The golden fleece: the search for standards

Abstract

Three vital questions have plagued urban open space planners for decades: How much open space? Of what kind? And where? Most planners recognize that the parameters involved in answering these questions are extremely complex: social, demographic, economic, topographical, ecological, climatological, urban structural etc. Despite thoughtful analyses by various writers and the suggestion of alternative approaches, most municipalities in Canada, the United States and Great Britain continue to depend on traditional standards (e.g. 10 acres of open space per 1000 population). This paper explores the historical roots of standards, their strengths and their weaknesses and concludes that (a) there is a lack of viable alternatives to standards; (b) the fault lies not in standards per se, but in their blind application at the broad municipal level; and (c) despite their lack of implementation, community-specific standards represent the most appropriate application of standards.