James Leigland, "Overview of Public Authorities and Special Districts," Chapter 19 in Robert Lamb, James Leigland, Stephen Rapport, The handbook of municipal bonds and public finance (New York Institute of Finance, 1993), 375-96.
and
Alexander Garvin, "Parks and Playgrounds," The American City: what works and what doesn't (New York: McGraw Hill, 1996), 29-65.

Leigland, "Public Authorities and Special Districts"

• What characteristics distinguish a special district or public authority(we can use the term "special government" to refer to both forms at once) from a department of a state or local government? ?
• What is meant by the term "parent government"?
• What is are important aspects of how dependent or independent a special government is in relation to its parent government?
• At what geographic levels do special governments operate, and what functions do they serve at each level?
• What are some reasons a group of people might choose to form a SPG in order to launch an infrastructure project, rather than work within the organization of their local government(s)? That is, what are the advantages of special governments?
• Leigland says "Many state and local government commentators and study commissions have identified a tendency for authorities, districts, commissions, and the like to remain isolated from broader policy planning frameworks" (p165). What are the implications of this at local levels? What other disadvantages does Leigland point out?

Garvin "Parks and Playgrounds"

• Understand how Garvin evaluates the six "ingredients of success" in his review of parks and playgrounds. The ingredients are market, location, design, financing, entrepreneurship and time. He focuses on these on pp. 66-69, summing up meaning from the many examples in the chapter.
• Contrast two ways of thinking about parks: 1) parks as restorative or therapeutic, vs. 2) parks as strategic. If parks are viewed using the strategic approach, in what ways will we look for evidence that a park or park system has stimulated improvement in the surrounding areas?
• How did Central Park influence the evolution of parks in the United States?
• What is the basis for Garvin's praise of Minneapolis parks?

Garvin claims that conditions are "ripe" for renewed interest in park development. Why?

Back to URP 337 main page
To URP 337 syllabus

to the Cal Poly Pomona home page
to the Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning home page
to Gwen Urey's home page

Space for this page is provided by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Although it is intended to further the educational mission of the University, the opinions expressed here are those of Gwen Urey, and do not represent official policy of the University.