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

  1. carefully
  2. places
  3. incredible
  4. early
  5. space
  6. peaceful
  7. paley
  8. people
  9. profound
  10. watch
  11. required
  12. 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

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
public spaces 9
public space 7
high line 5
enjoyable public 2
park called 2
paley park 2
city planner 2
create places 2
common good 2
great public 2
public open 2
open space 2
million people 2
degraded waterfront 2
elevated railway 2
final section 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
enjoyable public spaces 2
public open space 2

Important Words

  1. accident
  2. attention
  3. attracted
  4. bit
  5. built
  6. called
  7. career
  8. carefully
  9. chairs
  10. cities
  11. city
  12. comfort
  13. comfortable
  14. dedication
  15. designed
  16. detail
  17. drew
  18. early
  19. enormous
  20. feel
  21. felt
  22. find
  23. firsthand
  24. green
  25. greenery
  26. happen
  27. happened
  28. impact
  29. impression
  30. incredible
  31. interestingly
  32. ironically
  33. knew
  34. manhattan
  35. middle
  36. midtown
  37. movable
  38. move
  39. paley
  40. park
  41. peaceful
  42. people
  43. phenomenon
  44. places
  45. pocket
  46. profound
  47. question
  48. required
  49. seat
  50. sit
  51. small
  52. space
  53. spaces
  54. special
  55. stay
  56. stepfather
  57. studied
  58. trespasser
  59. vest
  60. watch
  61. yorkers