Reconciling Conflict over Urban Public Space: Perceptions of Park Space in Seattle (c. 1960 to present)

During the second half of the twentieth century, Seattle's urban form altered, much like many other major US cities. A variety of different land uses competed in the urban realm for space - commercial, transportation, leisure and recreational, to name a few. As the post-industrial city developed in Seattle, a re-examination of park spaces also occurred which often pitted competing visions of space against each other in the pursuit of establishing a place in which people could use, free from the confines of modern life. While often experimental in their form, these spaces continued a long tradition of park creation in the city of Seattle, that first took root in the early plans of the Olmsted Brothers at the start of the twentieth century. This thesis explores the new form that this 'park's culture' took between 1960 and the early part of the twenty first century and attempts to place the 'people' back into the conversation of park developments. Often, the perceptions of urban residents held considerable power and influence over the trajectory such spaces took on their journey from conception to fruition. By looking at three Seattle parks in particular, this thesis will contend that these particular parks represented a novel form of place-making in park spaces, and that the backdrop of a receptive public towards parks in Seattle allowed these places to become integral parts of the public realm in the city.