Everyone knows what a urban park looks like, right? It tends to be a parcel of green space in a sea of asphalt and concrete and glass. But, of course, there are innumerable variations on that principle. We thought it would be fun to take ten of the world’s largest, most famous, and most beautiful city parks–some combination of those virtues, anyway–and view them from above, all at the same scale, to get a sense of how they’re situated in the fabric of their respective cities and how they work as a whole. How do the world’s great parks compare? Employing the wonders of searchable satellite imagery, we’ve brought together this collection of bird’s eye views to give a sense of how individual and unique these parks are.
We should note that all the parks on our list are located in Europe and North America. That wasn’t by insensitive design–the ones we chose just seemed to us the best candidates. If we missed any giant, amazing, centrally-located city parks in Asia or South America or Africa or some little island somewhere, please feel free to give us a beatdown in the comments section.
For a sense of scale: a mile is about two and a quarter inches — though there is some minor variation among the photo sets.
Central Park, New York City - 843 acres
Created: 1853; Located in uptown Manhattan, in the midst of some the island’s densest and wealthiest neighborhoods. Frederic Law Olmstead’s urban pastoral masterpiece contains several bodies of water, a zoo, playgrounds and fields, natural wooded areas, and so very much more. Sadly, if America ever become totally insolvent, the government will likely have to sell Central Park for trillions of dollars to the Chinese so our nation can keep buying cheap toasters.
Retiro Park, Madrid - 350 acres.
Founded: 1632. Originally a retreat for the Spanish royal family, the park is adjacent to both the the Prado Museum and Atocha train station (the rail yard is visible at the bottom of the photograph). The park’s gardens and artificial lake are both iconic in Spain. And there are chestnuts there — lots and lots of chestnuts.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco - 1,017 acres
Created: 1870. Built in the wake of New York’s plan to create a “central park,” Golden Gate has a similar shape and abundance of attractions. The Summer of Love was launched there in 1967. Also, it’s very easy to buy drugs.
Tiergarten, Berlin - 630 Acres
Created: 1830s. If you’ve never been to Berlin, pretty much all the stuff that you’ve heard of in Berlin is located in or at the edges of this urban green space: The Reichstag, the Brandenberg Gate, Pottsdamer Platz… and also the Victory Column where Obama gave a speech and then the Europeans all decided he should become president.
Stanley Park, Vancouver - 1000 acres
Created: 1888. This enormous, forested peninsular park was created from a former military reserve. It boasts one of the world’s great urban beach promenades, and also is home to Vancouver’s world-class aquarium where the parts of cinema classic Good Luck Chuck were filmed.
Monsanto Forest Park, Lisbon - 2300 acres
Created: 1930s. This giant parcel of urban forest was created by replanting the formerly barren Monsanto Hills. It is a great place for hiking right in the city–but the fact that it’s also wrapped in highways lessens its appeal as a walking destination.
Balboa Park, San Diego - 1200 acres
Created: 1868. Balboa is directly adjacent to downtown San Diego. The park features gardens and open spaces interspersed with attractions like the El Prado promenade and city’s famous zoo. There is also one of those “18-hole” thingies where you can hit around little white balls.
Hyde Park, London - 625 acres (including Kensington Gardens)
Created as a public park: 1637. Divided by The Serpentine lake, Hyde Park and Kensington Garden are technically distinct entities but functionally one big green space. Both are part of the impressive “green lung” of parklands in central London.
Mont Royal Park, Montreal - 545 Acres
Created: 1879. This stunning park overlooks the city’s downtown and was laid out by Fredrick Law Olmstead, whose name you might know. Mount Royal Park offers a stunning array of activities from snowboarding to classical music concerts. Sadly it was almost denuded in the 50s by a zealous mayor who determined that there be no fornication in the park bushes. Happily, the vegetation–and local fornication habits–have fully recovered in the meantime.
Luxembourg Gardens, Paris - 60 acres
Created: 1625 . While diminutive compared with the other parks on this list, this public park–which constitutes the grounds of Luxembourg Palace–sets a standard as one of the most beautiful and hospitable urban spaces in the world. But it also offers some scale for all these other parks…
September 10th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
What about St. Louis’s Forest Park? It’s 50% larger than Central Park, and it has a zoo, art museum, history museum, and science museum (all free). It also contains The Muny, a 11,000-seat open-air theater. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Park_%28St._Louis,_Missouri%29
September 10th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Why no love for Philadelphia?
