Park(ing) Day
From Mod Mania
Consumer Communities Essay, written by Laura Blue.
PARK(ing) Day is an annual event in which urban parking spaces are modified into mini parks. The event was invented by San Francisco artist group REBAR in 2005, and has grown to become a global event with participants creating oases of parklands within urban settings in hundreds of cities.
REBAR created PARK(ing) Day as an experiment which intended “to promote creativity, generosity, civic engagement, critical thinking, play and social interactions” (www.parkingday.org). This essay will look at how the meaning and intentions of PARK(ing) Day have developed form REBARs early vision of the event in 2005, due to other participants engaging with their PARK(ing) spaces differently.
REBARs parks are experiments which look at what may happen when you reclaim a public space by transforming a parking space into a stereotypical looking park. As others have taken part in the event, they have changed the meaning of their individual parks by favouring more specific causes and aims. In many cases participants have parked to create awareness for the need for more public space and parks in their cities. Other parkers have focused their park installations around issues such as the need for their cities to embrace green travel. This leap from REBARs general aim in their parks towards a multitude of different tangents gives the event greater scope today.
REBAR has put in place certain rules regarding participation in the event. The event is promoted as a non-commercial event on the front page of their website in the spirit of their artistic engagement with the project. There are therefore stipulations in the Licence of use (of the name PARK(ing) Day) that participants may not create a PARK which promotes any for-profit organization, or “make specific offers for goods or services, or to offer specific promotions, discounts, or coupons, whether related to PARK(ing) Day or not, without the prior written consent of Rebar”. REBAR has therefore gained legal control of the commerciality of the event as PARK(ing) day in its true essence is considered a non-commercial event by its founders. Despite this, participants in the event have used PARK(ing) day as a means for commercial engagement. Most often this involvement has kept with ‘green’ and art themes with stalls selling fresh fruit, and with cross promotion for art shows by artists hoping to generate sales.
The events engagement with authority and law has also changed from REBARs initial event to the parks created by others in more recent years. REBAR created the event after discovering that parking spaces in San Fransisco can legally be used for purposes other than parking a vehicle. In 2007, REBAR created PARKcycle, a pedal powered park vehicle and obtained special permission to park it in the Mayor of San Francisco’s personal parking spot. On REBARs licence of use, it says “Remember, PARK(ing) Day is about operating for the broader public good! Obey the law and have fun!” REBARs compatibility with the law is not necessarily the case for participants in other cities or countries. For example, one clip on youtube follows a group of participants in Sydney who were told to move on by the police. The illegality of many of the PARKs has become part of the fun of the event as it engages with the thrill of doint the wrong thing. Many you tube videos by participants describe how “the police haven’t appeared yet” with a sense of accomplishment. The lawbreaking aspect can be seen as a kind of protest which highlights causes such as the need for fewer cars or more public space.
The appearance of the PARKs created have also changed. On REBARs website, they say to make a PARK you need to find a space, put money in the meter, decorate the space with plant life and/or grass and create an area for the public to enjoy the park such as seating. The parks REBAR have created often use real grass, a plant element such as a tree and sometimes outdoor furniture, to give the illusion of a stereotypical park in a parking space. Many participants have however expanded the concept, not restricting themselves to using a park aesthetic, choosing instead to use items such as tarps, and furniture instead of grass and trees. Many of these parks appear more like the interior of a house in a parking spot than a park.
As you can see, the concept of PARK(ing) day has expanded from REBARs concept as it has become widespread and diverse. When REBAR invented PARK(ing) day, it was considered a social experiment dealing with the concept of public space and greening the urban environment, but participants have since emphasised issues they care about such as green travel. The non-comercial focus of the event has been altered by some, and the legality of REBARs constructions is impossible for other participants. The appearance of the parks created has been expanded from the initial concept of creating an area that looks like a park, to broader uses of parking spaces. Dispite REBARs suggestions and rules for participants’ parks, as the event has grown many PARKers have engaged with the project in different ways conceptually and physically.
