The one thing that New York City is famous for is its park and green spaces, especially in such a densely populated and busy area. However, a reality that little people pay attention to is the way these parks are being distributed. It is estimated that poorer neighborhoods, which are also areas with a predominantly colored population, have 21% less park space than those who live in high income areas, which are predominantly white. This not only highlights the inequality in park distribution, but also highlights a much bigger problem - environmental and social injustice. As a way to introduce this topic to the public, and to make changes to the city that I, and many people, love so much and care so much about, I want to ask for a $… fund to physically expand on this Park Accessibility project, which I’ve been working on for the past 2 months.

What you’re seeing here is basically a media project where I highlight the problem of park accessibility through audio and visual stimulations. There are 4 main components to this project: The website, the audio soundscape, the visual, which include video and image, and the blogs, which are the written contents.

For the website, I have focused a lot on designing a fully fleshed out user interface and user experience. Here’s my design progress, from ideate, to wireframe, to implementation. The user interface is designed based on a minimal style, where I try to keep it simple and focus on the most important things. The user experience is also designed based on the same principles, where I create a simple and easy to follow user flow between each page, with clear, quick, and responsive navigation. The site is also designed for most devices out there with a responsive design, from phones to tablets to desktop.

The audio component is a collection of soundprints that I’ve collected, trying to recreate the park going experience between the wealthy and poor parts of town. It is also the same idea with the image essay in the visual section, where I highlight the difference with color correction and different framing techniques. Another essential part of the visual experience is the video, which is on top of the page itself. In the video, I interviewed someone who’s living in one of Queen’s poorer neighborhoods with a 25% unemployment rate and is predominantly colored people. In the short documentary video, he described his experience as a frequent park goer in his neighborhood. Further, in the video, I explained how COVID has further exposed this inequality between the rich and poor of NYC, as the ones who need park spaces the most, can’t even really access it during these times. In the blogs, I presented facts and statistics to support my claims, and I also mentioned the people who are fighting for park spaces and aspiring change across these communities. With your help and funding, we can join hands with these organizations and make a difference.

With the funding, I’m going to assemble an organization to further tackle the park problem. We are going to push for change through the following: through activism - pushing lawmakers and legislators to expand public spaces; through maintenance - making parks safe, greener, and more well-maintained in lower-income areas; through renovations - building infrastructures, planting trees in areas in park where there’s more concrete than trees, making walkways and benches to attract more park goers. With your help, we can further close the gap in inequal living conditions between the poor and the rich. Thank you so much for your attention.