Fairmount park has over 4,000 acres on both sides of the Schuylkill River, and includes attractions like boathouse row and the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Heck, even the lesser Wissahickon Valley Park is 1,400 acres, and is rather amazing for an urban park, since it is a forested river gorge of parkland and trails that is wholly contained within the borders of the city of Philadelphia.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Lawnboy & Stirner,
I do “10 Greatest” slightly tongue in cheek. But a headline is a headline.
Considered both. Excluded Fairmount on the idea that Philly is functionally part of greater NY metro and Central is defining park in the region (though Fairmount and Prospect are both world-class). Forest Park is great, but StL is a smaller city and a park like Balboa is a shade more noteworthy in that category.
JR
September 10th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
What a great idea! It’s fascinating to see the rigid grid of San Fran and the loopy streets of Lisbon are mirrored in their respective parks. The only two on that list that I’ve visited are Stanley Park in Vancouver (where I rode my bike on the path - gorgeous) and Hyde Park in London, and both were extraordinary. I love my hometown park, though, Millennium Park in Chicago. So much more than a park, it’s an outdoor cultural center.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
It probably isn’t strictly speaking an urban park, but Berlin’s Gruewald, on the city’s western edge, is still within the city limits, and feels much wilder than the the more manicured Tiergarden — and it’s close enough to the city center that you can still take the subway there. During the Cold War, it was inside the Berlin Wall, so West Berliners maintained it as a bit of countryside in the city.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Good list, although I might add the qualifying statement that it is for *large* city parks, which are obviously different from the smaller squares and whatnot that are IMO more important.
Rock Creek in Washington and Griffith in LA are another couple of large, well-known central city parks, although I can’t think of any good reason to list either of them ahead of Central or Golden Gate.
One question: Having never been there I don’t know, but can Stanley Park really be called urban? It’s not exactly cross-the-street accessible like most of these others.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Outrage! Blasphemy! What about the Chain of Lakes portion of the Minneapolis Grand Rounds?!?! The Grand Rounds are the only Scenic Byway encompassed entirely within one city! How could you miss that?
*grin*
Seriously, though, great list. Perhaps there will be enough comments here for you to assemble a part two sometime.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Also: The answer could very well be “no”, but are there none in Asia?
September 10th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
No Phoenix Park in Dublin - for shame - The Phoenix Park at 707 hectares (1752 acres), is a historic landscape of international importance and one of the largest designed landscapes in any European city. It was originally established as a Royal deer park in the 17th century
http://www.phoenixpark.ie/about/
September 10th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
What about Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s river valley park?
Find it on wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Saskatchewan_River_valley_parks_system
(or if the link doesn’t post properly, look up North Saskatchewan River Valley Parks System on wikipedia).
It has 18,000 acres. Major features include a zoo, an historical park (Fort Edmonton), conservatory (plants), several golf courses, biking/hiking trails. The provincial legislature building and grounds is immediately adjacent to the river valley. The Royal Alberta museum is also immediately adjacent.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
@BeyondDC: Stanley Park is easily accessibly from downtown Vancouver. And it has the typical urban park problems. So, yes, it’s an urban park.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
+1 for Forest Park in STL. Truly a wonderful metro park full of great cultural institutions all of which are free to visitors.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
BeyondDC -
Agreed about large — mentioned in the intro, but perhaps worth including in headline… I’ll mull on that.
We really looked for examples from Asia and S. America, etc. Ueno Park in Tokyo and Hong Kong Park are both quite worthy — and Ueno has some amazing museums — but ultimately just not in same category. Also a very nice park in Bangkok I looked at, but it was quite small.
San Christobal Hill in Santiago is large and pretty central — but doesn’t compare aesthetically to, say, Mount Royal Park in Montreal.
Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens are amazing, but only 70 acres and they’re no Luxembourg Gardens.
And so on.
As for Stanley — give the pic another look: you can see the downtown area adjacent to the park. You pass through it if going to N. Vancouver (depending on bridge you take). In some respects, it’s the center of the city.
JR
September 10th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I’ll second LawnBoy. I was involved with some of the renovation projects in Forest Park back in the late 90’s. They ‘restored’ the former river that ran through the park, which was placed in culverts back in the 30’s. The new river connects a series of stagnant lakes into a linear water feature. At one point at the low end of park the river runs under a bridge - from both directions - and dumps into a large inlet back into the original River Des Peres, which is still contained in the culverts. Part of the water is recirculated back upstream and is fed into a series of man made wetlands adjacent to the new river. I think they had about six feet of fall over the length (1.5 miles?) of the new river to work with.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Archiseek,
Phoenix Park was on my original list — but Dublin just isn’t as dense as these other cities, and the park is less centrally located. Just feels less “urban” in its visual impact (pardon the clumsiness of that expression). Check out the sat photo of it and I think you’ll see what I mean though.
