PARKS AND PARK ENGINEERING 



CHAPTER I 



THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 



THE Social Need of Parks. In view of the rapid growth 

 and the increasing densities of population of our 

 American cities, the need of parks, breathing spaces, play- 

 grounds and parkways is becoming more and more impera- 

 tive. Compact urban development has created a need 

 which should be met by the municipal governments 

 responsible for the condition. Our cities are recognizing 

 the necessity and moral obligation of providing places for 

 rest, recreation and wholesome open-air amusements. 

 Excepting in a few of our larger cities, such as New 

 York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, the 

 movement is less than twenty-five years old, and even in 

 these places great advances along new and better lines 

 have been made in the last two decades. With new con- 

 ditions new needs are born, and though our parks have 

 supplied fairly well an urgent need, many of them in the 

 near future will have to be remodeled in order that they 

 may be increasingly useful, not only for an increasing 

 population, but also to each individual in the community 

 in need of the health advantages which it is possible for 

 them to offer. 



