Parks and recreation systems have evolved in remarkable ways over the past two decades. No longer just playgrounds and ballfields, parks and open spaces have become recognized as essential green infrastructure with the potential to contribute to community resiliency and sustainability. To capitalize on this potential, the parks and recreation system planning process must evolve as well. In Parks and Recreation System Planning, David Barth provides a new, step-by-step approach to creating parks systems that generate greater economic, social, and environmental benefits. Barth first advocates that parks and recreation systems should no longer be regarded as isolated facilities, but as elements of an integrated public realm. Each space should be designed to generate multiple community benefits. Next, he presents a new approach for parks and recreation planning that is integrated into community-wide issues. Chapters outline each step—evaluating existing systems, implementing a carefully crafted plan, and more—necessary for creating a successful, adaptable system. Throughout the book, he describes initiatives that are creating more resilient, sustainable, and engaging parks and recreation facilities, drawing from his experience consulting in more than 100 communities across the U.S. Parks and Recreation System Planning meets the critical need to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive approach for planning parks and recreation systems across the country. This is essential reading for every parks and recreation professional, design professional, and public official who wants their community to thrive.

Although one of the smallest of the fifty states, in many ways Maryland is the United States in miniature, bringing together and exemplifying the diverse elements of the country. In it the North and the South meet, and Maryland is one of the original gateways to the West. Maryland is a study in contrasts, combining the poverty of the Appalachian hill people, the sharecroppers of the South, and the inner-city dwellers of Baltimore with the affluence of country manor estates and fashionable suburbs. Some of America's most rural scenes are interspersed there with some of its largest metropolitan centers. Added to this is a great physical diversity—the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, the Delmarva Peninsula, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Appalachian Highlands. This book provides an analytical survey of the physical, social, cultural, and economic geography of Maryland. Though the emphasis is on human geography, significant attention is given to the physical base on which the cultural landscape has developed. Environmental issues, such as Chesapeake Bay pollution, coal mining in Western Maryland, and the urbanization of the beaches, are addressed to show how development has often led to conflicts between people and their environments.