A little closer to home for me in the Sonoran Phoenix Arizona region is

South Mountain Park - some 16,000 acres of hiking, wildlife and panoramic views

I’ll second the recommendation for Montjuic in Barcelona. Its quite amazing (as is most everything in Barcelona). As for Phoenix Park it was nice and large and well kept and all but from my time there I would hardly list it with the great ones. The National Mall would definitely make my list, even though its small, if someone would actually see to paying for its upkeep. The last time I had to go into the city I stopped for a little while and it was torn up, cracked pathways, no or dead grass, tons of mud, etc.

The park covers 4210 (1,700 Ha) acre of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. It is the second-largest city park in California, after Mission Trails Preserve in San Diego, and the tenth largest in the United States. It also has many more things than the rather drab and boring Central Park of New York Shitty.

Not only is it well known for the world-famous Hollywood sign, it has become famous as a filming location for a very large number of movies and TV shows, especially westerns and science fiction. It has it’s non-standard list of activities for the urban park category which in my opinion makes it the top urban park..

Activities: Camping; Harding golf course, Wilson golf course; Roosevelt Municipal golf course Los Feliz Muni Golf Course, MILES of Hiking and Horseback Riding trails; also the Sunset Ranch Hollywood; Jogging; Picnicking; Ferraro Soccer area; Swimming & Tennis, bicycle rental & the L.A. river bike path, dog park

Attractions:

The original bat cave from Batman - located in Bronson Canyon

The Autry Center formerly the Autry Museum of Western Heritage is where the American West comes to life.

The Greek theatre, This 5,700 seat award-winning theatre is one of Los Angeles’ most historic entertainment venues and has played host to some of the biggest names in entertainment, from pop to classical, reggae to rock.

The Griffith Observatory - Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California’s most popular attraction & free.

Symphony In The Glen - Free concerts in Griffith Park

A 68-horse carousel built in 1926

The Los Angeles equestrian centre - with everything the discerning horse owner and event organizer could ask for and more.

The Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Garden - Plus the Old 1912 Los Angeles Zoo located near the carousel.

Pony Rides - Ponies and horses give youngsters safe rides around an oval track.

Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum - a local club devoted tothe preservation of locomotives through scale models. Free public rides are offered by the club on their live steam scale model trains.

Travel Town - In 1952 The concept of a combined transportation museum and recreation center blossomed and celebrates the history of the California railroad era.

Griffith Park & Southern Railroad - The track stretches over a mile and takes the rider past pony rides, through a lush green meadow, through an old Western town, and past a Native Californian village.

Ferndell Nature Museum - this is a paradise of ferns, flowers and plants of many kinds growing along a tumbling brook, forming a haven of cool shade on a hot summer day.

Bird Sanctuary - On Vermont Canyon Road, in a wooded canyon with a small stream, the sanctuary offers views of many species of birds in their natural habitat.

Statuary - A number of statues have been dedicated throughout Griffith Park.

An abandoned airfield for the California Republic Guard

The Berlin Forest near the observatory.

Two cemeteries adjacent, one jewish, one normal, which houses famous corpses such as Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Telly Savalas, William Conrad, Buster Keaton, Liberace, Freddie Prinze, Andy Gibb, Jack Webb, Stan Laurel, Ricky Nelson and more recently, Brittany Murphy, John Ritter, Gene Autry, Sandra Dee, Lou Rawls, Rod Steiger, Isabel Sanford, David Carradine, and Steve Allen have been buried here. The funeral for superstar Michael Jackson took place at the Hall of Liberty, on July 7th, 2009. But he was buried permanently at Forest Lawn Glendale (not here at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills).

And an adjacent reservoir [with jogging path] known as Lake Hollywood.

If the Royal Botanic Gardens at 87 acres aren’t big enough for you, they’re adjacent to and arguably contiguous with Olympic Park, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Fitzroy Gardens and Treasury Gardens, making one large, green urban escape.

The Botanic Gardens in Sydney are ok, too, but the one in Melbourne is bigger and has more character.

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.

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!

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.

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).

Allen Nyhuis, Coauthor: America’s Best Zoos

722 ha = 1.784 acres

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.

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)