Open Spaces in New Development: Create new open spaces and plazas in conjunction with new development.
THIS POLICY SUPPORTS GOALS:
THIS POLICY RELATES TO TOPICS:
Well designed, accessible open spaces provide health benefits by offering amenities for exercise and peaceful areas to enjoy. They can provide environmental benefits by supporting plant and animal life and by improving natural systems. Open spaces can educate by revealing history or providing a window into understanding the natural environment.
The city contains numerous open spaces which are not official parks or recreation areas, yet are important elements in the built environment. These include plazas and open spaces that were constructed in conjunction with buildings, providing publicly-accessible outdoor amenities. The City of Minneapolis will continue to encourage open spaces to be integrated into new development.
ACTION STEPS
The City will seek to accomplish the following action steps to create new open spaces and plazas in conjunction with new development.
- Encourage the creation of equitable publicly-accessible open spaces and plazas that connect to other public or semi-public spaces through incentives and requirements.
- Improve standards for public plazas and other non-park open spaces that give specific guidance on scale, design and maintenance of seating, lighting, landscaping and other amenities.
- Ensure that the design of public plazas and open spaces utilize climate-sensitive design principles, do not harm archaeological/historic resources, and support other features that further the goals of this plan.
- Encourage design of open spaces and plazas that are interconnected across developments, facilitate public access to, movement along, and views of public amenities such as parks, trails, and historic and natural features.