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Words communicate ideas;
without a word to describe it, an idea does not truly
exist.
“Infrastructure” is a good
example. In the nineteenth century, there were
drainage ditches and trains and telegraph wires, but
the idea that these formed the “underlying structure”
of society – the infrastructure – did not exist. Yet
in the last several decades, we have become accustomed
to applying the term “infrastructure” to almost
anything: from sanitary sewers and natural gas lines
(utility infrastructure) to runways and rails
(transportation infrastructure) even to schools and
police stations (services infrastructure), and on and
on. What do all these have in common? Not a thing,
except that they are all recognized as essential parts
of a necessary system: “infrastructure.”
Now it is time to reconsider
what “infrastructure” includes, and more to the point,
what it currently excludes. If the word is to truly
signify those things that make our communities
healthy, livable, and sustainable, the definition must
evolve to include something new: our critical open
spaces. Open space is as essential as all the rest of
the infrastructure that we take for granted – all
those underlying structures that hold us up as human
beings and as communities.
Take a moment to imagine your
ideal neighborhood. Imagine that the stream that flows
through your local park is clean and clear, and the
neighborhood’s children spend hours watching
stoneflies, fish, and other stream-life wriggle
through the water. When it rains, the soil soaks up
the moisture like a sponge, allowing rainwater to sink
into the ground and recharge the aquifer that flows
deep underground. The path near your home takes you
straight downtown to your office, or leads you through
some of your region’s finest landscapes, depending on
your mood or obligations. Businesses are drawn to your
community because of the quality of life. The children
of your neighborhood play soccer, basketball, hockey,
and softball down the street. Your team may even meet
there, too. There are places for growing, places for
reflection and rejuvenation, and places of simple
beauty. You may not visit all of these places or even
know that they are there, but these places are an
essential part of what makes your community work. They
are your community’s green infrastructure.
A statewide partnership,
launched in October 2001 at the Community Open Space
Summit in Appleton, is working to have green
infrastructure included in how we understand and
implement infrastructure policy in Wisconsin’s cities.
Already thirty-two organizations have signed on to the
Community Open Space Partnership (COSP) as members.
According to COSP charter member Stephen McCarthy of
the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, when
COSP has achieved its goals, “green infrastructure
will be an expected part of the fabric of a
community.”
COSP defines green
infrastructure as “the network of open spaces in and
around cities designed to enhance local economic
vitality, sustain natural systems, connect people to
the natural world, and increase individual and
community well being.” The physical manifestations of
green infrastructure include traditional public places
like parks, trails, greenways, and natural areas. They
also include a wide variety of other spaces that serve
a public benefit, including community gardens, open
spaces designed to clean our air or water, slow
floods, or provide habitat for wildlife, and
well-designed civic centerpieces such as pedestrian
malls, publicly accessible private plazas, and
downtown squares.
Working as a group, COSP
members can make green infrastructure a recognized
factor in the systems that underlie the health and
sustainability of our communities. Once green
infrastructure is recognized as such, it will begin to
drive policy. And then, it will begin to make the
communities of our imaginations become real.
Take
Action suggests ways of improving the green
infrastructure of your community.
Resources
provides links to technical assistance, grants, local
initiatives, publications, and partnerships.
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