| Greenspace facilities are contributing
to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. Fortunately it
is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has
to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted,
although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned
scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of greenspaces in the urban
environment is a first step on the right way, this does not means, however, that
sufficient details are known about the functions of greenspace in towns and
about the way in which the inhabitants are using these spaces. As to this rather
complex subject I shall, within the scope of this lecture, enter into one aspect
only, namely the recreative function of greenspace facilities. The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighbourhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the Street-door of the house. The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect. The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of your house is closed after you. |