Open Space

Open space, a concept employed to offset or counterbalance unchecked urban expansion, refers to the conservation of landscapes retaining characteristics of presettlement environments, pastoral agricultural lands, or restored areas meant to re-create or mirror such landscapes. Open spaces typically are formed or[Page 343] protected at the local level through the neglect of commons, the establishment of private land trusts, conservation planning, or active rehabilitation of abandoned or contaminated brownfields. The intent of advocates often is to keep these areas free of development in perpetuity.

Open spaces have been championed as having a wide array of benefits that not only accrue to the surrounding human population but also strengthen the integrity of local environmental and biotic systems. Keeping tracts of urbanized land undeveloped may allow for the preservation of environmental pockets reflective of the natural state of the environment or physical landscape. Ecologically, these areas have the potential to enhance biodiversity, aid in the conservation of endangered or threatened animal and plant species, and provide greenways or greenbelts that allow for the movement of larger, more mobile animal species. They are also valued for their ability to contribute to flood control, minimize erosion and mass movement, and provide protection from fire hazards. Open spaces often are used as hubs for recreation and sport by the nearby urban population as well.

Aesthetic considerations are also powerful motivating factors in the preservation of many open spaces. Open spaces are highly valued for their accessibility to the public, for their ability to provide a nearby “natural” experience in the middle of an otherwise concrete jungle, and as an important source of aesthetic beauty and scenic viewscapes that may provide affective and cognitive benefits to urban residents. Another valued asset of open spaces is their ability to buffer zones of dense development creating a patchwork or mosaic of urbanized landscapes interspersed with undeveloped areas. However, open spaces are not without their detractors. Critics claim that the removal of valuable urban land from development results in a weaker tax base and fragmentation of city services and also encourages higher-density development elsewhere in the urban landscape.

Although open space may be naively construed as natural environments, especially in contrast to the exaggerated built environment of cities, this categorization becomes problematic when the ideologies with which such landscapes are invested are examined closely. Preservation of pastoral or agricultural landscapes has been recognized by geographers as being as much a part of the cultural heritage of a landscape as a reflection of the natural environment. Restored, rehabilitated, or neglected landscapes are also invested with cultural meaning as their role, utility, and character are generated through interaction with the surrounding population. In this way, geographers may also view open spaces as unique urban places.