Caring Public Park Management: Place-based responses to houselessness

Abstract

Public spaces, such as parks, are critically important for individuals experiencing houselessness, providing a place to spend the day and meet basic survival needs. While public parks and recreation services are often cited as solutions to society’s most pressing issues, such as climate change and poor public health, they are rarely included in discussions about supportive responses to houselessness. Frequently, the approaches taken by public park and recreation agencies to houselessness are reactive, punitive, and enforcement driven. This dissertation argues that agencies are well-positioned to respond positively to marginalized individuals who use public spaces, and as publicly funded organizations, they have a responsibility to do so. This study utilizes the feminist theory of an ethic of care to examine the value of responding to houseless populations through place-based approaches rooted in care. It focuses particularly on park-based care, which refers to the care practices situated within and implemented through public parks. Seventy interviewees participated in the study, including individuals experiencing chronic houselessness and public park and recreation professionals. Collectively, they provide key insights into the complexities of managing public parks and delivering recreation services in the context of houselessness. Challenges include the dilemma of providing a finite public service amid extensive and competing needs, an ill-defined role for the profession, and the difficulties of utilizing public parks while living houseless. Public space managers cannot solve structural social injustices, but they can control how they respond to these injustices and the values they embody in their daily practices. The study analyzes three park-based care approaches that offer a path forward for public park and recreation agencies. It examines work by the Freeway Park Association in Seattle, WA, to implement caring park programming; place-based supportive outreach efforts implemented by the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District in Atlanta, GA; and DowntownDC’s proactive care-based park management practices in Franklin Park, Washington, D.C. These organizations recognize that they cannot simply police their way out of houselessness. Instead, they strive to create welcoming public spaces that are inclusive, fair, and supportive for all individuals, regardless of their circumstances. This study contributes significant evidence on the value of employing public parks as spaces of care to meet society’s collective needs.