Now in its twelfth year, Park(ing) Day continues to call attention to the need for more urban open space and to improve the quality of urban living. This year Site Resources’ and Live Green Landscape Associates’ “parking space” highlighted nature’s pollinators, their role in the proliferation of plant life, and how people can support and protect them.

The curbside park in Towson, MD was created with an array of regional plants that provide habitat and sustenance for pollinators including bees, birds and bats. Park visitors were encouraged to help nature’s pollinators by planting their own flower pots and yards in support of pollinators. Proving even small urban spaces can offer relaxation, passers-by were invited to join in a giant-size version of the block-stacking game Jenga.

Park(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event, held on the third Friday of September. Designers, artists and citizens transform metered parking spaces into temporary public parks in miniature. The event was initiated in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, by simply placing sod and a single bench in a parking space to draw attention to the need for open space in urban settings. Since then, design firms, schools, various other organizations, and individuals have participated in this event, turning urban parking spaces into areas of respite through imaginative themes and designs.