Paper about keeping the public interest alive in public places, a crucial issue for our Parkway.
An excerpt.
Campaign to Preserve the Commons:
Keeping the 'Public' in Public Space
Public spaces have always gone hand in hand with commerce. Markets, vendors, and retailers are essential components of many a great place. But when does vibrant economic activity cross the line and become crass commercialization? Everywhere we look people who manage parks and squares are struggling with this question.
Too often, it seems, commercial interests take advantage of our public spaces at the expense of people who regularly use them. Take the recent travesty on the National Mall, "NFL Kickoff Live 2003 Presented by Pepsi Vanilla," which used America's most iconic public space to promote a major product launch from Pepsi and the opening of the new football season. The extravaganza featured performances from music industry giants such as Britney Spears and Aerosmith, not to mention Jumbotron ads from corporate sponsors Coors and Reebok.
For 200 years, the Mall has served as a democratic meeting ground where anyone is free to gather. But in the days leading up to the NFL event, large sections of the Mall were closed off to the public, and portions were obscured by wraparound fences sporting NFL and Pepsi logos.
The scene in Washington was singularly shocking for its sheer scope and audacity, but it was not an isolated incident. Excessive commercialization has struck public spaces everywhere. In New York, midtown's Bryant Park becomes temporarily off-limits to the general public when the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week sets up its tents and puts on its semi-annual display of haute couture. Including the time it takes to set up the event and re-grow the grass after it ends, each "Fashion Week" actually consumes 45 days---a whopping 90 days out of each year.
Certainly, commercial activity is appropriate in parks, and major corporations sponsor many events that are open for public use and terrific additions to the park experience. In Bryant Park, neighbor Home Box Office sponsors a Monday night movie series, and ABC's Good Morning America sponsors Friday morning events. A Smithsonian Folklife festival on The Mall is conducted every year with sponsorship, but it is not used as a product launch for a major cola company. These events succeed because they do not exclude people or promote merchandise with a heavy hand; you come away knowing that the event was staged for the public good rather than private gain.
