Skylink TV
Due to Los Angeles’ decline in the Trust for Public Land’s national “ParkScore” rankings —from 49th place out of 100 major cities in 2020 to 88th in 2024 — the city announced this year that it would launch an equity initiative aimed at improving access to parks for low-income and racially diverse communities.
We interviewed Jimmy Kim, general manager of the Los Angeles City Parks and Recreation Department, regarding this major new campaign.
The Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for managing over 16,000 acres of parkland within the city and planning diverse recreational, social and cultural activities for more than 559 parks.
“We are well aware of the importance of park space. Parks are not just recreational or green spaces, but extremely important community spaces,” Kim said. “We understand the inequality involved and are working hard to find ways to increase park space in Los Angeles.”
He used Los Angeles’ Chinatown as an example to explain the current state of park and green space planning in the area.
“Chinatown, according to the census, has approximately 12,000 residents in the Chinatown neighborhood,” he explained. “We do have a park, two parks, Ord and Yale Park, as well as the Alpine Recreation Center that serves this community. But we also know that, as I stated earlier, equity is central to our mission at Rec and Parks.”
Based on the number of residents, the green space required for Los Angeles’ Chinatown is at least 75 acres, which would be a significant improvement over the current 56 acres.
Regarding how to better address the issue of equitable access to parks, Kim said he believed that the first step is to listen to the community and understand what kind of parks and green spaces people truly want.
“This is why it’s so important. and I’m glad we’re talking today because the city is embarking on a Parks Needs Assessment, which gives us a direct line to the communities and their voices to help us guide future investments. And this is based on real local input,” he explained.
“This participation really helps us better understand and address every local community’s needs,” he continued. “Because not everybody wants, for instance, a playground. They might want something else. They may need different types of green spaces. So this Parks Needs Assessment will really help us identify those in the communities that we serve.”
In terms of implementing and promoting equal access to parks, the City of Los Angeles plans to collaborate with multiple community organizations and groups, with the school district being one of them.
“The city government and our department are also actively seeking innovative ways to increase green space, Kim said. “One important initiative is called ‘Community School Parks,’ in which we are working with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to open up school grounds for community recreational use. This is just one of many innovative initiatives. The goal is to provide the community with more space to use.”
In addition, Kim said that cooperation with non-profit organizations is also an important part of the plan.
“We’re also pursuing grants and funding to enhance and purchase public spaces so that we could work with our non-profit partners such as the LA Neighborhood Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land, and they will help us also identify underused and vacant land as well, so we can turn them into green spaces and community gardens,” he explained.
For those who wish to participate in future park and green space planning, Kim encouraged Los Angeles residents to visit needs.parks.lacity.gov to fill out an online questionnaire and share their needs and suggestions for park facilities. In addition, residents can also attend upcoming community meetings, with details on the city website, to express their opinions directly.
This story was produced by Ethnic Media Services in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) at UCLA as part of the Greening American Cities initiative supported by the Bezos Earth Fund. Read more stories like this by visiting the Greening Communities homepage.
