Socially Inclusive Spaces: An Action Plan for the Piedmont Park Region of Winston-Salem
A socially inclusive space can best be described through the concept of placemaking, which “facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution” (Peinhardt & Storring, 2019). Currently, there are many spaces that fail to be socially inclusive if they do not successfully address one or more of the following categories: sociability, uses/activities, access, and comfort/image. Further, these spaces should promote community building, intersectionality safety, and consideration of “othered” communities. It is pertinent that spaces begin to counter the construction of public spaces that are not inclusive of all individuals regardless of gender, ability, community, race, and ethnicity.
In order to do this, there are many things that need to change starting with adjusting social attitudes as well as adjusting the norms of planning, designing, and maintaining public space. The process of planning a public space is arguably the most important part of creating a new space because this is the time when the community needs to be involved in the conversations with designers. The authors of “A Playbook for Inclusive Placemaking: Community Process” outline four strategies that placemakers need to use in order to be successful. First, cultivate cultural competency in order to ensure equitable participation in the project. This process can be enhanced through observation, ethnographic research, and listening. Second, facilitate more inclusive meetings. Utilizing multiple meetings with multiple community groups is a key part of this facilitation that is often overlooked. Third, use outreach methods that focus on meeting the community members where they are (as opposed to only using traditional methods such as workshops). Finally, follow through (Peinhardt & Storring, 2019). The projects that are most successful at community engagement are those that treat engagement with the community as an ongoing process as opposed to just a step in the process (Silberberg & Lorah, 2013).
Enabling Placemaking in Winston-Salem - Piedmont Park
In order to address placemaking in public spaces, I will discuss my vision on planning and re-designing a public space in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. When looking at the goal of enabling placemaking in public spaces, I thought that it would be best to examine current public spaces in Winston-Salem to determine if a current space is underutilized and poorly designed for the community it is intended to serve. The problems in Winston-Salem can be compared to Utica where downtown was transformed into a fragmented place and the goal of renewing itself caused Utica to diffuse people away from the center and increase the distance between activities (Horrigan, 2019). The region of Piedmont Park is 0.7 miles from the Winston-Salem Housing Authority, a public housing agency that helps provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families with 240 housing units. It is also 0.9 miles from LaDeara Crest, another affordable housing community with 245 housing units. Carver High School is 2.7 miles away, Ashley Elementary School is 0.8 miles away, and Kimberly Park Elementary is 2.3 miles away. Despite the clear need for a public space in this area, there are no parks within a safe distance. The closest park for this area listed on the Parks and Recreation website for Winston-Salem is Union Cross Park, 12 miles away and the farthest park for this area is OLD US 421 River Park, 18.7 miles away. These data points make it evident that public space in this area is needed. A publication on public spaces and social equity states,
“Ultimately, providing good public space is about equity in the built environment — regardless of setting. Parks must be open to the public with no restrictions on race, gender, economic status, etc. However, interaction with nature has been especially challenging for residents of low-income urban communities that have lower rates of participation in nature-based recreation. This is due to the inaccessible locations of many parks and open areas. The ability to access neighborhood public spaces has a profound impact on the poor, those with limited mobility, and children. Easily accessed, nearby public spaces are very important for such vulnerable populations who may not have a personal vehicle, a situation made even more acute in neighborhoods with few public transportation options.” (Currie, 2017)
Data-Based Community Needs
After establishing a need for public space in the community that will contribute to building social equity, the next step is to identify strategies to include community members as partners in planning and design. In an effort to expedite the initial planning process, I will turn to the Social Capital Benchmark Survey of 2000 which surveyed 750 members of the Winston-Salem community to measure various manifestations of social capital including social trust, racial trust, inter-racial relative trust pairings, civic participation, diversity of friendship set, number of formal group involvements faith-based social capital, organized group interactions, and informal social interactions. This survey will serve as an adequate basis for phase one of the action plan.
