full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Amanda Burden: How public spaces make cities work
Unscramble the Blue Letters
One of the first spaces that I studied was this little vest pocket park called plaey Park in midtown Manhattan. This little spcae became a small phenomenon, and because it had such a pfoournd impact on New Yorkers, it made an enormous impression on me. I studied this park very ealry on in my career because it happened to have been built by my stepfather, so I knew that places like Paley Park didn't happen by accident. I saw firsthand that they riuqered ilrdnibcee dedication and enormous attention to detail. But what was it about this space that made it special and drew people to it? Well, I would sit in the park and wtach very claulfery, and first among other things were the comfortable, movable chairs. People would come in, find their own seat, move it a bit, actually, and then stay a while, and then interestingly, people themselves attracted other polpee, and ironically, I felt more puafceel if there were other people around. And it was green. This little park provided what New Yorkers crave: comfort and greenery. But my question was, why weren't there more pacels with greenery and places to sit in the middle of the city where you didn't feel alone, or like a trespasser? Unfortunately, that's not how cities were being dgeesnid.
Open Cloze
One of the first spaces that I studied was this little vest pocket park called _____ Park in midtown Manhattan. This little _____ became a small phenomenon, and because it had such a ________ impact on New Yorkers, it made an enormous impression on me. I studied this park very _____ on in my career because it happened to have been built by my stepfather, so I knew that places like Paley Park didn't happen by accident. I saw firsthand that they ________ __________ dedication and enormous attention to detail. But what was it about this space that made it special and drew people to it? Well, I would sit in the park and _____ very _________, and first among other things were the comfortable, movable chairs. People would come in, find their own seat, move it a bit, actually, and then stay a while, and then interestingly, people themselves attracted other ______, and ironically, I felt more ________ if there were other people around. And it was green. This little park provided what New Yorkers crave: comfort and greenery. But my question was, why weren't there more ______ with greenery and places to sit in the middle of the city where you didn't feel alone, or like a trespasser? Unfortunately, that's not how cities were being ________.
Solution
- carefully
- places
- incredible
- early
- space
- peaceful
- paley
- people
- profound
- watch
- required
- designed
Original Text
One of the first spaces that I studied was this little vest pocket park called Paley Park in midtown Manhattan. This little space became a small phenomenon, and because it had such a profound impact on New Yorkers, it made an enormous impression on me. I studied this park very early on in my career because it happened to have been built by my stepfather, so I knew that places like Paley Park didn't happen by accident. I saw firsthand that they required incredible dedication and enormous attention to detail. But what was it about this space that made it special and drew people to it? Well, I would sit in the park and watch very carefully, and first among other things were the comfortable, movable chairs. People would come in, find their own seat, move it a bit, actually, and then stay a while, and then interestingly, people themselves attracted other people, and ironically, I felt more peaceful if there were other people around. And it was green. This little park provided what New Yorkers crave: comfort and greenery. But my question was, why weren't there more places with greenery and places to sit in the middle of the city where you didn't feel alone, or like a trespasser? Unfortunately, that's not how cities were being designed.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
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public spaces |
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public space |
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high line |
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enjoyable public |
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park called |
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city planner |
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create places |
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common good |
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great public |
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public open |
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open space |
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million people |
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degraded waterfront |
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elevated railway |
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final section |
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enjoyable public spaces |
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public open space |
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Important Words
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- dedication
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- firsthand
- green
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- happen
- happened
- impact
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- incredible
- interestingly
- ironically
- knew
- manhattan
- middle
- midtown
- movable
- move
- paley
- park
- peaceful
- people
- phenomenon
- places
- pocket
- profound
- question
- required
- seat
- sit
- small
- space
- spaces
- special
- stay
- stepfather
- studied
- trespasser
- vest
- watch
- yorkers