54 PARKS 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ORGANIZING THE STUDY 



Movements leading to the establishment of a park system, or to the 

 extension of a partially completed system, arise and are fostered in several 

 different ways. Among these ways are the following: 



Initiation Through a Private Organization. In some instances the 

 initial move may be made by some local civic or commercial organization, 

 or several such organizations may unite and act through a central com- 

 mittee composed of representatives of all of them. The organization or the 

 central committee will generally raise a private fund and secure the serv- 

 ices of a park or recreation planner to make a study of the community and 

 its needs, ending in the formulation and presentation of a report, setting 

 forth in detail the findings of the survey and embodying a plan for future 

 development. This is used as the basis for influencing public opinion and 

 through this influencing the public officials to act. 



If there is a great deal of educational work to be done in the com- 

 munity, both before and after the survey, the initiation and carrying for- 

 ward of the movement by a civic organization or a special group formed 

 for the purpose is one of the best and most effective ways of attacking the 

 problem. It is hardly to be expected that public officials can act the role 

 of propagandists. Most public officials consider it their duty to act only 

 when there is unmistakable evidence of a public demand. They do not con- 

 sider themselves as agents, and perhaps rightly so, for creating this demand. 



City Planning Committee or Commission. A large number of both 

 small and large urban communities throughout the United States have 

 established official city planning committees or commissions. A recent 

 study of the American Civic Association records that, of two hundred and 

 ten cities covered by the report, one hundred and thirty-eight have city 

 planning boards or commissions. Twenty-seven of these are in cities under 

 thirty thousand inhabitants (Municipal Planning, Park and Art Adminis- 

 tration in American Cities, published by the American Civic Association, 

 May I, 1925). It is regarded as a fundamental duty and responsibility of 

 such commissions to make studies and lay out a comprehensive plan for 

 parks and other recreation areas, either through their own employed tech- 

 nical planners or through experts brought in from the outside. 



In some instances, even in cities having city plan commissions, it is 

 found desirable to organize a private city planning association or a park 

 and recreation association to carry on propaganda work and even to employ 

 an outside expert if public funds for this purpose are not available. 



Governing Authority of a City. Sometimes the initiative is taken by 

 the governing authorities of cities. This is especially true in those cities 



