Sustainable Implementation of Emerging Infrastructure in Cities: A Case Study of Parklets

Abstract

The purpose of this research is twofold: to establish a new classification of infrastructure, called Emerging Infrastructure, and to analyze the implementation of one type of this new classification, the Parklet. Parklets are public spaces, traditionally used for cars, that have been converted into temporary small public parks for the passive or active recreation of people. Parklets fall into the classification of Emerging Infrastructure because, rather than being planned and imposed from the outside in, parklets have emerged from the inside out as a response to stresses on the natural urban flow, namely the stress of not enough human recreation space. By researching parklets and the people involved in their implementation, this study produces theory on both the implementation of parklets specifically and of Emerging Infrastructure more broadly. Guidance on how to improve the implementation processes of both can be deduced from this study, which provides analysis of the conflicts and tensions surrounding the implementation of parklets.