What were the goals of the nineteenth-century Park Movement?

Your
question, What were the goals of the nineteenth-century parks movement, requires a look at
what was happening in cities both in the United States and in Europe at that time, as well as
some of the ideas that characterized the Victorian era (1837€“1901), including the notion that
living standards had a direct effect on morals.

The Park Movement came about
at a time when industrialization was causing profound social changes in both Europe and the
United States. Industrialization brought many people out of rural areas and into major cities.
Factory workers did not have easy lives. They worked long hours for little pay, and their living
environments were often affected by polluted air, crowded and run-down living quarters,
epidemics, violence, and alcoholism.

Government policies and public concern
for limiting the social ills of the urban environments were among the factors that led to the
creation of public parks in cities during the nineteenth century. Financial and ideological
support from philanthropists also helped to make public parks a reality. Providing fresh air and
outdoor recreation for the working class and the poor was thought to be of social benefit to
all. Parks could provide access to better air quality and health, as well as opportunities for
exercise and wholesome gamesgood alternatives to pubs and places of recreational drinking.


The Park Movement included the establishment of not only urban parks, but
also arboretums and botanical gardens where ordinary folk could learn about science and botany
through their own efforts.