Pocket Park - A New Type of Green Public Space in Kraków (Poland)

Public space, including green areas are particularly important for the quality of life in the city. The influence of greenery can be considered in regard to natural, social, and economic assets. Such spaces improve the city climate quality, they can create areas of social activity, and above all they serve as a space for leisure and recreation. The same natural environment brings benefits to the city, referred to as ecosystem services, which can be converted into monetary value. Therefore, protection of existing green spaces and their restoration is an important element of sustainable urban development. At the same time in large cities, in which dominates high-density housing development, the issue of ensuring proper availability of green spaces arises. In the recent years in Poland various activities are being undertaken to improve the value of an index showing the surface of public green spaces per one inhabitant of the city. The surface of green public spaces of recreational function in Kraków is 618,48 ha (based on “The direction of the green areas development and management in Kraków for 2017 - 2030” - project, p. 151), which in per capita corresponds to about 8 m². In the last years, the city has been undertaking activities aiming at increasing the availability of public green spaces to the residents. For this purpose, the city initiated the realisation of an idea of creating small green spaces, called pocket parks, based on American and European solutions. The paper presents research on pocket parks as a new form of public green spaces in Kraków. The purpose of the research is to indicate rules regarding the method of development of small parks within selected American and Polish realisations, and to indicate optimal solutions for future implementation. The paper presents general principles of the idea of creating pocket parks. Two Kraków realisations of pocket parks are described: park in Zwierzyniec district, at the junction of Bolesław Prus and Julian Fałat Streets, and “Ogród Motyli” park, located at Dekerta Street in XIII Podgórze district. The above realisations are compared to the selected American pocket parks - Paley Park and John F. Collins Park. The analysis provides similarities and differences between the concept of pocket parks in Kraków and in the United States of America. As a result, the paper presents the benefits of creating small public green spaces in the context of the sustainable development of Kraków and the possibilities of applying solutions following the example of American cities.