2009 Planning & Research Merit Award
Presented by the American Society of Landscape Architects, Minnesota Chapter.

2009 Professional Design Award
Presented by the American Society of Landscape Architects.

2009 Achievement in Urban Design Award
Presented by the American Planning Association, Arkansas Chapter.

The MacArthur Park Connections Master Plan is unique because it describes a vision of the park not as an autonomous landscape, but as the anchor for a larger urban landscape network. Like waterfronts and transit stops, parks leverage value in urban areas. The planning strategy extends sustainable landscape design practices used in the park into local neighborhoods and surrounding districts. The goal of the project is that the renovated park will “grow neighboring districts.” The result of this vision is an outdoor public room connected to the city by linking the actions of recreation, transit, commerce, entertainment, and everyday life.
This network will connect tree-lined streets, boulevards, neighborhood pocket parks, active recreation facilities, plazas, and other pedestrian amenities throughout the district. Planning synergies between park improvements and development in these legacy neighborhoods will increase the delivery of both ecological and urban services now expected in urban infrastructure. These combined public improvements will amplify the safety and untapped livability potential of this portion of downtown Little Rock.