But an amazing place, for certain.
JR
September 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
What about Forest Park in Portland???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Park_(Portland,_Oregon)
September 10th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I’d have listed Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, if only it were at it’s former glory. There are still some quirks and fascinations, like the Model Safety City, and the beautiful Palm House and Orchid Room at the Conservatory.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Oh! Another interesting topic: Does the National Mall qualify, and if so should it be included?
The Mall is certainly internationally famous, but on the other hand it doesn’t serve the same function that any of these other parks serve. Also, one might argue that it actually cuts the city in half, rather than gives it heart, and that therefore it’s not very “great”.
——–
Another one that might deserve an honorable mention, if not exactly a spot on the list, is Denver’s City Park.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
PROSPECT PARK in BROOKLYN. 585 ACRES! GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD (BROOKLYN not NEW YORK).
September 10th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Gregory,
Yeah, yeah — preaching to the choir. I live about 30 steps from it. But put aerial shots of Prospect and Central side by side and tell me which is more impressive…
JR
September 10th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
uhm, hello? mexico city’s chapultepec park is 1600+ acres
September 10th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Forest Park has great potential but has been significantly damaged by four irrefutable factors: 1) a large section of the Park has been turned into a highway that separates the southern most section from the rest of the Park, 2) the SE section of the Park has been leased to BJC to create a large parking garage, 3) the Park has become a large and mostly free parking lot on weekends and is being used as a major thoroughfare during the week for commuters, and 4) ADA ramps, STOP signs and a large section of a bike path have been removed in order to expand a golf course in the last year at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists.
What has been done to upgrade the Park in the last 10 years to previous standards has been very positive. However, there is a large gap between potential and reality as the car culture remains the dominant and ruling factor in the region.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
What about Montjuic in Barcelona, Spain?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=barcelona,+spain&sll=43.766755,-79.418793&sspn=0.070041,0.154324&gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=41.367211,2.154779&spn=0.036394,0.077162&t=k&z=14
September 10th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
No love for Chicago? Grant Park, which encompasses Millennium Park, would seem a natural fit for this list, and one that has quite a bit of cultural value what with two rather famous incidents involving Democrats (’68 and ‘08) while being quite literally the city’s ‘front yard’ and providing for an unquestionably beautiful interplay of the Michigan Avenue cliff of buildings with open space and the lake beyond.
For that matter the entire series of parks along the lakefront, with a few breaks that should be addressed eventually, is a major identifying feature of Chicago, and part of the great foresight of the Burnham and Bennett plan from a century ago along with the Forest Preserve’s ‘emerald necklace’ and a variety of other wonders. While not technically one park, it almost functions as one if you are a determined enough jogger.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Munich’s English Gardens need to be considered as well. Very impressive.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Not surprisingly, everybody is spot on. Grant/Millennium, Englischer Gardens, and Chapultepec park were literally the last the three eliminated from the list. A variety of reasons in each case, that were at times quite subjective or even superficial. (For instance, weighing Englischer was fact that it isn’t quite as “photogenic” as the others and I couldn’t get all of it in a single pic.) Anyway, one could argue that one or another of those should go in place of Mount Royal or Monsanto Forest, which were in my mind the two “lowest” on the list. But, hey, gotta make some calls.
I think there’s a part II coming, and all will be in that…
JR
September 10th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I would have listed Rock Creek Park in DC. At 2,800 acres, it dwarfs all of the others. There are hiking and walking trails, countless picnic areas, amphitheaters, horse stables, one of the largest zoos in the country, several roads are closed for cycling and pedestrians on weekends. Not to mention beautiful bridges.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Spain is blessed with some great urban parks, from Madrid’s Retiro Park, included above, to the Antonin Gaudi designed Parc Guell in Barcelona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Güell), even if the latter is a little small in comparison to the others selected (though there are additional, connected parks to make a larger whole). But to my mind, the coolest and most unique urban park also happens to be in Spain, Valencia’s Tulia Gardens.
