Use any reputable sources necessary, but your essays need to cite all sources and have a bibliography at the end of each essay.
Your essay answers will be evaluated based upon:
a. the clarity of your argument;
b. the clarity of concept definitions/explanations;
c. the use of supporting materials (i.e., examples from the readings, films, city plans, etc.). Do not cite power point lectures. If there are ideas in those lectures that appeal to you, find academic or reputable sources to cite instead.
d. Use every day common language we use.
e. Make sure the answer is correct when writing the essay to the questions.
Answer two of the following (15 points each)
1. In writing about the creation of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, geographer Terry Young argues that park supporters thought parks would improve society through, what he called, the four virtues: public health, prosperity, democratic equality and social cohesion. Explain what Young meant by these four qualities and the ways in which urban public parks could help achieve them.
2. Olmsted argued that parks should be spaces for democratic equality where all people from varied backgrounds could come together. Did his rhetoric about the democratic ideals of urban parks live up to reality? Why or why not?
3. How did the modernization of parks affect parks in the middle of the 20th century?
Answer two of the following (7.5 points each)
4. Define and explain the pastoral and the picturesque in park design.
5. Define the term “boosterism”. Explain the role boosterism played in the creation of urban parks in American cities.
6. The creation of urban public parks dates back to the plan for Central Park in 1857. But public space played important roles in American cities going back to the 1600s. Explain the role of town commons and village greens in colonial American cities.