Pullman Area Parks

PULLMAN AREA PARKS

Analysis Tool Kit

The themes illuminated throughout this module are all common elements that not only go into the construction of parks in general, but are also very basic to the social construction of nature. Illustrated in Sunnyside Park and Kamiak Butte is the dual nature of park environments as social and natural settings. Both the social and natural experiences are constructed by certain cultural beliefs and values that define "nature," as well as who participates in the experiences embedded in the design of the park.
In order to analyze the social construction of nature in your own area, choose a park or similar environment in which a natural experience is constructed and consider the following questions as a tool kit for your analysis:

Setting and Placement: Where is the park located in relation to centralized populations?; How does the park's location help to construct the kind of natural and social experiences visitors are supposed to have?

Consider the location of Kamiak Butte, approximately 10 miles north of Pullman, as opposed to Sunnyside Park, located adjacent to Sunnyside Elementary School and within a residential area. It can be argued that the experience in Kamiak Butte is one of escape and is more closely connected to the traditional "wilderness experience," while Sunnyside Park is often associated with social functions and gatherings.

Activities: What kinds of activities are allowed/not allowed within the park?; Which activities are inherent or encouraged by the design of the park?; How do these factors affect the social and natural experiences contained within the park?; Who is included in these experiences? Who is left out?

The activities associated with Kamiak Butte arguably reflect traditional notions of the wilderness experience (camping, hiking, nature study). The park seems to not only welcome small gatherings, but encourages experiences in nature as individualistic as well.

Sunnyside Park, on the other hand, is focused around nature as a social experience, targetting social units such as families, sports teams, clubs, etc. as its visitors. One could argue that the individualistic, "wilderness" experience embedded in Kamiak Butte is one traditionally associated with notions of masculinity in American culture, while Sunnyside Park is built around more domestic ideas of family and care-taking which have been imposed onto notions of femininity.

Borders and Boundaries: How are the park's borders constructed?; What is on the exterior? What is on the interior? How can you tell?; How is preserved, recreational nature demarcated from commodified nature?

Both Kamiak Butte and Sunnyside Park border a commodified version of nature. The aesthetic behind the cultural construct of recreational nature as a fertile, tree-inhabited, escape from what are often defined as more cultural landscapes becomes apparent in examining the borders of each park.

The boundaries of both parks are marked by trees, brush, an apparent increase in plant and animal species, all of which inform traditional cultural notions of what a "natural" environment is.

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This page created by Penny Hall for the American Studies Cultures and Enviroments Project at Washington State University.