Why is it unique? For one thing, it’s easily much newer than any of the parks listed above, having been created in the 1960s (some portions are still under construction) despite abutting portions of the city dating back a millennia. You see, Valencia was founded and built itself along the banks of the Tulia River where it flows into the Mediterranean; however, the river frequently flooded, so after a particularly destructive flood in 1957, the city decided to *divert the river around the city* and then turn the riverbed into a 5 mile long park. The historical bridges were kept intact, and because the riverbed is 15-20 below ground level, the noise of the surrounding city is significantly reduced. Also, with keeping the bridges intact, the various sections of the park between each of the bridges is given over to various uses, including sports facilities, gardens, Opera House a large children’s play area (including a gigantic Gulliver that kids can all climb over[1]) and the very impressive Calatrava designed City of Arts & Sciences (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciutat_de_les_Arts_i_les_Ciències).
Probably the best way to get a feel for the size of it by viewing it from above is to see it in wikimapia at http://wikimapia.org/#lat=39.4682036&lon=-0.3684711&z=14&l=0&m=b and move the mouse until the course of the old river is highlighted, and then browsing around its length.
I do have to admit that the act of diverting a major river makes the ecological environmentalist in me twitch, but the urban environmentalist in me loves the result.
[1] See http://wikimapia.org/#lat=39.4625589&lon=-0.3595206&z=19&l=0&m=b
September 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I have to admit I’m a fan of Griffith Park in LA, as it’s my local. It contains our zoo (which is no San Diego but is still pretty good), the Gene Autry museum, not one but two golf courses, an equestrian center, an observatory, not to mention the busiest local gay cruise area in the city.
Does it compare to the great city parks? Welllll…. not really. I do like that so much of it is simply wild and not Olmsteaded out the yingyang. But then again having *some* of that design is pretty nice, from what I’ve seen in other cities.
I’ll tell you where I think it differs quite a bit from other city parks, and that is in that it straddles a mountain and thousands upon thousands of acres, so it’s bordered on its sides by a number of entirely different communities - both politically, in character, etc, all of which have their own unique interface with the park.
It looks like wall-to-wall fuck-all from above though. Heh.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Philadelphia is larger than Lisbon and is historically and culturally separate from New York, as is Boston, and both of these cities have great urban parks. I suppose Boston Common is too small, but perhaps the entire Emerald Necklace compares favorably. How about the harbor islands park, it’s even a national recreation area!
And the best park hasn’t even been mentioned in the comments yet: Bronx Park in the Central Bronx. It’s home to the Bronx Zoo, Fordham University, and the New York Botanical Garden. The BG even has its own railroad station on Metro-North! Plus, unlike these other parks, it’s listed in a real working class area and is very functional for its citizens rather than just being a tourist site or a pretty picture. A series of parkways connects it (with bicycle paths!) to Pelham Bay Park, a tremendously large coastal park, and Van Cortlandt park is a short bus ride away, offering even more green goodness to struggling Bronxites.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Yoyogi Park?? Central Tokyo, probably one of the most dense and expensive urban areas in the world. Yeah it’s only 133 acres…but still i mean, everything in Japan is miniature! Everything
September 10th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
[...] The World’s 10 Greatest City Parks, Viewed From Above » INFRASTRUCTURIST (tags: parks urbanism) [...]
September 10th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
[...] The World’s 10 Greatest City Parks, Viewed From Above » INFRASTRUCTURIST (tags: parks urbanism) [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 12:39 am
It seems like everyone is suggesting a park. Locals have their parks, so I think another article where people send in their parks should be considered.
For my part, I want to nominate Memorial Park in Houston, Texas. A grand park, that has a great history. Everyone goes there, it’s the place to be seen. On a weekend you can meet the mayor and some local officials that jog in the park. Nobody else can say that about their park!
September 11th, 2009 at 1:00 am
So painful to see Philly referred to as “functionally” part of the New York Metro Area. False on many levels. And I add another vote for Fairmont Park, but Philly also has the 5 squares created by William Penn, which together are a nice set of small urban oases.
September 11th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Hey, what about St. Paul?
Wait a minute….never mind. St. Paul’s a hole.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Really interesting to see these from above, think I’ve discovered new parts of central park that I’ve never been to before! I’m gonna have to checkk it out!
September 11th, 2009 at 5:43 am
I’ll throw in a vote for Hyde Park/The Domain/Botanic Gardens in Sydney. It runs along the eastern edge of the central business district, albeit slightly disjointed a la Grant Park, and the northern end of the park just so happens to overlook Sydney Harbour, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - the views don’t get much better!
