Pocket park, also known as pocket park, refers to a small-scale urban open space, which is often scattered or hidden in the urban structure in the form of patches to serve local residents.

1, the concept of pocket park:

Pocket park usually refers to a small green space with an area of less than 6.5438+0 million square meters, which has the functions of garden landscape, leisure service or cultural inheritance. Its location is flexible, mainly scattered or hidden in every corner of the city, as a supplement to the community public living space, serving local residents.

Pocket Park is a small plot of green land, and then it is equipped with convenient service facilities such as seats. All kinds of small green spaces, small parks, street gardens and small community sports venues in cities belong to common pocket parks. In different countries, pocket parks are called mini parks, green parks, pocket parks, small parks and individual parks.

The concept of Pocket Park first appeared in the exhibition organized by new york Parks Association in May 1963. The exhibition puts forward the proposal of building a "new park serving new york" to meet people's demand for leisure environment in the central area of high-density cities. Its prototype is a small park scattered in the central area of a high-density city, or pocket park system, which has the characteristics of flexible location, small area and scattered distribution, and can appear in a large number of cities to serve local residents. There are walls on three sides of the park, and there is an open entrance in front, facing the street. There are four stairs at the entrance of the park, and there are barrier-free ramp passages on both sides. The ground of the whole park is higher than the sidewalk, separating the space in the park from the busy sidewalk; The highlight of the park is the 6-meter-high water curtain waterfall, which faces the entrance of the park and serves as the background wall of the whole park, with good ornamental effect. The sound of running water from the waterfall cleverly masks the noise of the city. At night, the waterfall can also emit neon lights, attracting attention.

The park also combines different materials, various tones and sound elements to create a relaxed atmosphere. For example, chairs made of barbed wire and small tables made of marble are light in weight but do not affect the surrounding environment. The ground of the square is not paved with water mill and concrete, but a rough square stone with mushroom surface, which is full of natural interest.

2. Features of Pocket Park:

Compared with the towering trees, parks, country parks and forest parks in full of green, "pocket parks" are generally built in corners and alleys with dense green seams and flexible site selection. People can push open the window to see the scenery and walk into the garden.

(1) small has the characteristics of small:

Small scale: at present, there is no clear definition of the scale of pocket park in academic circles. According to the experience, the pocket park in the United States covers an area of 800-8000_, referring to the minimum park in the Code for Park Design in China, it is generally believed that the pocket park covers an area of 400- 10000_.

Function "less": Different from the multi-function of comprehensive parks, users of pocket parks mainly engage in simple and short-term leisure activities, such as walking after meals, sitting still or children's games. "Less function" is not a single function, but a combination of local users' needs, which is highly targeted.

Excellent community: Pocket Park depends on the use of local population, and its accessibility should meet the requirement that users can reach it quickly on foot, and undertake the daily communication and social activities of a large number of local population. Compared with traditional parks, pocket parks need designers to know more about the composition of the community and the needs and habits of users.

Humanized scale: The activities of users in Pocket Park are mostly daily and high-frequency activities, which requires all the facilities in the park to meet the scale habits of people's daily use. In the pocket park of high-intensity development zone, it is very necessary to relieve the pressure of high-density construction on people with its own more intimate scale.

Diversified places: Pocket parks mostly exist in the high-intensity development of the city center and bear a large population. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a variety of functions to support each other as much as possible to meet people's various needs. The diversity of places is mainly reflected in the diversity of activities in the park.

(2) I should not be a "supporting role", I should be a "leading role";

Pocket Park has only developed for half a century, because its "smallness" is often ignored by planners with "lofty goals". Although it seems that the pocket park is only a "dot space" in the city and a "supporting role" to set off the main scenery of the city, from the perspective of the living needs of urban people, the pocket park should be the "protagonist" of citizens' life and the most frequently used part of urban open space.

Pocket Park has the characteristics of flexible site selection, small area and discrete distribution. They can appear in large numbers in cities. For cities with high-rise buildings, it is like an oasis in the desert. It can greatly change the urban environment and partially solve the park demand in the central area of high-density cities.

The social significance of Pocket Park as an urban facility is far higher than its aesthetic significance as a design work. It is not only the designer's responsibility, but also the joint efforts of the government and the public to design it better and use it to solve the corresponding urban problems.