For Greening Professionals

For more than three decades, the PHS Philadelphia Green program has created a greener city through partnerships with organizations, governments, and residents. Together they plan, create, and maintain vibrant green spaces, including neighborhood parks, civic landscapes, streetscapes and gateways, community gardens, and tree-lined streets.

“Open space planning is a key part of urban revitalization and will greatly impact Philadelphia’s future,” says J. Blaine Bonham Jr., PHS executive vice president. “It’s imperative that the city’s leaders understand this and work to protect and enhance Philadelphia’s ‘green infrastructure.’”

A citywide survey conducted by PennFuture indicated that 92 percent of Philadelphians believe environmental and infrastructure improvements are necessary to advance an area’s economic competitiveness and growth.*

To bring about such rebirth, PHS, through Philadelphia Green, creates models for ongoing stewardship—ensuring that newly created and long-established green spaces will be as attractive and accessible for future generations as they are now.

Community engagement is the lynchpin of this process. Those who reap the benefits of parks, gardens, and other open spaces must also be their top advocates and have the capacity to sustain them. Through the years, Philadelphia Green has cultivated grassroots support across the city, from which stalwart greening champions have emerged.

PHS engages the local community at the onset of any Philadelphia Green endeavor. Involving and energizing an active citizenry ensures the project (in all stages of planning, development, execution, and maintenance) correlates with the best interests of the neighborhood.

This is done through open dialogue and the bringing together of diverse peoples. Philadelphia Green strives to assist volunteers in recognizing their potential to bring about lasting improvements to their communities and making Philadelphia, as a whole, a more sustainable place to call home.

* Terry Madonna Opinion Research, Next Great City poll(Philadelphia: PennFuture, 2006).