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=-33.867636,151.219296&spn=0.019314,0.044761&t=k&z=15
September 11th, 2009 at 9:43 am
This is great list, but it’s all about the big parks. What about great pocket parks or great linear parks? These are important too!
September 11th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] From our pals at The Infrastructurist, a round-up of some of their best posts this week: The World’s 10 Greatest Urban Parks We take an aerial tour of the world’s most amazing urban green spaces, looking at ten large urban [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 11:58 am
OK, I take back the “functionally part of New York” — neither true nor particularly relevant. I was thinking regionally at the moment I wrote that and questioning whether I wanted two from the same greater region.
JR
September 11th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
How about Boston Commons in Boston? the oldest public park in the country.
September 11th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
This is an interesting list, but is pretty uniform in terms of the types of cities and parks represented. While I think it is great that cities that have largely deported the wildlife have been able to retain some beautiful but very tame places in the middle of masses of humanity, there are other models. In my view too much focus on all the bells and whistles in city parks - Golden Gate Park looks like an amusement park from the air photo. Can’t people can’t enjoy themselves in a natural setting without having actractions and other activities, not to mention bourgeois “wank” (the reconstructed medieval architecture in central park) suggested as ways to interact with nature.
Some much newer cities have much larger interconnected parks areas where at least part of the time one may wonder if it is a forest in a city or city in a forest. Plus these interconnected places are generally accessible to more groups of people. Perhaps you need to have a list of the best examples of urban areas that still have real wildlife in them.
September 11th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Since everyone else is offering up their hometown parks… what about the Public Garden/Boston Common Combo in Boston? Maybe what would be cool (and what I think I was mis-reading this to be), is a ‘top 10 most important parks’ throughout history column? That would be fascinating to read….
Great feature though. Thanks.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Well, if St. Louis is too small to include, then I know City Park in New Orleans is not going to make your “discerning” cut. But as one of the oldest (1853 with a fascinating history), one of the biggest (1300+ acres), and one of the best attended (11M/year pre-K, especially considering the total population of the area - that’s more than Coney Island, Fairmont Park, and The National Mall) urban parks, I’d say it deserves some attention. Those qualities are quite impressive for an old compact “small” city like New Orleans. Unfortunately, City Park was also greatly devastated during Hurricane Katrina, and is just finally getting its lustre back so it can showcase the world’s largest collection of mature live oak trees. I’m also pretty sure 6,000 residents per square mile in the adjacent neighborhoods is certainly urban living, in case there were any questions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Park_(New_Orleans)
http://neworleanscitypark.com/
http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/citypark_facts/ccpe_Most_Visited_Parks_08.pdf
September 11th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Philly is not a park of greater NYC…come on.
Yoyogi park in tokyo.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Wow, I really love seeing everybody’s passion for their park. It’s truly awesome.
I live about 3 blocks from Balboa Park…in that aerial shot, in fact, and it is indeed fantastic. Interestingly, though, it hasn’t had as much of an impact on me, my life, my spirt, etc as two others: Cherokee Park in Louisville, KY and Parque Mexico in Mexico D.F.. Both of those are a little (or lot) smaller and less institutional than Balboa. And, as a result, the people who use them, be it neighbors or more destination users, really have more of an intimate relationship with them. It is something you can absolutely see in other park-goers and give you a feeling that you are experiencing something pretty darn special.
Yadda yadda. I love parks.
September 11th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Wow, the coolest thing you could think of for Vancouver was “Good Luck Chuck was filmed there”?
September 11th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Wow, I never realized that Golden Gate Park in SF was so expansive.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Hard to argue with this list, but I must say that between Olmsteads’ two major NYC parks, he and his partner Calvert Vaux much preferred Prospect Park.
Their goal of creating an isolated, bucolic oasis for city dwellers to escape to was badly compromised in Central Park with east-west access roads cutting off large segments, along with the placement of the Metropolitan Museum, and the enormous reservoir disrupting any lengthy meadow views. Thus the city feels like an almost omnipresent voyeur, lurking in the background.
In Prospect Park, a great meadow is a central feature, stretching almost a mile uninterupted, while both the Brooklyn reservoir and Brooklyn Museum were placed outside the park boundaries. Generations of Brooklynites have been able to wander there and momentarily forget they were surrounded by a huge city.
Having said that, I have to admit that the food at Tavern on the Green beats anything in Prospect Park!
