Chapel Hill will participate in PARK(ing) Day for the first time Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PARK(ing) Day is an open-sourced, global event where participants rent out metered parking spots and transform them into public spaces.
PARK(ing) Day was started when Rebar, a former art and design studio, paid for two hours of parking in a metered spot in downtown San Francisco in 2005. The studio rolled out a grass carpet, and placed a tree and a bench.
Rebar did this to draw attention to the debate of how public space is created and how to improve the human habitat. However, the picture of their impromptu park went viral and they were asked to make such spots across the world.
Instead, Rebar decided to make what they would come to call PARK(ing) Day an open-source event — allowing local citizens, artists and activists to identify specific community needs and values and use the event to draw attention to issues that are important to the public.
Since the event’s inception, metered spots have been rented to set up everything from basic bench-and-sod parks to bike repair shops, and one spot was even used for a wedding.
Caroline Lindquist, an urban studies and planning minor, said she decided to be a part of PARK(ing) Day because she loves how the design is used to create community.
"(PARK(ing) Day’s mission) is to create public space that encourages the community to interact and build stronger relationships,” Lindquist said.
The student organizers, members of the soon-to-be-started urban design club at Carolina, are trying to do just that with the help of Meg McGurk, the executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.
