PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #82: Urban Ecology.
Presiding: M. Cadenasso
Thursday, August 8. 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Grand Ballroom East, Radisson.
From horse-drawn streetcars to light rail: Exploring social and ecological roles at Eastlake Park.
Gade, Kristin*,1, Bigler, Wendy1, Collins, Tim1, Ng, Evelyn1, Parker, John1, Stabler, Linda1, 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
ABSTRACT- Complex interactions characterize the interface of nature and society in the urban setting, but these interactions are not well understood. One of the most promising areas in which to observe this aspect of urban ecology is in the study of public parks. This interdisciplinary, multi-method study examines this interface in an urban park. Eastlake Park, a small community park in central Phoenix, provides a venue for exploring the ecological services that the park provides the community, and the social dynamics that are played out in this arena. Our two primary questions are: 1) What are the main drivers of park use? and, 2) Given the limited access that the public has to natural environments, do the ecological features of the park shape park usage? From these questions we derived several corollaries. Do the climatological features specifically, and physical features generally, influence the spatial grouping of usage in the park? Who are the main park users? and, How have these groups of users come to understand their relationship with the public space of Eastlake? Using an interdisciplinary toolkit we attempt to answer these questions. From its beginning as the turn-around point for Phoenix's first horse-drawn trolley to its future as a stop on the proposed light rail line, the park's story unfolds in the changing geographies of the people who use the park and the biological patterns within the park.
KEY WORDS: urban ecology, interdisciplinary, Phoenix, Arizona, parks