During the last week of August, Design Trust executive director Susan Chin was in Merida, Mexico, to participate in the Gran Parque La Plancha “El Charrette”, a multidisciplinary forum on how to create a state-of-the-art public park in the heart of Merida.

Susan was one of the over 50 experts invited to discuss what it takes to build a thriving public park and its benefits for public health, crime prevention, environmental sustainability, culture and tourism. The speakers from various fields such as urban design, architecture, biology, ecology, and engineering, brainstormed with the local community and students about the challenges Merida faces.

Susan highlighted the successful models of the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park, which have flourished from innovative partnerships between public and private organizations. Involving a diverse group of stakeholders in developing a public project brings in the essential resources to meet with the public will. The resulting parks, designed to the needs of the community, become environmentally and fiscally sustainable systems for public use favored and supported by the community.