The City Park's 200 years - changes in spatial structure and park use in the life of an urban park

Abstract

Urban parks have been changing continuously during their centurylong history, depending on the nature of their social mandate, the changes in garden art and the varieties of forms, the economic context, the general behavioural norms as well as usage needs and expectations. The visiting of the parks, their use, the recreational habits vary as well according to the different periods and regions.  But are there any eternal, unchanging values in the public welfare services urban parks offer? In today’s rushing, technicized and digital world, can the mentality that led to the birth of the public park movement at the end of the 18th century be considered a value? The idea born in the grip of Embourgeoisement, the quick urban development, the industrial revolution, the deteriorating living conditions and the quality of the environment: The Hirschfeld concept,2 aiming to raise the urban population and provide it with the luxury of aristocratic parks found listening ears everywhere in Europe. Public gardens (Volksgarten), urban parks and in general urban green and open spaces – with their development history of over two centuries – are fundamental criteria of a liveable city.