PARKS AND OPEN SPACES 127 



These spaces should afford opportunities for programing a variety 

 of leisure time activities, of interest not only to the individual but 

 also to the family unit in the immediate vicinity of the area. 



We should extend our planning of parks and open spaces to ac- 

 commodate daytime and nighttime opportunities and activities in 

 urban centers, throughout the entire year. 



In the planning of open spaces we significantly correlate many 

 factors of physical and social significance such as building types, 

 roadways, trees, relationship to neighboring communities, play, 

 school, and work areas. 



We should make our open spaces and recreation facilities part of 

 the daily environment of our people. We should remove the barriers 

 to participation and provide opportunities for all citizens to use open 

 spaces and recreational areas. We provide contact with beauty for 

 all, in the words of President Johnson, "not just easy physical access, 

 but equal access for rich and poor, Negro and white, city dweller 

 and farmer." 



Beyond this, I believe that we would all agree that the job ahead 

 cannot simply be left to government or to the architect or to the 

 planner or to the sociologist. We know the job is a job for all of us. 

 As citizens concerned about our cities and the future of our Nation, 

 we must all work together. 



Statement of Senator WILLIAMS.* The President's Conference on 

 Natural Beauty represents a significant step forward in the search for 

 ways to preserve and improve the appearance of our country. 



Planning for the future means planning to make the best possible 

 use of all the resources available in our society. With over 70 per- 

 cent of the Nation's population now living in urban areas, the open 

 spaces in and around our metropolitan complexes are among the 

 most precious of all our resources. Yet in city after city, we find 

 examples of weed-grown vacant lots, neglected parks, overcrowded 

 play areas, and neighborhoods deteriorated to the point where they 

 are islands of ugliness. 



We have sacrified beauty for the sake of jamming together 

 as many buildings as possible into the smallest amount of 

 space, often with little or no regard for the architectural pattern 

 of existing facilities. The arteries leading into many of our major 

 cities are bounded by clusters of unsightly billboards, or junkyards 



* Senator Williams was unable to be with the panel at the time of its public 

 meeting. His statement was read by the chairman. 



