The World's Best Public Spaces

Moanalua Gardens

Monkey Pod trees and green lawns abound at this 26-acre public park in Honolulu. Make sure to check out the circa-1850 Kamehameha V Cottage, which is a Hawaiian-Victorian architectural amalgamation that's been situated in the park since 1960. However, you will have to admire it from afar, as the interior is restricted access only.

1352 Pineapple Place

Honolulu

Civic Center Park

Resting smack dab in the middle of Denver, this park officially opened (after much governmental kerfuffle) in 1919. It was conceived by architect Edward H. Bennett, a protege of Daniel Burnham. Though often mentioned as an example of urban blight, the much-maligned park still has a lot of potential as a public gathering space and offers a Greek amphitheater for music and scores of landscaped paths for wending walks.

100 W 14th Ave Parkway

80209 Denver

People's Park

The park holds the Shanghai Art Museum, which is set along an old racing track, the former British Jockey Club. Now it’s People’s Park, but you can see the race track. It has an international feel, a mix of Western and Chinese influences, with both historic and new buildings and a ton of open space.

No. 201 Renmin Avenue

200003 Shanghai

Parque Espana

Parque España, two blocks northwest of Parque Mexico in Mexico City, has a children's area and is less bucolic than its sister park.

Calle Parc Espana

Mexico City

Parque Mexico

Built in 1927 atop what was a horse racing track, the nine-acre park is surrounded by the Avenida Mexico and features many Art Deco structures, a duck pond and an open-air theater.

Avenida Mexico

Mexico City

McCarren Park

Located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, this 35-acre park is a popular destination for all manner of outdoor activities. It features the McCarren pool, which opened during the summer of 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration. The empty pool is currently in the process of being restored and renovated.

780 Lorimer Street

11222 Brooklyn

National Mall and Memorial Parks

Martin Moeller, senior vice president and curator at the National Building Museum and a longtime Washingtonian, calls the National Mall “a great big void.” The Smithsonian museums and federal institutions that ring the central green attract all manner of tourists.

900 Ohio Drive, SW

20024 Washington

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is a public museum of art established to educate as broad and diverse a public as possible about modern and contemporary American art. The Museum accomplishes this mission by focusing primarily, though not exclusively, on the art of the New England region. The DeCordova Sculpture Park encompasses 35 acres of beautiful rolling woodlands and lawns, and is the largest park of its kind in New England. The Sculpture Park is open to the public every day of the year from dawn 'til dusk, and contains approximately 75 artworks at any given time.

51 Sandy Pond Road

Lincoln

Ibirapuera Park

This 400-acre refuge from the hustle and the bustle is the brainchild of Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Mark. Among the many museums, sculptures and bike trails, there are fields and playgrounds aplenty.

Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral

São Paulo

The Noguchi "Playscape"

Fantastic playground designed by Isamu Noguchi.

1071 Piedmont Avenue N.E.

31132 Atlanta

South Chula Vista Public Library

Designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis in 1994, this 37,000-square-foot library is a series of bold multicolor stucco forms, and features intricate stepped ceilings, courtyards, fountains, and extensive custom casework. It has been recognized through a National AIA Honor Award, and locally as the recipient of a Grand Orchid.

Submitted by Monica Contreras

389 Orange Avenue

Chula Vista

Ault Park

Created in 1911 by local patrons Ida May Ault and her husband, Levi Addison Ault, Ault Park is Cincinnati's fourth-largest park. It includes a soccer field, several playgrounds, a huge flower garden and a central pavilion. It's located on the east side of the city, in Mt. Lookout.

45208 Cincinnati

Levi Plaza Park

Intended as a campus for Levi Strauss, Inc. workers to have lunch and relax, as well as to provide open space for the local Embarcadero community, Levi Plaza Park was dedicated on April 8, 1982. Conceived as two distinct entities, Lawrence Halprin’s design included a paved plaza enclosed by four- to ten-story buildings (by architects Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum and Gensler + Associates); and, to the east of the plaza, a pastoral park, with a series of cascading waterfalls and a meandering stream.

Sansome and Filbert Streets

94111 San Francisco

Snelli Park

One of a necklace of lawns beside the old battlements, Snelli Park offers year-round recreation, whether ice-skating on the moat or picnicking on the grass.

Snelli tiik

Tallinn

Parque del Amor

Public squares and parks loom large in the lives of Peruvians, and the heavily mosaiced Parque del Amor in the Miraflores neighborhood is no exception.

Avenida de la Aviación

Lima

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

The crown jewel of this 11-acre public space, which is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the country, is the 1988 Spoonbridge and Cherry water sculpture designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Other sights on the grounds include the Cowles Conservatory and a foot bridge designed by Siah Armajani that connects the garden to Loring Park. There are over forty permanent art installations, including works by Sol LeWitt, David Nash, Jene Highstein and Charles Ginnever, among others.

725 Vineland Place

Minneapolis

Pappajohn Sculpture Garden

Installations by Louise Bourgeois and Jaume Plensa, among over twenty others, dot the landscape of this tiny 4.4-acre site, which opened in 2008 after John and Mary Pappajohn, Des Moine residents, donated the works to the Des Moines Art Center. A curvy grassy expanse created by New York–based architects Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas provides a sculptural backdrop.

600 East Court Avenue

50309 Des Moines

Kansas City Sculpture Park

Open since 1989 and designed by architects Dan Kiley and Jaquelin Robertson, this 22-acre park contains over thirty sculptures by such artists as Ursula von Rydingsvard, Joel Shapiro, Alexander Calder, and Mark Di Suvero. It is free and open year-round.

64111 Kansas City

Olympic Sculpture Park

This transformed nine acres, a onetime industrial wasteland, is now home to large-scale artworks, rows of deck chairs and winding pathways for joggers and dog walkers. With views of both the Olympic Mountains and Elliott Bay (not to mention Richard Serra's huge steel work, Wake) the park is a winsome and welcome retreat amid the bustle of busy downtown Seattle.

2901 Western Avenue

Park Güell

Resting atop a hill in the Gracia area of Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi's whimsical playground park was constructed from 1900-1914 and it was originally designed as a site for a aristocrat's residence. In addition to the plethora of mosaic sculptures, structures and pathways, the park is also home to the world's longest park bench.

Carrer d'Olot

08024 Barcelona

Stanley Park

A 1,000-acre park in the heart of greater Vancouver, with a continuous walk along the shoreline on two-thirds of its boundaries.

Submitted by Brian Hart

7501 Stanley Park Drive

V6G 1Z4 Vancouver

Barton Springs Pool

Found in Zilker Park, in the center of Austin, this natural spring provides a year-round go-to as its temperature remains a constant 69 degrees.

Submitted by Valerie Collins

2201 Barton Springs Road

Austin

The Forks

This is a public space that's been used for over 6,000 years It's situated at the point where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet, and its history is one of commerce from hunting, the fur trade, the railway and immigration. Today it combines a food market, art center, concert stage, restaurants, a prairie grassland and historic structures.

Submitted by Anne Gregor

The Forks

Manitoba

Balboa Park

There are a lot of reasons to love this place: free parking, free museums, stunning architecture, the Spreckles outdoor organ ampitheater, the Arboretum, miles of green space....

Submitted by Kyra

1549 El Prado

San Diego

Morris Arboretum

Listed on The National Register of Historic Places, this plot of land has been in the public sphere since the nineteenth century. It is an interdisciplinary resource center for the University of Pennsylvania, and is recognized as the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Submitted by Kyra

100 E. Northwestern Avenue

Philadelphia

Puerta del Sol

The Puerta del Sol originated as one of the gates in the city wall that surrounded Madrid in the 15th century. It's located in the very heart of the city.

Submitted by Paolo

Puerta del Sol

Madrid

Praça de São Tiago

Buildings that date to the 15th century dot the landscape in this medieval hamlet, which is located about 240 miles from Lisbon. The main public area, the Praça de São Tiago, is at the heart of the town.

Submitted by Miguel Coelho Lima

4810 Guimaraes

Guimarães

Parc Jean-Drapeau

Comprising two islands, Saint Helen's Island and the artificial island Île Notre-Dame, this park is located east of downtown Montreal along the Saint Lawrence River. It was the site of the Expo 67 World's Fair, and was named in honor of Jean Drapeau, the late mayor of Montreal. There's a plethora of attractions, from a filtered-water beach and outdoor pools to museums, flower gardens and an amusement park. Don't miss the Biosphere created by Buckminster Fuller or Man, Alexander Calder's large-scale sculpture.

Submitted by Francis Des Ruisseaux

1 Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

QC H3C 1A9 Montreal

Millennium Park

Among the attractions at this 24-acre park is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue designed by Frank Gehry, and Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate sculpture. Since opening in 2004, the park has become a must-stop location for art, music, architecture and landscape design.

Submitted by Santiago

201 East Randolph Street

Chicago

Kits Beach Dog Park

Simply the most stunning beach offering breath taking sunsets for dog lovers of all ages. Fabulous spot in the most beautiful city in the world! 

Submitted by Lee Anne Michayluk

1299 Arbutus Street

BC Vancouver

E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden, Virginia Museum of Fine Art

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts comprises four acres of art, water, elegant 19th, 20th and 21st century buildings, 150-year-old oaktrees, a new sculpture garden, and a world-class art museum.

Submitted by Suzanne Hall

200 N. Boulevard

23220-4007 Richmond

Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City

Parks, murals, public libraries and museums. Recently it was acknowledged as a World Heritage site.

Submitted by Paula Sofía

Ciudad Universitaria de la UNAM

‪Coyoacán‬

Mexico City

Kreielsheimer Promenade

Kreielsheimer Promenade at the Seattle Center (itself worthy of mention) is the connector between the city of Seattle and the center. I may be biased, but, Dreaming in Color is a public art work of light. A metal mesh scrim arches over a waterscape by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. Visitors are attracted to sit, walk, rest, and play in the light and water of this space.

Submitted by Leni Schwendinger

305 Harrison Street

98109 Seattle

Sydney Opera House

Completed in 1973 by architect Jørn Utzon.

Submitted by Valerie Boyer

GPO Box R239

Royal Exchange

NSW 1225 Sydney

Charlottesville Mall

The Lawrence Halprin–designed downtown pedestrian mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a wonderful public space.

Submitted by Jake

212 2nd Street SW

Charlottesville

High Line Park

The High Line is a great place to people watch while picnicking on food from Chelsea Market, see the river and cityscape, and sometimes even watch the art auction happening in the adjacent building. Prospect Park is the mellower version of Central Park with rolling hills and drum circles. Both are good candidates for the best public spaces in the world from the aspect of design and the function. 

Submitted by Sakura Moriya

529 West 20th Street

10011 New York

The DeWolf/Fulton Fountain

Created by the late computer wizard Nick DeWolf the famed dancing fountain on the Hyman Avenue mall is a popular summer playground for children and adults. He and Travis Fulton, a local sculptor, both had an idea for the components that would make up Aspen's dancing fountain. The apparatus, located across from the Wheeler Opera House, was completed in 1979. A computer and software DeWolf built from scratch sets the fountain's pattern. "It's done everything it was supposed to do," DeWolf told the Times in on the 25th anniversary of the fountain's inception, in 2004. "I've been well-rewarded by the thanks from parents and kids. "It's not a fountain, it's a symphony." (From AspenPortrait.com)

Submitted by Beatrice Glass

200 South Mill Street

81611 Aspen

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway is comprised of 40,000 mostly hexagonal basalt columns, the result of a volcanic eruption and formed during the early Tertiary period some 62/65 million years ago. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.

Submitted by Ryan

‪44 Causeway Road

‪BT57 8SU‬ County Antrim

Princes Street Gardens

Lovely place to sit in the summer, people-watch; overlooked by some of the really nice buildings in Edinburgh.

Submitted by Chris

EH2 3 Edinburgh

Chapultepec Forest and Park

In existence since the Aztecs, it is the biggest park in one of the world's greatest metropolis. Contains lakes, many museums (from the world class National de Antropologia to the smaller Tamayo-oriented to contemporary art) a botanical garden, and even a castle—the only one inside a city in all of the Americas. 

Submitted by Alfredo Narváez

Bosque de Chapultepec I, Miguel Hidalgo

Mexico City

The Sundial Bridge by Santiago Calatrava

Completed in 2004, this bicycle and pedestrian bridge spans the Sacramento River and forms a giant sundial.

Submitted by Jenna Marie Mersy

Turtle Bay Exploration Park

‪840 Auditorium Drive‬

Redding

Gardens at the Serralves Foundation (Fundação de Serralves)

Over 18 hectares of gardens, one of which was designed by French architect Jacques Gréber; landscape design by Siza Vieira.

Submitted by Sofia Castelo

Rua de Serralves 210

Porto

4150 Portugal

The Vondelpark

Opened in 1865, the Vondelpark comprises 120 acres of gardens, playgrounds, museums, sculpture, lakes, bike paths, sports fields, and more.

Submitted by Beth Massa.

Vondelpark 3

1071AA Amsterdam

Dupont Circle

Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW.

Submitted by Elizabeth Miller

Dupont Circle

Washington D.C.

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