Protect and restore urban wilds, waterways, and urban ecology
While the region’s urban areas are highly developed, they still retain many remnants of the natural environment that preceded human development.  There are a variety of strategies to protect these urban wilds and restore other elements of urban ecology.  

Undeveloped areas in the city retain a special character and ecology that can enhance neighborhood character and quality of life.  These “urban wilds” vary in size and in character: small wooded areas, rock outcroppings, waterways, ponds, meadows.  Anne Whiston Spirn wrote in The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design of urban wilds, “They place the city in its regional context and differentiate it from other cities, rather than setting it apart from the surrounding landscape.” They are, she added, “frequently more expressive of the special character of a particular city- its geological origins, topographic setting, indigenous vegetation, and history- than are its manicured parks.”

The ownership and protection status of urban wilds varies greatly.  Some are owned by parks departments and advocacy groups, and are permanently protected; others are owned by non-parks agencies or departments or by private owners, and might yet be developed.  More comprehensive inventories of urban wilds are necessary to plan for their preservation and integrate these features into open space plans.  

Many of the waterways in urban areas have been redirected to engineered channels culverts, or other underground pipes.  Recent efforts in other cities have demonstrated the positive benefits of uncovering and/or restoring buried waterways in urban environments, a process known as “daylighting.”  Daylighting efforts and the use of “green” stormwater management techniques can improve water quality, reduce flooding, and create more awareness of the natural environment.  Municipalities and developers should seek opportunities to leverage new development to restore the “green infrastructure” in urban areas.  Through its “Blue Cities” initiative, the Charles River Watershed Association has developed “Green Street Guidelines” that incorporate low-impact stormwater management practices as well as pedestrian and bicycle accommodations.  Municipalities should develop and adopt comparable guidelines. 

21.a    Municipalities and advocacy organizations should establish partnerships to inventory and document urban wilds

21.b    Urban municipalities should establish site specific “green street standards” similar to those developed by the Charles River Watershed Association