Chattanooga Nominated as First National Park City in the United States

Photo by Sarah Swainson on Unsplash

Chattanooga, often referred to as the Scenic City, has been nominated as the country’s first National Park City, along with four other cities from around the world. The announcement was made by the National Park City Foundation, recognizing Chattanooga’s combined efforts to make the city “greener, healthier, and wilder.”

This prestigious nomination comes after the dedicated work of grassroots movements, civil society organizations, and city government teams in Breda, Glasgow, Rotterdam, Southampton, and Chattanooga. Each city’s campaign team showcased active participation from at least 200 supporting partners, demonstrating their commitment to transforming their cities into National Park Cities.

National Park Cities are grassroots movements focused on creating greener, healthier, and wilder urban spaces. The concept, inspired by the world’s renowned national parks, emphasizes the importance of better lives, improved health and wellbeing, stronger connections with nature, responsible consumption, enhanced habitats, cleaner air and water, and increased outdoor activities, culture, art, playing, walking, and cycling.

London pioneered the National Park City initiative in 2019, followed by Adelaide in 2021. Now, Chattanooga is set to join this global movement, working towards the development of its version of the Universal Charter for National Park Cities. This charter, collaboratively created by people from 50 countries, outlines the principles and goals of National Park Cities.

The National Park City Foundation has set an ambitious goal of having 25 cities designated as National Park Cities by 2025. The foundation is particularly interested in hearing from grassroots and city leaders in rapidly urbanizing cities in Africa, South America, and Asia, encouraging them to consider the possibility of their cities becoming National Park Cities.

Mark Cridge, Executive Director of the National Park City Foundation, expressed confidence in the ability of each nominated city to successfully transition into a National Park City within the next 18 to 24 months. He highlighted the passion, motivation, and dedication displayed by each campaign during the past 18 months.

In the upcoming months, Chattanooga, alongside the other nominated cities, will work closely with their communities to establish partnerships with grassroots organizations, cultural institutions, academic entities, sports groups, businesses, and governmental supporters. The process will follow the guidelines outlined in the Journey Book, detailing the 10 steps and 23 assessed criteria that each city must meet.

The announcement coincided with UN World Cities Day, marking the culmination of Urban October. During this period, national governments, local authorities, the private sector, and urban practitioners are encouraged to organize events, workshops, webinars, panel discussions, and interviews to promote sustainable urban development.

Daniel Raven-Ellison, Founder of the National Park Cities Movement, expressed enthusiasm about the new additions to the National Park City family. He praised the inspiring teams from the six nominated cities and looked forward to learning from their collaborative approaches and public engagement strategies, ultimately benefiting the broader National Park family.

Chattanooga, with its scenic beauty and vibrant community spirit, is poised to lead the way as the first National Park City in the United States, setting an example for cities nationwide to embrace greener, healthier, and wilder environments for their residents.

SOURCES: National Park City & NOOGAtoday