THE PUBLIC PARKS OF GLASGOW. 



\9 



THE PUBLIC PARKS OF GLASGOW. 



By James Whitton, J. P., V.M.H., Superintendent of Parks 

 and Curator of Botanic Gardens, Glasgow. 



[Read March ir, 1919 ; Mr. W. A. Bilney, J. P., in the Chair.] 



Amongst the many problems which urban authorities are called 

 upon to solve, not the least is that of providing " lungs " in the 

 form of parks and open spaces in or near densely-crowded districts. 

 In these districts the pure blue of the sky and the brilliancy of the 

 sunshine are dimmed by smoke and foul vapours, and from their 

 streets the glories of the starry firmament and silver moonlight, or 

 even a blade of grass, are seldom or never seen by the children. 



By the provision of such " lungs," and better sanitary sur- 

 roundings, the tendency to degeneration of the town-born may be 

 checked, and the lives of those who must live under unnatural 

 conditions, and work in warehouses in closely-built, dingy streets, 

 are made more healthy, happy, and pleasant. 



The truism that a healthy body tends to make a healthy mind, 

 without which no one can be a good or healthy citizen, cannot be 

 gainsaid. It is due to the appreciation of this that municipal 

 authorities everywhere are striving by the provision of parks, open 

 spaces, and children's playgrounds to undo the evils resulting from 

 the short-sightedness of their predecessors, who too frequently 

 parted with the civic patrimony which ought to have been handed 

 down unimpaired to their children's children, or failed to provide 

 for the outdoor recreative requirements of the rising generations 

 of an expanding city. 



Indeed, the demand for football and hockey pitches, cricket fields, 

 tennis courts, bowling greens, &c, in city public parks has become 

 so great that a different view has to be taken in regard to the design 

 and equipment of public parks from that insisted on in days gone 

 by, and experience has shown that the views and ideas of many 

 eminent landscape gardeners of those days have in a sense become 

 obsolete. 



In former days parks were in great measure set out for the quiet, 

 restful, reflective spirit of easier-going times, and old ideas have 

 had to be modified or superseded by arrangements probably less 

 artistic but more adapted to meet the necessities of the activities 

 of the present generation. 



These changes are shown by a study of the requirements of 

 modern public parks, more especially of those within our own island, 

 where the area set aside for games has to be much greater than 

 it was, say, half a century ago. While that utilitarian feature 



