The World's Best and Worst Parks
PPS names the parks--both superb and shameful--that stand out from the rest. Which places do you think should make the list?
At PPS, we love to stick our necks out. And we've done it again here with these lists of the best and worst parks, along with the best and worst squares. We know all of these parks and squares very well -- meaning we have studied them at various times of the year, we've worked on campaigns to improve them, or we have visited them at least five times. With both our lists of the greats and those most needing improvement, we hope to inspire discussion about how to make all parks and squares better.
 The Piazza del Campo in Sienna, Italy tops our list of the world's best squaresThe real reason we've done this is to get you thinking. We want to hear your opinions on what are the great parks and squares of the world and which ones are overrated and in need of serious overhaul. Please tell us about the great (and not-so-great) parks and squares in your city that you use often and know well, which we may not know about.
Some of these choices may surprise you. New York's Bryant Park was once on our honor roll of Great Public Spaces and now we're listing it as a park needing big changes. (See When bad things happen to good parks in this issue of the newsletter.) Chicago's new Millennium Park has won raves nationally (See Jay Walljasper's Town Square column in this issue), but it is too early to know where it fits here. There was wide debate in our office about Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, which some of us think is the best park in the world. It doesn't fit the classic definition of a park, however, even though it offers an interesting model for the future. We will discuss it further in the next issue of Making Places. And in compiling this list, it struck us that plazas are important public places whose role in society needs more thought. We hope to explore this idea further in a future issue of our newsletter. We've concentrated our choices on North America and Europe, where parks and squares are the classic forms of public space. Different types of places, such as markets, prevail in other parts of the world, which we hope to address in the future.
Best Parks
Plaza Hidalgo, Mexico City Luxembourg Gardens, Paris Central Park, New York, NY Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY Jardin des Tuileries, Paris Parc Guell, Barcelona Kungsträdgården, Stockholm Palais Royal, Paris Place des Vosges, Paris Boston Public Garden, Boston, MA Parque del Retiro, Madrid Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona Balboa Park, San Diego, CA Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA Saint James Park, London Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh Main Beach Park and Heisler Park, Laguna Beach, CA 6th and B Community Garden, New York, NY Paley Park and Greenacre Park, New York, NY Jackson Square, New Orleans, LA Vondelpark, Amsterdam Hong Kong Park, Hong Kong
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#6 - Parc Guell
#7 - Kungsträdgården
#13 - Balboa Park
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Worst Parks
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Parc Diagonal del Mar, Barcelona Parc André Citröen, Paris Parc de la Villette, Paris Tate Modern, London The National Mall, Washington, DC Logan Circle, Philadelphia, PA Civic Center, San Francisco, CA Forum des Halles, Paris Bryant Park, New York, NY
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#2 - Parc André Citröen
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Best Squares and Plazas
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Piazza del Campo, Sienna Piazza San Marco, Venice Campo Santa Margherita, Venice Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR Hotel de Ville (City Hall), Paris Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA Rathaus Park (City Hall), Vienna Union Square Park and Greenmarket, New York, NY Piazza Navona, Rome Washington Square, San Francisco Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY Plaza de la Constitucion (Zocalo), Oaxaca, Mexico Plaza de Armas, Cuzco, Peru Post Office Square, Boston, MA
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#6 - Rittenhouse Square
#12 - Plaza de la Constitucion (Zocalo)
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Worst Squares and Plazas
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City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA Place de la Concorde, Paris United Nations Plaza, San Francisco, CA Guggenheim Bilbao public spaces, Bilbao ABN AMRO Headquarters Plaza, London Ernst and Young Headquarters, London Proctor and Gamble Headquarters, Cincinnati, OH HUD Plaza, Washington, DC GLA Building and Plaza (City Hall), London Foley Square, New York, NY Astor Place, New York, NY Pershing Square, Los Angeles, CA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona Placa Paisos Catalans, Barcelona
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#5 - ABN AMRO Headquarters Plaza
#8 - HUD Plaza
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Special Parks Features:
The World's Best and Worst Parks
PPS names the parks--both superb and shameful--that stand out from the rest. Which places do you think should make the list?
PPS Programs for Great Parks and Squares
Our placemaking services revitalize important community gathering spaces.
Six Parks We Can All Learn From
People everywhere are searching for ways local parks can better serve their communities. In the pursuit of great parks, here are six places to learn from.
Five Parks That Would Benefit Most From a Turnaround
Observing the world's best parks is inspiring, but learning from the missed opportunities of underperforming parks can be even more helpful in creating great public spaces.
Parks for the Future
PPS President Fred Kent frames the debate on contemporary park design and landscape architecture.
Which Direction for Our Parks?
Recent trends show a strong new focus on parks as public places that enhance almost everything about their communities. At the same time, interest grows in parks that have been designed as aesthetic objects. Which represents the future?
Placemakers in Parks
Many of the world's best parks wouldn't be the places they are today without the efforts of these dedicated individuals.
Chicago's New Millennium Park
Jay Walljasper tours Chicago's new blockbuster park, and walks away believing it will become a great public place in spite of its design.
When Bad Things Happen to Good Parks
New York's Bryant Park, a tremendous comeback story, is endangered again – this time by encroaching privatization.
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Regular Columns:
Park Talk
A look back at this summer's Great Parks/Great Cities conference in London. Plus, parks in the news.
News from PPS
Announcing the October round of PPS training courses; the 2005 Rudy Bruner Awards; and more.
The Place Poll
Be a part of our new feature, "My Favorite Place." And don't forget to tell us what you think of the latest batch of nominations from Great Public Spaces.
Monthly Snapshots
You know a park is a great place when people feel comfortable displaying affection for each other.
Public Voices
Readers share their thoughts on the Seattle Public Library and the state of contemporary architecture.
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