So that the parks are (really) for everyone

I walk through the park near my home almost every day. I have nowhere to go, I just want to observe who is hanging around…

In a single outing, I can come across four men in their fifties sitting at the same table listening to the song Love Hurts ; Sunday baseball players; children scheming down a slide; couples who walk their dog while smoking a joint and first dates that look a little dirty.

Each step turns into a fascinating film.

You will guess that the return of good weather and colorful fauna makes me very happy. In my eyes, parks are precious meeting places, and it is with the idea of ​​paying homage to them that I called the anthropologist Nathalie Boucher…

“These aren’t really meeting places,” replied the director of the research organization Respire, putting an abrupt end to my romantic impulse.

“When you go to the grocery store and you get to the milk aisle, you see the brands side by side. We don’t meet them – we don’t try them all – but we become familiar with each of them. In the same way, the people who are in public spaces are those with whom we have eye contact. Their presence is familiar to us, but if they are different from us, we will not necessarily go towards them. »

This is not a reproach, specifies the researcher. It’s quite natural…

I must admit that I never tried to find out what prompted the four men to listen to a power ballad. I do not have nor interrupted the people who were kissing with outstretched tongues to find out their favorite color. I see them, but I don’t meet them, it’s true.

The challenge, for Nathalie Boucher, is therefore that everyone has access to a space that resembles them in order to be visible to others. Which is not the case, unfortunately…

Among the great forgotten, according to his research: adolescent girls. Those surveyed by the anthropologist particularly like to chat with friends. What they would like to see in a park are picnic tables with shelters, WiFi and accessible toilets. It’s not much, you tell me! But where are the tables, in the park near you? Are they safe from indiscreet ears or placed next to the modules for children, a matter of helping parents?

Who are they for?

In recent years, a lot has been invested in sports equipment. It’s an excellent idea to contribute to the healthy lifestyle of citizens, but we neglect a whole section of society that has less interest in this type of leisure, says Nathalie Boucher.

And even among athletes, we forget certain communities: “It’s great, a basketball court! But if we turn off the lights at 11 p.m., it sends the message that we prefer adults who go to bed early to frequent it…”

Can you imagine a park that could bring everyone together?

Impossible, according to Thi Thanh Hien Pham, professor in the department of urban studies and tourism at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). “A public space designed for everyone will have no identity! »

She quotes me Matthew Carmona, an eminent researcher who looks at public spaces in London: it would be better to create a network of parks in the big cities. Think in terms of diversity! “If we accept that park A is used by five specific groups, we must favor other groups in park B, then in park C.”

Of course, some groups would be attracted to more than one space, but a toddler playset would probably not be installed a few meters from a skate park for initiates, illustrates the professor. We would create facilities suitable for children so that they too could try their luck at rolling.

According to Nathalie Boucher, spaces like Central Park are rare, the size of which allows several “small parks” to coexist in one. In an ideal world, we would therefore find less than 700 m from home: an interesting park for children, a park in which teenagers can hang out in the evening, another for adults, and then a space that appeals to seniors.

“Every generation and every cultural group needs to have a place that suits them, nearby. »

While waiting to see such a network unfold, Lourdenie Jean (founder of L’environnement, c’est intersectionnel) believes that we can discover Montrealers through their parks. Sometimes these are intercultural places, such as Jarry Park. Many communities take advantage of the space between the swimming pool, the dog park, the picnic area, the chat pavilion and the baseball diamonds.

But where there is sharing of space, there are also prejudices…

In our parks, we can sometimes see racial profiling, discrimination based on age or ramparts against certain users (hello, furniture that affects the comfort of people experiencing homelessness)…

And how to get there?

“If a group makes a little more noise, we can be curious rather than complaining. We can find out about the music he listens to or what he cooks in festive mode. I like to think that we could be less intimidated by difference. »

But for that, you have to know how to attract people from various backgrounds… The activist tells me about the significant needs for facilities adapted to people with disabilities, extended opening hours and parks designed for the residents of each neighborhood .

“We have to find ways to keep these public spaces … public,” she believes.

So that chatty teenage girls and basketball players who work evenings can feel as welcome there as fifties in love.