ABSTRACT
The discussion so far has dealt with alternative strategies that have included an ecological classification for city spaces, issues of naturalization and an ongoing management process that may be described as ‘design over time’. We need now to examine city spaces as a whole, not only from an ecological and habitat perspective, but also from a social and behavioural point of view, since natural and human processes in the city are inseparably linked. The ability to choose between one place and another, each satisfying the immense social diversity of the city, has to do with quality of life. A recognition of these essential differences is necessary if the inherent cultural vitality and diversity of contemporary urbanism is to be embraced in the twenty-first century. The basis for design therefore lies in the recognition that the city’s landscapes have different potentials depending on such factors as who uses them, accessibility, biological and physical character, ownership, zoning, legal constraints, costs and practical applicability. Thus, as in the intelligent application of any integrated management plan, not all uses apply everywhere, or necessarily all at one time. Such an integrated view of urban spaces is, however, emerging, as much the result of changing times and social forces as it is a function of purposeful planning. Parks, like city life, are under a continual process of change.
