The Economic Aspects of Parks by Anna Steidle, Chair of Ifpra Working Group

“The park departments are a big new market for us – they have no economic knowledge“. This opinion expressed by a German management-consultant emphasises the need for a working group in the Ifpra Community to address this subject. The economy interpenetrates our society so that those who are not able to show a high economic profile are seen as ignorant and can easily fall prey to the ambition of management consultants and finance departments. Nonetheless, economic know-how does exist in parks departments all over the world (otherwise we would not have such a powerful culture of urban open spaces). It exists in the practice of city gardeners and of the men and women who are dealing day-to-day with parks and gardens in our cities. However, it is not always demonstrated in an effective way. Therefore there is a great need – in addition to national activities – to establish an Ifpra working group with the goal of defining and creating a framework for an “International Business Operations Manual” setting out basic knowledge and information relating to the administration and management of urban green spaces and parks in accordance with defined “economic aspects” as set out in the following table.

Target groups

The target groups are managers of park administrations, city-gardeners, novices in park administration and park management, students, municipalities, management consultants and finance departments.

Structure of the Ifpra Working Group - The Economic Aspects of Parks

The working group is for Ifpra members with an economic interest and could become the centre of an international network, into which additional national experts could be integrated.

Goals

It goes without saying that the Group is open to ideas from Ifpra members. Suggested outcomes include:

1) An international literature survey

2) A collection of case studies, a selection of economic strategies drawing on the experiences of park administrations in different countries.

3) Such a collection of case studies could lead to a “morphological tableau”, a compendium of different economic strategies with pro and cons relevant to particular areas of park management.

4) The results of 1) – 3) could be condensed to become an “International Business Operations Manual” for the administration and management of urban green spaces and parks.