Limitations of the Social Capital Benchmark Survey
Before I identify the key findings of this survey, it is important to note the limitations of utilizing this data. First, due to the outdated information, we must proceed with caution when making assumptions about the data. Although this data is a good starting point we must also recreate this survey in the community so that we are able to utilize the information that is relevant to the current residents of Winston-Salem. Second, the survey is limited in its inclusivity because it used a dial survey via telephone which immediately excludes individuals that do not have access to a telephone. Additionally, the survey identifies gender as male or female with no other option which excludes individuals who do not use these gender identities. Third, the data collected is broad in the category which will limit the application to specific design concepts of the space. However, this data will allow more general concepts of the space to be constructed.
Key Findings: Community, Civic Engagement, Organized Group Interaction, and Informal Social Interaction
60.7% of respondents were female and 39.3% of respondents were male. Over 50% of respondents stated that they talk with or visit immediate neighbors several times a week or month but 71% stated they do not participate in a neighborhood association. 50% of respondents stated that they can trust the people in their neighborhood a lot, 78.8% stated that the people in their neighborhood give them a sense of community and 81.3% of respondents stated that living in Winston-Salem gives them a sense of community.
22.1% of respondents indicated high civic engagement (voting, signing petitions, attending political meetings/rallies, working on community projects, demonstrations, boycotts, or marches) while 32.8% of respondents indicated low participation and 38.4% indicated medium interaction. 33.9% of respondents indicated high organized group interaction (attending public meetings, attending club meetings, attending local community events) while 33.2% indicated low participation and 32.9% indicated medium participation. 28.5% of respondents indicated high informal social interaction (having friends visit home, visiting with relatives, socializing with coworkers outside of work, hanging out with friends in public places, playing cards, and board games) while 39.1% indicated low interaction and 32.4% indicated medium participation (Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000).
Piedmont Park Action Plan
Now that we have identified a region of the city that has significant opportunity for a public space in the community, we will turn to the specific programming of this space. The data strongly suggests that residents of Winston-Salem value their neighbors, neighborhood, and community. In “Inclusive by Design: Laying a Foundation for Diversity in Public Space” actively inclusive design is stated as a foundation for civic life that builds a sense of attachment and belonging for everyone. The design of Piedmont Park must address differing abilities, gender dynamics, amenities for cultural activities, and room for local retail. The following action plan will ensure that the decisions made will be the right design for the community.
Choose Location
The selected location within the Piedmont Park region has space available up to 7 acres.
Implement new survey methodology to update current data from the social capital benchmark survey
Create a calendar for inclusive meetings to take place
Send out “Meeting in a Box” kits for residents of the Winston-Salem Housing Authority and LaDeara Crest
Piedmont Park Proposed Design
The proposed design is a basic conceptual structure that divides the land into plots of one acre in size for a total of six regions including one plot for recreation (four full-sized tennis courts and four full-sized basketball courts) two plots for playground space, one plot for picnic tables/benches and overhead coverage, one plot for a community center for things such as meetings, seminars, events, and homework space, and one plot for entrance/parking. These regions were chosen based on the Social Capital Benchmark Survey, which indicated the community’s high value on community, civic engagement, organized group interaction, and informal social interaction.
References
Currie, M., (2017). Public Spaces and Social Equity | Social Equity | Parks and Recreation Magazine | NRPA. Retrieved from https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2017/march/public-spaces-and-social-equity/
Horrigan, P., (2019). One World Placemaking: Towards a Socially Inclusive Public Realm in Utica, NY.,” Proceedings of the Environmental Design Research Association 50th Conference. New York, NY: Environmental Design Research Association
Peinhardt, K., & Storring, N., (2019). A Playbook for Inclusive Placemaking: Community Process. Retrieved from https://www.pps.org/article/a-playbook-for-inclusive-placemaking-community-process
Peinhardt, K., & Storring, N., (2019). Inclusive by Design: Laying a Foundation for Diversity in Public Space. from https://www.pps.org/article/inclusive-by-design-laying-a-foundation-for-diversity-in-public-space
Peinhardt, K., & Storring, N., (2019). What is Placemaking | Category. Retrieved from https://www.pps.org/category/placemaking
Peinhardt, K., & Storring, N., (2019). What Makes a Successful Place? Retrieved from https://www.pps.org/article/grplacefeat
Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (2000), Saguaro Seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Silberberg, S., & Lorah, K., (2013). “Places in the Making: How Placemaking Builds Places and Communities,.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology