Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 136

V. THE PLAN
A. Guiding Principles
Louisville’s park system has a distinguished
heritage dating back to the Salmagundi Club, a civic
group that brought Frederick Law Olmsted to
Louisville. Olmsted’s vision of three major parks
connected by tree-lined parkways was in the
tradition of other plans by Olmsted for cities such
as New York, Chicago and Boston, which were
designed to provide multifunctional, spacious parks
and open spaces connected by landscape corridors
in the form of parkways or greenways.
During the course of his career, Olmsted’s
park planning and design work adhered to several
guiding principles that remain relevant today¹.
Olmsted believed that parks and public projects
should reflect democratic values, providing all
members of the community with opportunities for
recreation and enjoyment. The core tenets of his
philosophy were that 1) the experience of nature
Frederick Law Olmsted
should be available to all citizens; 2) contact with
nature has the power to sooth human souls and promote health; and 3) experiencing nature’s
beauty promotes moral perception and intuition.
These tenets are similar to the modern day principles of the National Recreation and
Park Association: 1) Conservation; 2) Health & Wellness; and 3) Social Equity.
In addition, Olmsted defined three types of recreation:
Recreative, the experience of a park as a natural setting, today referred to as passive
recreation;
Gregarious, or group gatherings in a public setting; and
Exertive, athletic activities including organized sports or individual pursuits such as
bicycling or jogging, today referred to as active recreation.²
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