Park Development Means Economic Development — Episode 031

In this episode we are talking about the case — or really the
many, MANY cases — for open space. While it would take several
libraries to thoroughly go through all the reasons why open space
is important, we went to the expert on land use policy and
economic development issues.


Ed McMahon is the senior resident fellow at the Urban Land
Institute (ULI). Ed is a sought after thought leader and author
on economic development and land use policies and trends. During
the past 30 years, he has worked with more than 600 communities
in all 50 states on a wide variety of land use and economic
development issues.


In this episode, Ed helps us answer questions like why
placemaking is so important and why land developers should always
invest in parks and open space. He also talks about why
initiatives like the 10-Minute Walk Campaign – a joint initiative
between NRPA, ULI and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) – are
beneficial to all cities.


Resources mentioned:


ULI’s Case for Open Space Report

Information about the 10-Minute Walk Initiative

Ed McMahon’s Ted X Talk