September 11th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
[...] The World’s 10 Greatest Urban Parks We take an aerial tour of the world’s most amazing urban green spaces, looking at ten large urban parks situated near the heart of major cities. The shapes range from the “perfect square” geometry of Central Park to giant overflowing Monsanto Forest Park in Lisbon–each one complex and unique….Read the full story on TreeHugger [...]
September 11th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
What about the Seattle Commons? Or wait… we rejected that by .5% in about ‘95…
September 11th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Why does everyone in the Northern Hemisphere think that they have the “World’s Greatest” of everything. WHilst these parks and gardens are great, so are those in parts of Australia, New Zealand, etc.
September 12th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Don’t forget Holyrood Park in Edinburgh:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=holyrood+park,+edinburgh,+uk&sll=44.231329,-76.480925&sspn=0.468385,1.234589&ie=UTF8&ll=55.946076,-3.15608&spn=0.045756,0.154324&t=h&z=13
September 12th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Yes, yes, but as a PERCENTAGE of total national land area, Luxembourg’s park has them all beat by quite a margin
September 12th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Annnnddd… the cold medicine strikes again. Strike that last. Ergh.
September 12th, 2009 at 11:51 am
What about China? Although everything is small in Japan, the mainland does things in grand scale. I visit Beijing alot and my favorite park is definitely the Summer Palace; once a royal palace, it has now been converted to a public park. at 3 square kilometers (XX acres), it should be big enough for you. It’s also a UNESCO site…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace
September 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
As I type from my apartment but five minutes cycle from Dublin’s Phoenix Park, I must admit I am a tad miffed that it didn’t make the final list. As every Dublin schoolchild knows it is the largest urban park in Europe (any and every superlative is cherished in a small nation).
I love the place. I run there regularly and I think there are few things as magical as running past fallow deer in the wilderness of the Fifteen Acres section of the park on a fine summer’s evening. Ya can’t do that in the Retiro.
September 12th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Having had a quick goo at the Phoenix Park satellite photos I agree with you that it just doesn’t look as urban as the parks that made the list. There sure is plenty of green space in the low density urban sprawl that our corrupt planning system bequeathed us.
September 12th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Toronto has a couple of large urban parks. High Park at 161 hectares (399 acres) and the Toronto Island Park at 230.388 hectares (569.3011 acres).
September 12th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Yay my house is on here
September 13th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
[...] writing on parks ‘Large Parks’(edited by Czerniak & Hargreaves) a recent post on The Infrastructurist catalogs 10 of the world’s greatest large parks. “We thought it would be fun to take [...]
September 13th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Two Thumbs Up for Stanley Park! I distinctly remember the December day in 2000 when I left the neon and glass of downtown Vancouver, and simply by crossing a street, entered into the thick groves of Douglas Fir. It was a typical day for the Pacific Northwest, meaning cool, dark, and misting, once I stepped past the first thicket, I had completely left behind Sun-Yat Tsen Gardens, the money of Robson, sleek condo towers along the waterfront, and the whole urban mix of Vancouver, from Granville to Davie Village to Kits. And where I was was complete, total silence, save the occassional “drip” from water collecting on pine. And the air was incredibly rich and clean. I wandered on through several groves and clearings, and finally pushed through the last bough…to find myself on the seawall. Looking across the water onto the far side, I heard and then saw something so extraordinary I literally could not force myself to accept it for some time: across the water was some sort of steam engine locomotive, carrying a very long train of what looked like cut timber. I had crossed from the 21st century into the 19th century in 30 minutes.
I love the 3 mile (or is that 3km?) bike path along the seawall…starting out at flashy condos originally built for Chinese expats predicted to flee the accession of Hong Kong, and out to and around St. James Bay and English Bay, where there sat no less than 13 hulking cargo ships, moored peacefully.
I really recommend that park to anyone who is playing tourist in Vancouver. I guess it’s been awhile since I was up there; I have to find an excuse to go back!
September 14th, 2009 at 1:37 am
The Villa Borghese in Roma is only 148 acres but I would argue that it belongs on any 10-best list of great urban parks. The same for 300-acre Gorky Park in Moscow.
September 14th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Los 10 parques urbanos más grandes del mundo (ENG)…
Todo el mundo sabe cómo son los parques urbanos, ¿no? Tiende a ser una parcela de espacio verde en un mar de asfalto, cemento y vidrio. Pero como sabemos hay innumerables variaciones basados en ese principio. Pensamos que sería divertido tomar 10 de…
September 14th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Casa de Campo, Madrid, 4250 ACRES!!!:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Campo
September 14th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Lincoln Park in Chicago? 1200 acres!
