Understanding and Planning for Organized Community Sport in Public Parks: A Case Study of Policy and Practice in Perth

Abstract

Emerging shortages of community sporting facilities in Australian cities have led to calls for increased provision of playing fields through public park and open space planning processes. Drawing on a broad literature review and a specific case study of metropolitan Perth, this paper evaluates the value of organised sport as a function of contemporary public parks before proposing policy and practice to ensure that such an increase complements broader urban planning agendas. An analysis of the evolution of public park planning shows that, while the provision of organised sport was the primary function of public parks in the middle of the twentieth century, contemporary park planning is characterised by the embrace of broader ecological planning concepts such as green infrastructure and ecosystem services. These broader concepts are then applied to understand the value of organised sport held within public parks, including its unique benefits and notable limitations when considered alongside other forms of outdoor recreation. With these limitations in mind, this paper concludes by identifying existing and future policy and practice that can help to ensure that demand for community sporting facilities in new residential areas can be met in a manner that complements this ecological role for local parks.

在澳大利亚，社区运动设施越来越短缺，于是迫切需要在公园和开放空间的规划中考虑增加游戏 场地的供给。本文基于广泛的文献回顾和帕斯市的一项个案研究，试图指出当代公园有组织运动 功能的价值，并就相关政策和实践提出建议，使之纳入城市规划的大视野。从公园规划的发展来 看，在20 世纪中叶，有组织运动是公园的首要功能，但当代公园规划的特点则是考虑更广泛的生 态规划理念，如绿色基础设施和生态系统服务。公园内有组织运动的价值，包括其独特的优势和 明显的局限，也放在这些大理念下加以理解，与其他户外休闲活动一起考虑。本文充分考虑了这 些局限，提出了当下和未来有助于满足新住宅区对社区运动设施的需求、有益于公园生态功能的 政策和实践。

Keywords:

• Public parks
• public open space
• community sport
• planning standards
• green infrastructure
• ecosystem services

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the numerous Perth local governments who assisted in the research underlying this paper.