Park, an area kept in its natural state or landscaped to create a place of beauty and set aside for public enjoyment. The size may vary from part of a city block to the thousands of acres in a national park. Public gardens and arboretums (tree gardens) are kinds of parks. Public parks are owned and maintained by cities, counties, states, and nations. Admission is generally free.
A parkway is a wide highway or thoroughfare bordered or divided by landscaped strips of ground. Within a city it may be called a boulevard. The strips of landscaped ground are also called parkways.
An amusement park is a commercially operated area equipped with various entertainment devices, such as merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels. A popular type of amusement park is the theme park, which is organized around a unifying idea such as fantasy or American history. Disneyland in Anaheim, California, was the first major theme park.
The primary function of a city park is to provide a “breathing space"—an area of grass and trees, and perhaps flowers and a fountain. The recreational facilities of a small city park may consist only of paths and benches. A larger park may provide a playground for children and various game courts, playing fields, a swimming pool or bathing beach, and recreational equipment. Museums, zoos, and botanic gardens often are located in large city parks. Some have permanent installations for outdoor concerts and theatrical productions, and some have golf courses and stadiums.
United States. Increasing attention is being given to a city's need for the “breathing space” and recreational opportunities offered by parks. Where a metropolitan area has grown without benefit of city planning, the tendency has been to build on all available land. The result has been vast residential areas without any type of park. Efforts are being made through urban renewal programs to create small parks at frequent intervals in heavily populated areas. Multiple-family housing complexes are being designed increasingly with each building or group of buildings placed within a parklike area of lawn and trees.
Some United States cities have large public parks in a central location due to the land having been set aside while undeveloped tracts were still available. Boston Common, laid out as a cow pasture when the town was being built, was gradually converted to park use. Central Park in New York was established in 1857. In 1861 Chicago established an 80-acre (32-hectare) park that became the nucleus of Lincoln Park, and in 1864 laid out a lakeshore park adjacent to the downtown area (Grant Park), thus preserving a great section of waterfront from commercial blight. In the tradition of the village commons typical of New England, many Midwestern towns were built around public squares.
Europe. Most of the capital cities of Europe have centrally located parks that were formerly the grounds of royal palaces. These include, in London, St. James's, Green, and Hyde parks and Kensington Gardens; in I Paris, the Tuileries and Luxembourg gardens; in Madrid, Parque del Buen Retiro; in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg park. Paris and Copenhagen are ringed with parks and boulevards that are on ground once occupied by city walls and fortifications. London owes many of its parks to early “green belt” laws. The first of these, enacted under Elizabeth I in 1580, prohibited building for three miles (4.8 km) outside the city walls. Although the law was evaded many times, many green areas were protected by it.
For major city parks, see articles on the various cities.
Land is often set aside for forest preserves and wildlife refuges by counties, especially those that include urban areas. An example is the belt of forest preserves outside Chicago, along the Des Plaines River, the Calumet Sag Channel, and various branches of the Chicago River. States also maintain tracts of forest land, and in addition create parks in areas of unusual scenic beauty, historic association, or recreational opportunity. (See sections titled Interesting Places in articles on the various states.) National parks are established to preserve natural resources, commemorate historic events, and provide recreation areas. .)
