INTRODUCTION

Though rarely credited with this benefit, American World's Fairs have left behind a significant legacy of public open space. This thesis is based on a case study of seven world's fairs held in the United States during the twentieth century. The sample will demonstrate the different types of open space generated by fairs and the processes by which these public lands came into being. The intent is to both fill a longstanding void in the existing literature and to provide urban land use planners with an overlooked and potential means of acquiring public open space.

The permanent legacies of World's Fairs are most commonly associated with the built artifacts that have been left behind as monuments to these otherwise fleeting events. The Space Needle of Seattle, The Pine Arts Museum of St. Louis, and the Eiffel Tower of Paris are familiar examples of these legacies. Rarely, however, do people credit expositions with the development of major city parks, greenbelts, civic centers, public waterfronts and college campuses, despite the fact that they have played important roles in the creation of these types of open spaces. This work will focus on the dynamics of these particular landscapes.

Numerous books have been written on the architecture, art, and economics of international expositions, yet praclically no literature exists on the sites these fairs were built upon. This is rather surprising considering the vast acreage they represent --generally between 50 to 1400 acres -- and how much permanent open space cities have gained from these temporary events. This thesis is to expand the understanding of world's fairs to include landscapes that have given significant form to some major American cities.

This thesis topic evolved out of a study of German Garden Festivals. A tradition has been established in Germany whereby temporary events -- the garden festivals -- are used to provide cities with permanent parks. To determine whether this was a novel idea that could be explored in tbe U.S. I embarked upon a study of American expositions to learn what became of the sites they were built upon. To my pleasant surprise, I have found that U.S. international expositions have also left behind a substantial landscape legacy in the form of public open space.

The term, "open space," though widely used today, is rather nebulous and can include many different forms, uses, and scales. In the broadest sense of the word, it describes land that is not covered over by buildings. Though open, the land may not necessarily be in a natural or vegetated state.

Open space, even when limited to its urban context as its discussion will be for this thesis, is an umbrella term for a variety of landscape types. Urban open space in its most common easily recognizable form, exists as a city park. It might also exist as a public shoreline or an urban waterfront. Larger in scale and more sprawling is a greenbelt, which can exist as a vegetative buffer, topographic indicator, or link a chain of parks. Urban open space can also be integrally related to building space, as is the case with a plaza, civic center, or university campus.

An ubiquitous, yet unappreciated form of open space is represented by the streets, sidewalks, and piers (extensions of land into the sea). These corridors form part of the open space matrix upon which the city is built. Because they provide the means through which we navigate throughout the city, they greatly influence how we perceive it.

In addition to having different forms and dimensions, urban open space exists as both public and private land. Some examples of private open space are golf, beach, and country clubs; cemeteries; hotel grounds; shopping malls and corporate plazas. Regardless of whether they are public or private, all urban open spaces form a critical part of each city's spatial infrastructure. Although cities are often discussed in terms of their architecture, it is the open spaces between and around the buildings that create the context of the urban environment.

Todays open space requirements encompass a wider sphere than in the past. The welfare of the earth's environment is finally being considered beyond the realm of man's personal world. This broadened outlook however, puts increased pressure on the land. The acquisition of public open space is currenlly a critical issue concerning urban planners. As cities get more densely developed and covered over with buildings and pavement, "open space" becomes scarcer. As an increasingly limited resource, it increases in economic value, but because public open space is not revenue producing, it becomes an expensive luxury for cities to acquire.

Additionally, advances in technology and recreation have led to a decrease in the amount of open space and an incrase in the specialization of open space requirements. Advances in building construction have made available to commercial and residential development land that was once considered too steep or wet to build on. These greenbelts and wetlands, traditionally unthreatened forms of open space, are now in imminent threat of real estate development. Similarly, runners, bicylists, skateboarders, rollerskaters, birdwatchers, and those simply wishing to commune with nature can not all be accommodated with the same trails. Each user group feels a need to have his own territory. Consequently, this incompatibility puts even more pressure on cities to acquire public lands.

Due to the widespread demand for open space, no one vehicle can be used to provide cities with a solution. While world's fairs are not a panacea for the nation's urban open space problems, they can contribute to the variety of methods needed to meet the land demands with which cities are faced. The complexity of the open space dilemma requires a combination of methods and strategies. World's fairs can provide yet one more option under certain circumstances.

Urban designers have resorted to a variety of methods in addition to direct land acquisition for developing open space. These include trail and conservation easements, thc purchase and transfer of development rights, as well as the requirement of developers to provide open space as part of their projects. While helping to contribute to urban open space resources, these options are not always as permanent or as desirable as the direct acquisition of public open space. Consequently, land use professionals must find other creative means of obtaining open space. Though not recoginzed for this benefit, American international expositions have a long history of providing cities with public open space. Hopefully, the lessons learned from a study of the processes by which these public lands have come into being, might provide some assistance in addressing today's open space needs.