Christmas list

Lars Stenberg

As Christmas draws closer for those who celebrate it, Sensory Trust offers up some suggestions (serious and not-so-serious) for you if you're wondering what to give the park person in your life. And, in case you're wondering if this is a thinly veiled ploy to get you to click through to Amazon where we earn a small commission for each item sold well, of course it is.

Books are always good gifts and many are also available on cassette or CD. There's a vast selection of appropriate reading matter for those devoted to parks and open spaces. Crime readers are well catered for, as it seems that parks in the literary imagination are sinister places fit not for picnics and frisbee but for murder and skullduggery. Try Cruz Smith's classic Gorky Park, Michael Connelly's Echo Park, or Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis for a dose of the macabre. These are not park-keeping manuals.

Neither of course is Jurassic Park. Apart from offering suggestions for the design of teen hang-outs, Michael Crichton offers little in the way of advice on issues such as access and diversity awareness. His book is also an object lesson on the shortcomings of security measures like fencing and CCTV. Even though conditions in some inner cities are similar, it's unlikely many of the examples presented here will be of practical use as we are unlikely to experience even a fraction of the Spielbergian budget that such a park commands. However, should you decide to develop your park along these lines, you might want to consider Event Risk Management and Safety by Peter Tarlow although there's little advice on the handling of veloceraptors.

There's no reason why the younger generation shouldn't get in on the park act either. Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt is an excellent read for pre-schoolers as is Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. How about a DVD of Percy the Park Keeper as a welcome break from the Tweenies? No harm instilling the love of parks as early as possible.

On a less flippant note, your park person might enjoy some words from one of the fathers of the American park movement. Civilizing American Cities: Writings on City Landscapes by Frederick Law Olmsted. Those more involved with the design of parks and with a whiff of sustainability awareness might enjoy Designing Small Parks: A Manual for Addressing Social and Ecological Concerns by Ann Forsyth et al or Rethinking Urban Parks: Public Space and Cultural Diversity by Setha M. Low et al, both of which give a contemporary perspective on the creation and rehabilitiation of urban parks.

Cities for a Small Country and Cities for a Small Planet by Richard Rogers and Anne Power are personal favourites and recommended for planners and other urbanists. Small books packed with interesting and sometimes challenging ideas that will keep you going through the festive period. Read one during the Queen's Speech then start an argument over the cold turkey on Boxing Day.

Of course, parks don't just feature in literature. Pop music lovers could do worse than Linkin Park, or Blur's Parklife while movie lovers might enjoy Gosford Park, Mansfield Park, Barefoot in the Park or the perfect Christmas feelgood movie, Prince of Central Park.

Enough choices already? Have a look at our new book shop for more suggestions for books that can help make a difference to the quality of our public spaces.

Have a good festive season.

Disabled Ramblers explore Cornwall 2006 | Index | New projects