September 14th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Clearly more research was needed for this. Fairmount Park in Philly is the largest urban park in the world. I guess the real question is what do you mean by “Great”?
September 14th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Don’t know what “Philly is functionally part of greater NY metro” means, even as someone who lives there and works in NYC. Philly is a separate and distinct city, with its own identity. Call me stupid, I guess.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Hmm, Griffith Park is often cited as the largest municipal park in the U.S. (4200 acres). I guess the main chunk of Fairmount park is slightly smaller but there is a whole system of parks that combined make up 9200 acres? At any rate, Griffith should obviously be on the list, certainly above San Diego. After Central Park, the Griffith Observatory is probably one of the most famous and most photographed landmarks out of all of these parks. And it probably has the best view of any of these.
September 15th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Fairmount Park?
September 15th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
These are nice parks, but how about the largest city park? South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona is over 16,000 acres with 51 miles of trails.
Yes we have Papago Park (1200 acres in Phoenix and 300 acres in Tempe) that has the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix zoo and other parks (e.g. Encanto) that are similar to the above list.
But for sheer size, South Mountain rocks. (pun)
September 16th, 2009 at 7:50 am
If you do a follow-up, could you maybe look at usage rates and diversity of programming? The number of people who pass through the gates in any given week, and the variety of reasons they have for doing so, could tell us if a given park serves as a vital cultural resource within their communities for a broad range of demographic groups, or if they are just a pretty refuge for joggers / smokers.
September 16th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I’ve visited all but one of the parks on your list (haven’t been to the one in Lisbon) and many of the others mentioned by other posters. I live steps from Central Park and I never cease to be amazed by it. It’s been beautifully restored thanks to the Conservancy. Manhattan is also blessed by Inwood Hill Park, Bryant Park and the hip new High Line as well. Prospect Park is lovely and our newest NYC park, Governor’s Island, will be quite special when complete - the views alone are spectacular.
Of those others on your list, I have special fondness for Stanley Park which is blessed by a superb location in Vancouver. I must say I’ve always found Hyde Park - the Serpentine area apart - to be rather unimpressive as an urban park. Yes, it gets points for size and location but it’s otherwise very dull. Regent’s Park is more interesting - it has the zoo as well - but it wouldn’t make my list either. Balboa Park isn’t especially impressive in terms of landscaping - it’s main lure is what’s there - the museums, theater and especially the zoo. I think the parklands adjacent to downtown in both Melbourne and Sydney would both be more deserving of a spot than Hyde Park. The botanic garden in Melbourne is exquisite but the large park adjacent to it is also quite pleasant. I always found it pleasant to walk through the park when visiting Melbourne for the Australian Open.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Located in Santiago de Chile. Urban Park named Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, including an 880 mts high hill in the middle of the city.
722 ha = 1.784 acres
September 16th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
@zach look two posts above yours “Fairmount Park in Philly is the largest urban park in the world”. I had always read that Griffith Park was the largest municipal park in the country. It seems that Fairmount Park is bigger but is actually several separate parks? I don’t know. I live in L.A., not Philly. Anyway, the article is still dumb.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:17 am
[...] has a great list of 10 Great Urban Parks. It includes four of my favorites: Golden Gate, Central Park, Jardin de Luxembourg and Hyde Park. [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
[...] of North America, Europe Posted on September 17, 2009 by Ben Infrastructurist bring us a nice post on great urban parks in North America and Europe. Everyone knows what a urban park looks like, right? It tends to be a [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 1:09 am
What’s interesting is how many of these great parks contain great zoos! It shows that a Zoo is a perfect addition to any major city park
Allen Nyhuis, Coauthor: America’s Best Zoos
September 18th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
[...] has posted its list of the ten greatest large urban parks. It’s interesting to see them all viewed from above at roughly the same scale, and to see [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
No Forest Park in St. Louis!?
September 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
It’s Olmsted, not Olmstead. This is a very common mistake that seems to becoming almost acceptable.
Yoyogi Koen (Tokyo) and Griffith Park (Los Angeles) are really special in their own way. Seoul has Namsan Mountain right in the middle of town. That’s impressive also.
Sydney I agree with you on - the RBG are lovely but it’s not the best open space in town, that would be anything along the ocean, and a lot of that is just trails and beaches, not well-planned park space.
Many cities have wonderful parks that were once great - Detroit’s Olmsted-designed Belle Isle was wonderful in its time. Years of neglect and misuse knock it off the great list (still, you should see it if you’re ever in Southeast Michigan).
