Park(ing) DAY Favorite 

Park(ing) day is a community of artists, activist, students and everyday people who, on September 21, every year and across the world, collaborate to transform parking spaces into green and friendly spaces. They invite reflections and discussions on the significance of nature and quality of life in urban areas. Park(ing) day encourages people to take over public spaces, reclaim their space, and imagine how sustainable and green cities can be.

The movement started as a few hours installation, but it grew as photographs documented the event and kept the idea alive. Through films and photos participants re-created and developed green spaces. It is a global movement that grows every year. It started in 2005 with one park, one city, and one country. It reached 13 cities in three countries, two continents, in 2006. Last September 2012, the event happened in 180 cities in 30 countries.

A key concept in Park(ing) day approach is their "open-source" model as they explain on their website: "organizers identify specific community needs and values and use the event to draw attention to issues that are important to their local public—everything from experimentation and play to acts of generosity and kindness, to political issues such as water rights, labor equity, health care and marriage equality. All of these interventions, irrespective of where they fall on the political spectrum, support the original vision of PARK(ing) Day: to challenge existing notions of public urban space and empower people to help redefine space to suit specific community needs."