Place attachment and MacArthur Park: a case study of the importance of public space in an immigrant neighborhood and the implications for local planning practice

Abstract

Many U.S. metropolitan areas are characterized by rapid changes in the physical form of cities and their populations. Rapid population and immigration flows have produced ethnic landscapes in the city made up of transnational and culturally diverse populations. These landscapes can pose significant urban design and land use challenges for policy makers, local government officials, practicing city planners, and community members responsible for public spaces, including public parks. How can the cultural needs of the various groups that may be using public parks be address? Underlying this question are concerns for the meaningfulness of public places to the populations who use them. What kind of emotional attachment, if any, do new immigrants feel for public parks in their adopted neighborhoods? How might public parks be designed and managed to retain and enhance their emotional and cultural significance to changing populations? This study sought to answer these questions via a case study of Latino immigrant groups, primarily from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador, in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, a culturally diverse environment. The study explores (a) emotional responses to the park by the Latino immigrants who use it, and (b) how the physical design and regulation of the park affect attachment. The study found high levels of attachment among survey participants, despite strong negative emotional responses to the park. The role the park plays in continuity of identity, as well as the park’s restorative qualities, were found to contribute to attachment. Activities in the park and the temporary elements they foster, such as food, aroma, sound, and people, were also found to be important to attachment, suggesting that planning practitioners must consider the influence of activities, and the social environment they encourage or prohibit, on the success of public spaces.