September 21st, 2009 at 10:05 am
[...] World’s ten greatest large urban parks (Infrastructurist): Everyone knows what a urban park looks like, right? LINK [...]
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Forest Park Forever in St. Louis names the project manager of MoDOT’s anti-green New 64 (expanded highway through the Park) as its president and new executive director of the Park.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I recommend adding Chapultepec Park in Mexico City and either Hermann Park or Memorial Park in Houston.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm
[...] harnessed the supreme power of the all-seeing eye (GoogleMaps, that is) to subjectively rank the world’s 10 greatest urban parks. This provocative little inquiry could be replicated and re-oriented in many ways - even at eye [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
The title should be corrected to be ‘The Western World’s 10 Greatest Large Urban Parks.’
I’m disappointed to see none from the East. Japan has a wonderful tradition of urban parks…I might even suggest that Tokyo has more to add to the conversation than New York.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:31 am
[...] The World’s 10 Greatest Large Urban Parks: from Central Park to Luxembourg Gardens, all viewed from above. [...]
September 28th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I can’t believe Forest Park in Portland didn’t make your list
September 29th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
great idea guys!!
as a European, however, I find it hard to understand what you thought was so great about the Retiro. Valencia’s Turia Gardens are certainly a lot nicer in all aspects that come to my mind. Steve Beattie made a great description, although he called it “Tulia Gardens”. All I would add to that description is the fact that this park is like a highway for bicycles, meaning that, since it was build on the old riverbed, which crosses the town right through the middle, you can use it to cycle almost anywhere in Valencia within minutes.
Hamburg’s “Planten un Blomen” and Munich’s “Englischer Garten” are also great!
September 29th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Of this list:
Spain:El Retiro park, Madrid, Spain, is really gorgeous.
as well as the Alhambra, Granada, Spain, and Andalusian Parks.
In France, 2 or 3 Paris parks (luxembourg and Bois de Boulogne).
In Italy, Giardino Giusti, Verona.
In mexico DF, Chapultepec gardens.
In Caracas, Venezuela, Parque del Este and Botanical Garden.
In the US those that appear in the list, especially …Central Park……wow.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Great comparative study.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Other large urban parks:
Washington Park, Chicago at 372 acres
Franklin Park, Boston at 575 acres
Frick Park (600 acres), Schenley Park (456 ac), Pittsburgh
October 10th, 2009 at 8:13 am
[...] Ainda ao nível dos espaços públicos, via Infrastructurist, está disponível um levantamento dos maiores parques urbanos, no qual pontifica o Parque de Monsanto e realce para um projecto de reconversão de uma antiga [...]
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
You’re forgetting about Parque Metropolitano de Santiago de Chile… it’s about 1780 acres, it’d be the 2nd largest according to your list. I can’t believe you let it slip, surely you did because it’s in South America, as if we were from another world. It’s got a zoo, 2 swimming pools, a “funicular”, “teleférico”, and many stuff…
You should add it, or at least apologize.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
[...] 10 Greatest Urban Parks 2009 October 29 tags: parks, public spaces by Norah This is a cool article from The Infrastructurist, listing great parks and green spaces in cities across the world. Included are the 60-acre [...]
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:59 am
One to add: Toronto’s High Park. It spans 398 acres in the city’s west end. It is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. The land for the park was given to the City of Toronto by a landowner beginning in 1873.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
[...] The Infrastructurist Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Poem – Central Park New York CityJustice for the [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Too many on here are brainwashed by the Olmstedian scheme of urban parks, better yet, recycled British philosophy turned to the American myth of rural idyll amid concrete, hustle bustle jungle. This is the very philosophy that contextualized into suburbia - a failing lifestyle that is leading America into debt - perpetuity, thus potential large scale war.
The urban parks of the future will not seek rural salvation via careful planning and commuting (Central Park) as a reprieve from the terrors of vertical shadows (a day at the park). But instead, parks will scale down in size, pop up more regularly within city scapes while injecting us with sustained doses of green space. Nature is nurture, nuture is nature.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Seattle’s Ravenna Park is absolutely incredible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenna_Park
Those pictures aren’t great, but the place is. There are litterally 200 foot redwood and Douglas fir trees right in the middle of the University District. It has great hiking trails, as well. For a local touch, during the summer people tie a rope to the bottom the 20th Avenue NE Bridge (which spans a hundred-foot chasm) and SWING ACROSS IT. This place is magnificent. It deserves a place on the list.